Press Release: for immediate use
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"New Zealand Music Month is an ideal time for community groups to gain inspiration to become involved in a musical
project over the next year," says Scilla Askew, Executive Director of SOUNZ, the Centre for New Zealand Music.
”Each year, around this time, we accept submissions for the SOUNZ Community Commission,” Askew explains. “This is a very
special project which brings together professional composers and community groups to create and perform a new work. Not
only do both these parties benefit from the collaborative, creative process but also, when the result is performed, the
audience get to share in the energy and vitality that is engendered in the commissioning of new music.”
The SOUNZ Community Commission is made possible through the generosity of a donor who prefers to remain anonymous. Up to
$1500 is made available to the composer to support their collaboration with a community group that has not worked
closely before with a professional composer. Since 1999, a diverse range of projects have been supported by the SOUNZ
Community Commission: from music for the Millennium festivities in Gisborne (composer Jonathan Besser and the Gisborne
Millennium Parade Committee) to music for recorder ensemble and gamelan (composer Helen Bowater and the Christchurch
Recorder Festival)
Most recently Auckland-based composer Claire Cowan and the Hutt Valley Concert Orchestra worked together to produce a
piece in celebration of the orchestra’s 50th Anniversary. Recipe for Disaster, inspired by the idea that ‘too many cooks
spoil the broth’, was written for divided orchestra and two conductors using wooden spoons and taking turns to add new
musical ‘flavours’ in an effort to outdo one another.
SOUNZ is now accepting proposals from composers or community groups (or preferably both) for the 2008 SOUNZ Community
Commission. The submissions deadline is Monday, 30 June. More information can be found on the SOUNZ
website:http://sounz.org.nz/events/show/709
“The creation of a completely new piece of music is an exciting and invigorating experience for all involved,” Scilla
Askew says, “and the results can be shared with audiences as part of New Zealand Music Month 2009!”
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