Call for Scores: In Good Hands 2019

Concert Title: In Good Hands

Performances: Portland – Saturday, June 22, 2019, at 3:00 PM; Eugene – Saturday, June 29, 2019 at 3:00 PM

Venues: Portland State University, Lincoln Hall, Room 75; Unity of the Valley Church, Eugene

Submission Deadline: 11:59 PM PST, Thursday, January 24, 2019 (note, later than originally published)

Eligibility: All Cascadia members in good standing

Instrumentation: Piano solo or duet, strings (Eugene only), or strings plus piano (Eugene only)

Further information about the concerts:  Please note, there are two IGH concerts next year, one in Portland and one in Eugene, that will feature local groups of teachers and students and will no doubt have different programs. Piano solos and duets for each will draw from the same pool of submissions.

Teachers would like more music for beginners and early intermediate students. Please remember that many of our talented students have small hands. Big chords and stretches don’t work. However, if you come up with an interesting pattern, you can repeat it all over the keyboard and even the younger students will enjoy playing it. A good plan is to write music that sounds harder than it is.

For more examples, the Royal Conservatory (Frederick Harris Music Co.) has a series of graded books that contain excellent repertoire from all the periods of music history, called Celebration Series. The contemporary pieces are creative, appealing, and student friendly. The grades of these books correspond to the OMTA syllabus levels (for an above average student, typical for IGH).

Consider writing a set or suite (e.g. 5 pieces, totaling about 6’ – five different students may perform the set).

String students in Eugene are available courtesy of the Delgani String Quartet, as follows:

Violinists ranging from beginning to easy intermediate (Suzuki books 1 to 4), plus one advanced

Intermediate level viola

Beginning level cello

Any of these may be given a solo work or one with piano. (Note, works with piano may be harder to place with teachers and students.) In addition, there is also a (easy level) cello and (intermediate level) violin duo, without piano. If you want to submit a work for a different combination or are set on writing one, please contact Daniel Brugh, daniel.brugh@yahoo.com.

Composers will present a rose to each teacher and student performing their pieces. The cost, for the composer, of each rose is about $5, or $10 for the two.)  Cascadia will buy the roses and coordinate their distribution, but the composers will pay for them, up to a maximum of $40.

Composers are expected to present a “published” (may be self-published) hardcopy to the student performer and one to her teacher.

Composers agree to work with “their” students before the concert.  These sessions may take place through the computer (Skype/FaceTime) or teachers might send recordings to composers. The composers will evaluate performances and send comments (positive and suggestions) back to teachers. This collaboration must be completed 4 weeks prior to the IGH concert.

Submission procedure: Anonymous submission. Remove or blank out anything on the score or other submitted media which identifies the composer. Check authorship, copyright notices, logos, program notes, performance notes, and so forth.

Composers may submit as many pieces as they wish, but as a rule, no more than 6’ of any one composer’s (piano) music will be selected. For Eugene, 6′ of piano only, plus 6′ of music that includes strings.

Submit the following through the submission form on the Cascadia website:

1. Score, anonymous, in PDF format. Include the OMTA level if you’re reasonably sure about it. Include any performance notes. Program notes are entirely optional. Duration is no longer required on the score; enter it directly into the form in the format shown.

2. Recording if available (MIDI is ok if none is) in MP3 format. A link may be submitted instead, but note that MP3’s up to 25 MB may now be submitted. Make sure nothing in an MP3 player window or the link identifies the composer.

3. Text file in standard format (such as .txt, .doc, .rtf, or.pdf) with the title, composer, program notes, bio, and any other information pertaining to the piece which may be of interest. These won’t be accessible to the teachers selecting music. If there’s some aspect of the score or recording you feel needs an additional explanatory note, briefly and anonymously comment in the submission form’s annotation text box. Please do not submit complete program notes in the annotation box.

Teachers will look over the scores with their students during February and early March and make their selections. We plan to announce the results in mid-March.

Questions? For the Portland concert, please contact Jan Mittelstaedt: janrm@frontier.com

For the Eugene concert, please contact Daniel Brugh: daniel.brugh@yahoo.com

(For questions about the submission process or form, contact Jeff Winslow: jeffw@rdrop.com)

Thank you, and have fun writing for these special budding musicians!

Jan Mittelstaedt and Daniel Brugh for Cascadia Composers (chapter of NACUSA)