University News Last updated 23 April 2014
Young composers from all over the UK are being invited to enter the 2014 Philip Bates Prize for Composers and Songwriters. Budding musicians 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 27 June 2014 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 concert-goers. Works should last between six 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 2014 and an opportunity will be given for one of the prize winning works to be performed again at 'A Touch of Basil' in September 2015, a concert organised by the Philip Bates Trust.
Only one entry may be submitted per composer and entries should be sent or delivered to Lynsey Satchell at Birmingham Conservatoire. Finalists will be announced by Monday 21 July 2013 and all short-listed works will be performed at a special event promoted by Birmingham Conservatoire in November 2014, when the winning pieces will be chosen. Further details and competition regulations can be found below.
Philip Bates Prize Rules and Regulations
All enquiries and/or submissions should be addressed to:
Dr Michael Wolters, Deputy Head of Composition c/o Lynsey Satchell, Composition Department Secretary Birmingham Conservatoire Birmingham City University Paradise Place, Birmingham B3 3HG.
Email: lynsey.satchell@bcu.ac.uk