Deterritorializing / Call for Scores & Proposals

ARABIC / ARMENIAN / FARSI / TURKISH Translation

Anoush Moazzeni, with the support of the Canadian Music Centre and IFCA (Iranian Female Composers Association), is calling for one-minute pieces (existing/new works, or proposals) composed by West Asian Composers. The theme of this call is: “Deterritorializing the realm of new music”.

Pieces will be performed by Anoush Moazzeni, and can feature piano & objects + electronics and/or spoken word, poems, and voice.

Selected works and proposals would be presented in concert at the Canadian Music Centre in Toronto, Canada, in spring 2021—the performance is currently planned as a livestream presentation as part of the #TogetherAtHome online series.

Eligibility: Composers of any age, and career stage who identify as West Asian (including those in the diaspora). In particular, this call encourages women and persons identifying as LGBTQI2+ to submit their works.

List of Countries: Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cyprus, Egypt, Emirates, Georgia, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Oman, Kuwait, Jordan, Libya, Lebanon, Palestine, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Yemen.

Deadline: October 15, 2020 (11:59 PM PST)

Submission: Use the online form linked at the bottom of this page to submit

  • Existing and proposed works must be 60 seconds in length or less
  • Existing and proposed pieces should be written for the available instrumentation (combinations of piano + objects and/or electronics, and/or spoken word, poems, and voice)
  • Text can include various languages: Arabic, Armenian, Deutsch, English, Farsi, French & Turkish
  • For proposed works, we ask that composers provide a sample work and a written statement of intent regarding the project
  • For existing works, we ask that composers provide a short program note to accompany the score/instructions of the piece
  • Applicants will also provide a short bio (50 words)

  • Composers will be notified of selections one month after the deadline
  • Organizers can provide letters of support for composers pursuing commissioning funds
  • Organizers will be finding out about results of grant applications in February 2021, and will communicate with selected composers about financial honoraria
  • The date of the performance will be finalized in early 2021, aiming for a date in April 2021.
  • Organizers will prepare contingencies for any changes to the project timeline that result from the pandemic response and required health measures.

The selected composers will be emailed and the results announced via the CMC’s and Anoush Moazzeni’s Websites.

More about the project | Contemporary new music aims to liberate formalities and standards in music making. Our aim is to produce a program that contributes to conditions of recognition and representation in the realm of new music and to raise awareness of West Asian cultures and music and, by extension, to explore issues and ideas shaping the identities and experiences of people from the region. We are calling on artists to deterritoralize from the dominant narratives in the new music practice and to open up to new possibilities for music making. We want to hear from artists who bring diverse perspectives on sociality, subjectivity and aesthetics through their music, and are interested in pieces that play with the phenomenology of sounds including the sources, materials, and social/cultural aspects of sound. We invite you to bring your cultural heritage, voices, choices and personal nuances into this project, and are looking for work that is challenging, experimental and engaged in critical discussions that offer new perspectives on contemporary West Asian realities.

Visuals | Graphic Motion Poster by Erfan Jamshidi, Nullsight, 2020

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