Submissions

SUBMISSION TERMS

For its 2024 open call for scores, Atlanta Contemporary Ensemble is looking for 3 pieces between 5-7 minutes, scored for modern dancers and small mixed chamber ensemble. The music will reflect and draw inspiration from three paintings by Krista M. Jones, which will feature at the start of the concert with projections and a brief lecture. Art and artist statement are at the bottom of this page.

The selected scores which will be performed in Atlanta, GA in April 2025 as part of the SoundNOW music festival, performed by the Atlanta Contemporary Ensemble, professionally choreographed, recorded, and video-taped.

The deadline to apply is 5pm on October 1st 2024. Your application will remain anonymous throughout the adjudication procedure.  There is no age limit to apply.  Older pieces are welcome, we do not require original compositions. Email all applications to admin@atlce.org. 

You will need to submit:

1) Resume

2) Score in pdf format WITH YOUR NAME REMOVED OR BLOCKED OUT. One submission per composer. Older or previously performed pieces are welcome. Please no handwritten scores.

3) A recording of the piece (instrumental recording or piano reduction is preferred, midi is acceptable)

Because this is for mixed ensemble, music must be for at least three players and some combination of more than one of the following groups (for example, you could score for clarinet-violin-trap set or viola-cello-flute, but not all strings or all winds):

Strings: Violin, viola, 'cello, bass

Winds: Flute, clarinet, saxophone

Percussion: trap set

Please keep in mind that ACE will have limited rehearsal time with the dancers, so while we want to see your best work, don't send in anything that would require 100 hours of rehearsal time. We look forward to hearing from you!

For any questions please contact admin@atlce.org

 Artist statement

My current work centers on symbolism and figuration that explores the human experience through fragmented landscapes and avian themes. At times the work mirrors aspects of expressionism, cubism, and abstract expressionism with a tendency toward deformation and dislocation of shapes and subject matter. These dreamlike landscape paintings are meant to captivate and move the viewer through an experience. I am interested in breaking down subjects into simplified forms and putting them back together in complex ways that challenge the mind, offering the viewer just enough visual cues to create their own story.

By using color forms that make up this kind of patchwork, I can simplify busy streets and the chaos of unseen lives into meditative and connected patterns. To step back and gain a wider view from above is a way for me to examine Sympatheia, a philosophy that says all things are mutually woven together and because of that they have affinity for each other. This body of work is simultaneously a reminder of our greatness and our smallness, our insignificance and our essentialness, an affinity of parts to the whole, and mutual interdependence. Through non-human focus subjects, such as birds, I process life while depersonalizing the work so it can reach a wider audience. Ultimately, all of my work is rooted in the desire to understand my human existence, to feel connected, and share with the world around me.