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Application Guide
Embedded: Birmingham Contemporary Music Group
Apprentice Composer in Residence
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>> PLEASE CHECK YOU ARE ELIGIBLE FOR THIS OPPORTUNITY BY READING THE
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA BELOW <<
Embedded is an opportunity for composers and creative artists from any discipline to work with
diverse organisations to create new music and sound.
So far over forty artists have benefited from Embedded, from Tim Murray-Browne at Music
Hackspace to Sally Golding and Sarah Hughes with South London Gallery, and there is overwhelming
evidence that it can be a transformational experience in terms of talent development, artistic
ambition, professional experience and growing networks.
“The Embedded scheme has been the most profound and significant change in my
work as an artist/composer. The programme encouraged us to push what we
thought was possible… I cannot shout loudly enough how many extraordinary
artistic connections I have made, how my confidence as an artist has grown
immeasurably since the Embedded residency.”
– Saskia Moore, composer (Embedded with Apartment House, 2012-13)
As part of the Embedded programme, Sound and Music and Birmingham Contemporary Music
Group are offering an opportunity for a composer to spend time in residence with the ensemble.
This year-long association will allow the chosen composer to develop a broad range of skills through
spending time with and contributing to the life of a professional ensemble in all aspects of its work,
including its performance work, Learning and Participation programme and administration. It allows
the ensemble to benefit from a sustained relationship with a composer contributing across a range
of areas.
The opportunity is focused on artistic development and the successful applicant will be encouraged
to explore their ideas and creative practice. We want to foster networks between Embedded
composers and creative discussion across musical disciplines, so the opportunity also encompasses
sessions where all the current participants in our Embedded residencies meet and share ideas.
The project
This residency provides the selected composer with the opportunity to immerse themselves in
BCMG’s activities from June 2017 to summer/autumn 2018, developing an insight into a broad range
of BCMG’s work. There will be the opportunity to:
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write a new ensemble work of 10 – 15’ for the ensemble for premiere in 2018. The scope of
the work is flexible in terms of instrumental forces (10 – 15 players), performers and
programme context and will be decided in discussion with BCMG’s Artistic Director, Stephan
Meier and Sound and Music.
develop a short, small-scale piece for young performers as part of the Learning and
Participation programme at a mid-point in the residency.
Work with Sound and Music and BCMG to develop a digital outcome(s) for the residency
designed to reach and engage a digital audience.
A workshop and some individual player time can be scheduled to test ideas and develop the final
work over the residency period. The scheduling of your contact time with BCMG across the
residency period is flexible and is in agreement with the group. It can work effectively to schedule
cluster days of visits.
Additionally, a modest budget will be available to develop collaborative work. The use of this budget
can be flexible; possibilities include but are not limited to collaboration with practitioners from other
art-forms, electronics or particular solo instrumentalists. The use of the budget will be agreed in
discussion with Artistic Director Stephan Meier and Sound and Music.
The financial support for the opportunity includes:
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agreed expenses for travel and accommodation
a bursary of £2,652 to cover the selected composer’s time, writing of new works and the
cost of producing scores and parts
agreed budget for developing work with the ensemble
Details of the development process:
During the year the chosen composer will have the opportunity to observe and participate in all
aspects of BCMG’s work. The framework for the residency includes:
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Getting to know the group: participating in the life of BCMG through visits and engagement
with a broad spectrum of their work. This could include observation at planning meetings,
rehearsals and performances.
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Learning and Participation work: observation of and participation in BCMG’s learning
programme.
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Composition: writing a piece for BCMG within the parameters of 10-15 minutes and 10-15
players, to be premiered towards the end of the residency and a short piece for young
performers to be performed approximately half way through the residency.
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Development time: the opportunity for a mid-year workshop. A certain amount of
development time with individual players can also be available in order to work with specific
instruments and players or test and develop new ideas.
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Mentoring: working with a mentor throughout the residency chosen in consultation with
you.
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Shadowing: Observing closely the development and realisation of a new commission for
BCMG by another composer, where appropriate.
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Be invited to contribute to The British Music Collection as curator, writer or profiled
composer.
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Join the 2017 New Voices cohort, featuring on the British Music Collection. Each year all
the residents on the Embedded and Portfolio programmes become our annual ‘New Voices’.
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Attending New Voices networking event and Embedded days during the residency period,
sharing ideas with the other participating composers
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Composers who are selected to take a place in the Embedded programme will be offered an
opportunity to participate in a Coaching programme run by Sound and Music. Coaching is a
one-to-one relationship that supports a person to improve aspects of their performance at
work or work-life balance. This may include focus on particular working relationships,
delegation or decision-making as well as overall career direction and focus
Timings for the project:
Noon, 25 April 2017
w/c 22 May 2017
13 June 2017
23 June 2017
September 2017 onward
Summer/Autumn 2018
Deadline for applications
Notification of interview
Interviews at CBSO Centre, Birmingham
Invitation for selected composer to attend BCMG’s Aldeburgh
concert, meet the team, players and conductor
Core development period of residency: Attending rehearsals,
workshops, performances, meetings; development of new work,
presentation of work.
Residency period ends
BCMG 2016/17 season and future plans:
BCMG’s 2016/17 season has already included premieres from Kevin Volans, Francisco Coll and Helen
Grime, and will continue with concerts in June, which feature world premieres of commissions from
Colin Matthews and Oliver Knussen. In the 2017/18 season, they will commission new site-specific
pieces from Richard Baker and Ondrej Adamek.
Upcoming concerts in Birmingham Contemporary Music Group’s 2016/17 season
Saturday 10 June, CBSO Centre
16:00 Families @4
BCMG presents a relaxed, hour-long, late-afternoon concert for the whole family exploring Secret
Theatre by composer Harrison Birtwistle.
Saturday 10 June, CBSO Centre, Birmingham
19:30
Celebrating Three Masters
Oliver Knussen
Songs Without Voices; Four Late Poems and an Epigram of Rainer Maria
Rilke
Colin Matthews
A Land of Rain (World premiere / BCMG Sound Investment commission)
Harrison Birtwistle
dear dusty moth; Secret Theatre
Conductor: Oliver Knussen
Soprano: Claire Booth
Friday 23 June, Snape Maltings, Suffolk
Harrison Birtwistle
Chorales from a Toyshop; dear dusty moth; The Sadness of Komachi
Stravinsky
Two Poems of Balmont; Three Japanese Lyrics
Jo Kondo
Three Songs Tennyson Sung; Standing
Oliver Knussen
O Hototogisu!
Conductor: Oliver Knussen
Flute: Marie-Christine Zupancic
Soprano: Claire Booth
Tenor: Robert Murray
Learning and Participation projects include:
Music Maze: Eight day-long weekend composing workshops, for young people aged 8-11 at CBSO
Centre using BCMG concert repertoire as a stimulus for children’s own composing.
Zigzag Ensemble: Eight day-long weekend workshops for young people aged 12-16 at CBSO Centre
exploring composing /improvising within an ensemble context.
Feel the Buzz: Three day-long composing workshops (autumn, spring and summer) for young people
aged 14-18 led by various composers. An opportunity for the young people to compose for BCMG
musicians.
Families@4: late afternoon informal performances at CBSO Centre and other venues, presenting
selected pieces from the evening concert to a family audience
Family drop-ins: 2 or 3 creative music and visual art workshops in community venues in
collaboration with the Ikon Gallery for all the family.
Secondary school composing projects: projects with a variety of Birmingham secondary schools
supporting the composing element of the curriculum.
Listen Imagine Compose (LIC): various events stemming from the original LIC action research project
exploring the teaching and learning of composing at Key Stage 3 and 4.
Birmingham University Student Composer Workshops: Four or five half-day workshops
rehearsing/recording student composer pieces with a large eight-piece BCMG ensemble, and
augmented by a series of instrumental seminars
Birmingham Conservatoire Student Composer Workshops: One day workshop rehearsing/recording
10-15 student composer pieces with an eight-piece BCMG ensemble.
Selection process:
A selection panel will shortlist composers for interview. The interview panel will consist of Stephan
Meier, Artistic Director of BCMG, Nancy Evans, BCMG’s Director of Learning and Participation, a
representative from Sound and Music and an independent panellist.
Shortlisted candidates will be invited to an interview, taking place in Birmingham. Travel grants of
up to £75 can be provided on application to shortlisted candidates. The selected composer will be
chosen following the interviews.
Eligibility
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You must be resident in the UK at the time of application and for the duration of the scheme
You must be 18 years old or over
You must not be in full time undergraduate education
You must be able to commit fully to the required schedule of the project
This must represent a significant development opportunity for you
You are welcome to apply for more than one Sound and Music professional development
scheme at a time but will only be able to participate on one. If you choose to apply to
multiple Sound and Music professional development schemes, please submit separate
applications for each call.
You are not eligible for this call if you have previously completed an Embedded residency.
However you may apply for this residency if you are on another Sound and Music
programme, providing that this residency presents a significant development opportunity
for you.
This project is funded by The Leverhulme Trust. Additional support for Sound and Music and
BCMG is funded by Arts Council England, PRS for Music Foundation and the Esmée Fairbairn
Foundation. As such you will not be able to apply to these funders for additional funding to
support this work.
Sound and Music actively seeks to encourage a diversity of applicants to its programmes. If you are
selected, we will do our best to accommodate any particular needs you may have. A copy of our
Equality Policy is available on our website here:
http://www.soundandmusic.org/knowledge-hub/r-and-d
How to apply:
Applications are submitted online here:
https://soundandmusic.typeform.com/to/d2x6PR?firstn=xxxxx&lastn=xxxxx&email=xxxxx
You will receive confirmation of your application once it has been submitted; please contact
[email protected] if you don’t receive a confirmation. Please note that late
submissions will not be accepted.
There are six questions in the application form:
Q1: Please tell us about why you are interested in this project? Please tell us a bit about the
work that you create and why you create it? What are the barriers at the moment? What
would make the biggest difference to you moving forward with your work? What is it about
BCMG in particular that interests you?
Q2: How would this project take you forward as a composer? Tell us a bit about where you
are currently with your creative practice, and how this residency might develop it. What is it
about being resident with BCMG that will help you progress?
Q3 What might your starting points be for developing an ensemble work with BCMG?
Please note that this is a residency opportunity where ideas will develop throughout the
project. This section does not need to read as a fully-fledged commission proposal, we just
want to know what your initial points of departure might be should you be successful in your
application.
Q4 Please share brief information about any experience in learning work to date. Eg have
you done any teaching or supported community workshops?
Q5 What potential collaborations might you be interested to explore and how might they
be connected with your composing? These might be with practitioners from other artforms
or particular solo instrumentalists but need not be confined to this.
Q6: What are your other commitments for 2017/18?
You will also be asked to include:
1. your music CV and including a list of key works/collaborations. Please submit as a .docx
(Word) file for accessibility reasons, with a maximum word count of 350 words
2. your biography (no more than 100 words) in .docx format only. See this guide from the
Australian Music Centre for help with writing a concise biography.
3. Scores (or other notated material) and supporting streamed audio recordings (if available) of
two contrasting examples of your work. At least one of these works should be for chamber
ensemble if possible and pieces should be characteristic of your work and your plans for
your residency. For audio/visual material please do not send files or Dropbox links. We are
asking composers/music creators to provide links to their work on Soundcloud for its
accessibility and privacy features. For information about uploading files with privacy
settings please click here.
4. A completed equal opportunities form – which will follow on from the online application
form linked to above
NB: Please include your full name at the beginning of the title of every attachment you send. Please
also include your name and the opportunity you’re applying for in the header of each document.
Deadline for applications: noon Wednesday 19 April
2017
For any queries regarding this residency please contact Sarah Moir at Sound and Music on
[email protected].
Birmingham Contemporary Music Group
Birmingham Contemporary Music Group enjoys an established a reputation for exciting
performances, innovative audience-building and learning initiatives, and a central commitment to
composers and the presentation of new work. The Group thrives on innovation and invention and is
critically acclaimed for championing the most forward-looking music regionally, nationally and
internationally.
As a world-leading contemporary ensemble, BCMG has premiered over 170 works, most
commissioned through its pioneering Sound Investment scheme, with a family of Investors
supporting each new piece. In addition, BCMG’s extensive Learning and Participation Programme
supports young people as composers, performers and listeners of new music through an exciting
range of projects in- and out-of-school.
BCMG features on numerous CDs, including an ongoing series of NMC discs devoted to British
composers, with recent recordings of music by Charlotte Bray, Oliver Knussen, Tansy Davies,
Alexander Goehr and Richard Causton. The Group has two Artists-in- Association, Oliver Knussen and
John Woolrich, and Sir Simon Rattle is the Group’s Founding Patron.
http://www.bcmg.org.uk/
Sound and Music is the national charity for new music in the UK. Our mission is to maximise the
opportunities for people to create and enjoy new music. Our work includes composer and artist
development, partnerships with a range of organisations, audience development, touring,
information and advice, network building, and education. We champion new music and the work of
British composers and artists, and seek to ensure that they are at the heart of cultural life and
enjoyed by many.
www.soundandmusic.org
is funded by