C4: The Choral Composer/Conductor Collective, a New York City-based new music chorus, invites composers, especially BIPoC composers, to submit unperformed choral works with a conceptual connection to William Shakespeare, to be performed on C4’s spring 2023 concert in New York City.
As part of an ongoing collaboration with the Steven R. Gerber Trust, C4 will be performing Steven Gerber’s Sessions of Sweet Silent Thought, a setting of five Shakespearean sonnets (9, 30, 71, 129 and 130). To foster new music, the Gerber Trust is providing support for one or two new pieces to be performed as part of the same concert. Additionally, there will be a dedicated recording session leading to high-quality recordings of both Sessions of Sweet Silent Thought and the accompanying piece or pieces.
A $1500 prize will be awarded for each selected piece. Additionally, a travel stipend of up to $500 is available for out-of-town composers who wish to attend the premiere, which will take place in May or June 2023.
Pieces to be considered should be about 4 to 10 minutes in length (these are not hard limits), and should not have been performed previously in public. They should tie into the theme of Shakespeare and his sonnets, but composers are free to experiment with the exact connection, anything from setting another (or even the same) sonnet, to examining what Shakespeare does and does not signify to the modern observer, and beyond. The composer must be able to show that they have rights to the text, if any.
