Jazz WaHi JAZZ COMPOSITION COMPETITION 2024!

First prize: A $1000 commission to compose a work of jazz to be premiered by the Competition winner at the 7th Annual Washington Heights Jazz Festival, November 2, 2024. Additional remuneration (tbd) will be provided for all performing musicians. Two Runners-up will each receive a $50 honorarium and a full-day pass to the Festival. This year we are capping the number of applicants at 25. Contest rules: The commissioned composition must • Have its public premier at the 7th Annual Washington Heights Jazz Festival on November 2, 2024 • Be 30 – 45 minutes long (single- or multi-movement), comprising the centerpiece of a 50-minute set to be performed by the composer’s ensemble at the Festival • Be written for 3-7 musicians (instrumentalists and/or vocalists) • Feature improvisation • Not be an existing, published, or recorded work, or an arrangement of a published work. Works-in-progress may be acceptable. The winning composer must • Reside in the Greater New York City area • Commit to performing in the 7th Annual Washington Heights Jazz Festival, November 2, 2024 The performing ensemble must • Contain 3-7 musicians • Reflect racial and gender diversity Judging is based on • Quality of previous work • Quality of proposal • Innovation • Feasibility Winning composer retains all rights to the commissioned composition. Jazz WaHi, Inc. reserves the right to use audio and /or video recordings of the commissioned composition for promotional purposes. Winning composer agrees to credit Jazz WaHi and the Washington Heights Jazz Festival in all future performances and recordings of the commissioned work. Timeline: • Submission deadline – Sunday, January 20, 2024. 11:00 pm, or when Jazz WaHi receives 25 applications, whichever comes first. • January 21 – February 17, 2024. Applicants are judged anonymously by a five-member panel. • Winner announced – Monday, February 15, 2024 Payment • Winner receives $300 upon acceptance of and agreement to terms. • The remaining $700 is paid to winner by November 5, 2024, after winner’s satisfactory completion of the competition’s requirements. • Winner receives remuneration for ensemble’s performance (amount tbd) by November 5, 2024, after completion of the Festival performance. • All funds received by winner are considered taxable income. Application and submission • All submissions should be emailed to mark@jazzwahi.org with the subject “Jazz Composition Competition”, and contain: o Your name, email address, mailing address, phone number o Three mp3 recordings of your previous compositions attached o A proposal - as an attached pdf - describing the piece you will compose if awarded the commission: concept, inspiration, instrumentation, projected length, etc. The more detail the better! • Due to the volume of music we will receive, judges might only listen to 3 minutes of each piece submitted. If you have a specific three minutes you think represent your best work, please indicate starting time with your proposal. • Important: As we use a blind judging process, there can be no identifying information in the recordings (e.g. a live recording with your name announced), or on the pdf document. • Incomplete or incorrect submissions may be disqualified. • There is a $10 entry fee, CLICK HERE TO PAY Questions? Visit our Contact page
Previous winners:2023- Julie Maniscalco: State of Affairs2022- Jason Yeager: Upper Manahatta Musical Suite2021- Robert Fernandez: The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter