11th Rivers Awards Composition Competition (RACC) 2022 Announced

April 29, 2022 / Frank J. Oteri
Shanghai Conservatory
Shanghai Conservatory

The Shanghai Conservatory of Music has announced the 11th Rivers Awards Composition Competition (RACC). RACC aims to promote extensive exchange between Chinese and Western music, encouraging innovative and explorative composition for Chinese and Western musical instruments, and build a high-end platform to introduce outstanding original musical works to the public. A positive theme that embodies the spirit of the modern era is a basic requirement for the entries of this competition, which should be created with novel methods and rich in artistic appeal. The jury will consist of experts and professors from prestigious Chinese and international music institutions.

This competition is open to participants under the age of 45 (born after December 31st, 1976) regardless of their nationality, location, or profession. The participants may be professional composers or teachers and students specializing in composition. No entry fee will be required from the participants. Entries of the competition should be composed for the following designated Chinese and Western musical instruments, involving a total number of 3-9 performers: 1 Dizi-bamboo transverse flute (doubling Xiao-bamboo end blown flute), 1 Pipa, 1 Erhu and 1 piano, 2 violins, 1 viola, 1 cello, 1 double bass. (More details about composing for the Chinese instruments is included on pages 6 and 7 of the PDF embedded at the bottom of this news item.) Pre-recorded music or electronic music compositions will not be accepted. The duration of the music should be 5-8 minutes and be marked clearly on the first page of the score.

The compositions submitted for this competition should be of original music work composed by each participant him/herself that has not been officially published or received any official awards. Participants should provide a clean and clear score of his/her composition anonymously. Any sign or mark made to the score that has no relation to the composition itself he/she will be disqualified. Any composition that doesn’t meet the above requirements will be disqualified. Members of the Jury Panel and the Organizing Committee are not allowed to take part in the competition. All materials submitted will be kept on file by the Host and will not be returned. The decision on the result of the competition made by the Jury Panel shall be held as final and definitive.

All the required materials must be submitted by e-mail to [email protected] before 5:00 p.m. (China Standard Time = GMT+8) on Tuesday, August 30, 2022.

Application materials required include:

a) a tidy and clear score (PDF only);
b) a registration form correctly filled and signed by the participant (The registration form is included as page 5 on the PDF embedded at the bottom of this news item.)
c) two recently-taken photos (dimensions must be 33mm x 49mm);
d) a valid ID which must contain applicants date of birth (e.g. a copy of the participant’s valid National Identification Card or the biographical page of the applicant’s passport containing picture and personal information)

Participants may contact the Organizing Committee if they have any questions or enquires.
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 008621-64314220
Fax: 008621-64314220
Website: https://nmw.shcmusic.edu.cn/

To ensure fairness of the competition, all the composition works will be numbered and sealed up before selection. The competition will be divided into two stages. The preliminary round will be based on the submitted scores and ten finalists will be selected. The finals will take place in the form of a final live performance, where the award-winning compositions will be selected and announced. In the light of the seriousness and authoritativeness of the competition, certain awards will be left vacant if no composition meets the criteria.

The awards for the competition are categorized as follows:

First Prize (1) $10,000
Second Prize (2) $5,000
Third Prize (3) $1,500
Merit Prize (4) $1,000

The finalists should participate in the Final Live Concert and the Summit Forum of Rivers Awards-Winning Works, with their travel and accommodation expenses during the competition covered by the Host.

Time of the Final Live Concert: 7:15 p.m. on Wednesday, October 12, 2022
Venue: He Luting Concert Hall, Shanghai Conservatory of Music

The winners of the competition will be announced on site upon the completion of the concert, which will be followed by the awards ceremony.

The Composer Forum of Rivers Awards – Winning Works

Basic information:
i) Time: 9:00am -11:30am, Thursday, October 13th, 2022
ii) Venue: Lecture Concert Hall of Shanghai Conservatory of Music
iii) Participants: competition finalists, jury members, performers, teachers and students of the Composition and Conducting Department of SHCM, and other conferees.

Summit agenda:
i) Speeches by the representative of the organizer and the chairman of the jury panel;
ii) Brief introduction of their works by prize winners (five minutes for each);
iii) Comments and discussions on prize-winning works by jury members;
iv) Comments and discussions on prize-winning works by performers;
v) Communication and exchange between conferees including the competition finalists, jury members, performers, teachers and students of the Composition Department of SHCM;
vi) Summary speech by the representative of the organizer, and release of the competition information.

Other Terms

Relevant rights:
i) The award winner holds the copyright of the winning composition.
ii) The award winner must agree to grant the following rights to the Host free of charge:
a) The organizer has the right to use the award-winning composition or any other forms of audio-visual products for non-commercial purpose.
b) The organizer has the right to premiere the award-winning composition and the priority to publish and perform the winning composition.
iii) Each award-winning composition, regardless of when and wherever it is performed, should be marked as a prize-winning composition of the 11th Rivers Awards Composition Competition 2022 on the cover of the score or the program list of a concert. For example, In English: (This is) A third prize-winning composition of the 11th Rivers Awards Composition Competition 2022.

2022-The-11th-RACCs-regulation-and-application-form-

Frank J. Oteri

 

Frank J. Oteri

New York City-based composer and music journalist Frank J. Oteri is an Assistant Professor of Musicology at the College of Performing Arts at The New School as well as Vice President of the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM). In his own musical compositions, which have been described as “distinctive” in The Grove Dictionary of American Music, Oteri combines emotional directness with an obsession for formal processes. His most recent work, Already Yesterday or Still Tomorrow, received its world premiere performance by the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Delta David Gier in January 2021. MACHUNAS, a performance oratorio created with visual artist Lucio Pozzi and inspired by the life of Fluxus-founder George Maciunas, premiered in Vilnius, Lithuania in 2005. Oteri received the 2007 Victor Herbert Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) and the 2018 Composers Now Visionary Award.