University News Last updated 12 February 2013
Entries from all over the UK are now invited for the 2013 Philip Bates Prize for Composers and Songwriters. Young composers between the ages of 16 and 25 may submit works in any style as long as they are for one or two singers/vocalists and between two and five players. The application deadline is Friday 14 June 2013 and the winning entries will receive a cash prize and a public performance.
Philip Bates, a young man from Castle Bromwich with a promising musical future ahead of him, was tragically killed shortly after his nineteenth birthday in March 2000. To honour his memory, the Philip Bates Trust (founded to encourage young musicians like Philip) and leading music college Birmingham Conservatoire(part of Birmingham City University) jointly run the annual Philip Bates Prize for Composers and Songwriters.
This exceptionally broad competition has recognised talent in a variety of genres in the past. It encourages entries in everything from classical, jazz and folk to singer-songwriter ballads, Asian music and rock, as long as the work is suitable for live performance and appealing to a wide range of concertgoers. Works should last between 6 and 12 minutes and instrumentation is up to the composer.
The competition offers three cash prizes. Birmingham Conservatoire and the Philip Bates Trust award one £300 prize each. There is also a £200 awarded by the audience. Shortlisted works will be performed at a concert in November 2013 and an opportunity will be given for one of the prize winning works to be performed again at A Touch of Basil in September 2014 , a concert organised by the Philip Bates Trust.
Only one entry may be submitted per composer and entries should be sent or delivered to the Deputy Head of Composition at Birmingham Conservatoire. Finalists will be announced by Monday 1 July 2013 and all short-listed works will be performed at a special event promoted by Birmingham Conservatoire in November 2013, when the winning pieces will be chosen.
All enquiries and/or submissions should be addressed to:
Dr Michael Wolters, Deputy Head of Composition
c/o Lynsey Satchell
Birmingham Conservatoire
Birmingham City University
Paradise Place
Birmingham
B3 3HG
Email: lynsey.satchell@bcu.ac.uk