2019 HEAR NOW Music Festival

Mark your calendars to join us on May 2, 3, 4, and 5, 2019 for the Ninth Annual HEAR NOW Music Festival, presenting the French ensemble TM+ and our continuing collaborators, Lyris Quartet, Brightwork newmusic, People Inside Electronics, and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.

OPEN CALL TO SUBMIT WORKS 

Deadline: October 1, 2018

Festival dates: May 2, 3, 4, and 5, 2019

Open to Los Angeles area-based composers. If you are writing contemporary, classical concert music, you live and work primarily in Los Angeles, and you have not had a work presented by Hear Now in 2017 and 2018, you are eligible to submit a work in one of the following categories:

Acoustic chamber music

• No more than 8 players (fewer if possible)
• No more than 15 minutes in length.
• All combinations of voice, strings, woodwinds and brass will be available. We will have a piano.
• A small percussion setup is possible.

Electroacoustic music

• In addition to the electronic element, 1-6 players can be used. The core ensemble for this concert consists of flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano and percussion (limited setup), though other instruments can be included as well.
• Electronics can be live or fixed media. In addition to other materials, a detailed description of technical requirements must be provided with the application.
• No more than 15 minutes in length

For all submissions, make sure that all files are ANONYMOUS. Non-anonymous submissions cannot be considered.

Please send the following NO LATER THAN OCTOBER 1, 2018 to hearnowcomposersfestival@gmail.com:

Please use the subject line: HEAR NOW SUBMISSION 2019

• ANONYMOUS Score in PDF format
• ANONYMOUS mp3 audio samples (MIDI acceptable). Please send files which do not show composer/performer/album info when opened in iTunes. Mp3 files without watermarks help us maintain anonymity. Please do not send links to recordings on websites such as SoundCloud, YouTube or your personal website

If your sound files are too large to be attached to an email please send them via Hightail or Dropbox, or a comparable email service.

FOR ALL SUBMISSIONS please also send the following confidential information in a separate email to: hearnowcomposersfestival@gmail.com with the subject line HEAR NOW SUBMISSION 2019 INFO. (Please send this information as regular email and not part of your Hightail, Dropbox, Yousendit, Wetransfer, etc. — large file services, and from your usual email address.)

• The name of your piece
• your contact info, including home address
• instrumentation
• duration
• any other (brief) information about the piece you would like to share (Will it be a premiere of any kind? Are there stand-alone movements? Recommended local musicians for difficult or thorny parts, etc.)

• Please include the statement: I agree to request and receive permission from all musicians performing my work for the Hear Now Music Festival before posting the recording publicly in any form.*

Submissions may have been performed before, and multi-movement works are acceptable. If you have any questions, please contact Artistic Director Hugh Levick or General Manager Heidi Lesemann at the above email address.

PERFORMANCES:

The 2019 Hear Now Music Festival will be held May 2, 3, 4, and 5, 2019. Performing ensembles include Lyris Quartet (founding ensemble of Hear Now) and Brightwork newmusic (ensemble-in-residence for the electroacoustic concert), plus other first-rate musicians in the Los Angeles area.

This year, Hear Now is pleased to bring over members of the fine French ensemble TM+ to participate in the festival. TM+ will perform a full concert of selected works submitted to the festival. TM+ instrumentation: flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, percussion, conductor.

We are very much looking forward to hearing your music!

*The HEAR NOW Music Festival is audio and video recorded, and, if your work is selected for the festival, the recordings are made available to you. By submitting your musical materials, you are agreeing to get a media release from all musicians who perform your work in the festival before posting it publicly in any form (YouTube, your website, etc.). You may submit a recording or video from the Hear Now Music Festival performance as documentation for a grant proposal, or to provide a sample to other musicians or organizations for future performances, which is for private use only, without having such permissions. You also understand that Hear Now may use your Festival recording for artistic documentation for grant proposals and in short (30-60 second) excerpts for promotional purposes without requiring your permission.

 

How are works selected for the Hear Now Music Festival?

 

 

Quotes from students and teachers with The Harmony Project:

April 30th – Hear Now Workshop Reflections

• “I really enjoyed that the composer introduced his piece and the meaning behind the piece; it’s not everyday that you can meet a living composer.” –Vianey Calixto, age 16, has been playing cello for 8 years at The Harmony Project
• “I have never experienced a workshop presentation by a violin/viola duo or a quartet. I play the cello and I’m currently working on, “Concerto per 2 Cellos” by Antonio Vivaldi. I learned how to listen more carefully to one another and the importance of our respective parts.” –Kevin Huerta, age 16, has been playing cello for 8 years at The Harmony Project
• “I enjoyed and felt the energy from the performers. The composer really expressed what he felt in his piece and it is a true testament to how they feel about music.” –Carley Orteza, age 17, has been playing cello for 9 years at The Harmony Project

May 3rd – Concert at UCLA

• “I’m grateful I had the opportunity to go to the field trip to UCLA to see the performances. I was excited because I have never visited the UCLA campus. My favorite performance of the Hear Now Festival was, “Und Heute, Fünf Schwäne” by William Roper. Specifically, how Mr. William was able to explain his inspiration for the piece and he connected it back to how it relates to the present political sphere.” –Vianey Calixto, age 16, has been playing cello for 8 years at The Harmony Project
• “I loved that the students had a chance to be exposed to more contemporary music. I thought having the composers provide insight prior to the kids listening was perfect and really helped guide them through the music that is so conceptual. All the students I spoke to enjoyed it.” –Marta Honer, Harmony Project Violin/Viola Teaching Artist
• “The Hear Now Festival provides a space for creativity and brings artists together. It also plays a pivotal role in providing music education to youth in Los Angeles through their workshops, all while building a sense of community engagement.” –Ashley Ruiz, Harmony Project Alexandria Program Manager