The Ear Competition
| The Ear Competition | |
| Deadline: | None |
| Date Posted: | 30 June 2015 |
| Details: |
Here is a beautiful thing about humans: we instinctively gather around new creation (“let’s go see the premiere of…!”). So eighty years ago or so, when classical composers decided to stop writing for people, the painfully predictable thing happened: the party died. The Ear is bringing the party back to classical; we’re summoning all composers who consider it a high calling once again to write for people, and we won’t stop experimenting until we’ve figured out together how to re-capture society’s imagination. Humans aren’t done writing stunning classical music. The Ear produces concerts in the form of a competition. The competition has three distinctives: 1) All compositions are SHORT. (Fur Elise-length.) 2) The audience must want to hear a piece AGAIN. 3) EVERY encore’d piece wins prize money. (And ONLY encore’d pieces win prize money.) OUR MISSION IS TO PROVOKE LOTS OF COMPOSERS TO WRITE LOTS OF SHORT PIECES THAT LOTS OF PEOPLE WILL WANT TO HEAR LOTS OF TIMES. When that happens, it will be a NEW DAY for classical music. And there will be NO NEW DAY for classical music UNTIL THAT HAPPENS. OCT. 2015 LAUNCH EVENT SOLO PIANO 1st PRIZE: $5000 + RISING… Composers submit scores with handwritten notes from two other composers, reading: “I have listened to [name of piece] THREE TIMES IN FULL, and have given robust professional feedback.” This filter promotes reliance on colleagues. Composers also include handwritten notes from five non-musicians, reading: “I have listened to [name of piece] THREE TIMES IN FULL, and have given honest, casual feedback.” This filter is the first true test of success. A pool of 500 people known as ‘the Ear’s Ears’ is given unique passwords to listen to each piece ONCE. They will then vote it up or down based on one simple question: do I want to hear this again? “But what if a great piece of music gets lost in this process?” The Ear’s directors won’t let that happen. But if they do, that excellent piece will simply have to prove itself in another forum (as with every competition). |
| Web Site: | http://www.theearclassical.com |
