Applications are being received for a competition of compositions as part of a concert of a capella choral music, Versus – Of God and Man, which will take place at the Mdina Cathedral on November 25 as part of the Mdina Cathedral Contemporary Art Biennale between November 13 and January 7. The concert is being held with the collaboration of the Marigold Foundation and proceeds will go towards the foundation’s causes.
For this concert the chamber choir Collegium Musicale from Estonia will be performing music by the Maltese composer Reuben Pace as well as music by Estonian composers.
This renowned chamber choir was founded in 2010 by Endrik Üksvärav, who is also the principal conductor of the choir and a professional tenor. The repertoire of the choir extends from Renaissance to contemporary music, with a focus on early music and the work of Estonian composers (Arvo Pärt, Erkki-Sven Tüür, Veljo Tormis etc.).
The choir has won several awards, including the Gran Prix in Gorizia, Italy (first prize) and the Gran Prix in Arezzo, Italy (second prize). It also released several CDs including Peegel peeglis with the music of Arvo Pärt and Pärt Uusberg and Roxanna Panufnik’s Tallin Mass for Warner Classics.
The choir has toured extensively with performances in Italy, France and Japan. Last year the choir was awarded Choir of the Year 2014 by the Estonian Choral Association.
The submitted composition must satisfy crucial requirements which include a duration of not more than three minutes; text which should preferably be of a religious nature in English, Italian, Latin, Maltese or Estonian; a scoring for chamber choir SATB (16 performers) a capella, and any style or idiom which excludes the use of electronics.
The deadline for submissions, with an entry fee of €25, is November 1, 2015.
There are no age or nationality restrictions. The first four works chosen will be workshopped with the choir in the period between November 19 and 24 in Malta.
The winning entry will be performed publicly on November 25. A recording of the performance will be made for personal use only.
Three copies of the score and queries about fee payment should be sent to House of Music, Triq Dun Manwel Żammit, Siġġiewi SGW 3014, Malta.
The name of the composer should not appear on the score itself, but details of the composer including contact details should be put on a separate application sheet.
A piano reduction should also be included in the submission.
A PDF of the score and a MIDI rendering in mp3 format should be sent to pacereuben@gmail.com. Queries and the application sheet should be sent to the same e-mail address.