UNIVERSITY NEWS LAST UPDATED : 14 JUNE 2011
Entries from all over the UK are now invited for the 2011 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 29th July 2011 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 £300prize each. There is also a £200 awarded by the audience. One winning work will receive a public performance later in the year at the Trust’s ‘Touch of Basil’ fundraising concert, held at Birmingham Conservatoire.
The closing date for entries is Friday 29th July 2011. Only one entry may be submitted per composer and entries should be sent or delivered to the Head of Composition at Birmingham Conservatoire.
Finalists will be announced by Friday 26th August 2011 and all short-listed works will be performed at a special event promoted by Birmingham Conservatoire on Friday 4th November 2011, when the winning pieces will be chosen. Further details and competition regulations are available on the Birmingham Conservatoire website.
All enquiries and/or submissions should be addressed to:
Dr Joe Cutler, Head of Composition
c/o Natalie Smith
Birmingham Conservatoire
Birmingham City University
Paradise Place
Birmingham B3 3HG
Email: natalie.smith@bcu.ac.uk