Things are changing in 2025! We’ll be hosting three concerts in March, April and May instead one big festival. We’re also dedicating one of those concerts to vocal chamber music, so if you write for singers, please get your submission in asap. Your deadline is August 15. The submissions process is online only — read the instructions carefully, and make sure you complete all steps. We look forward to hearing about your work!
OPEN CALL TO SUBMIT WORKS
Deadline: August 15, 2024
Festival dates: One concert each in March, April and May 2025
HEAR NOW strives to reflect cultural equity, equality, and inclusiveness in the diversity of its composers, performers, outreach to its audiences and students, and the makeup of its board and staff. It strives to achieve equity and inclusiveness by reaching out in an Open Call to all composers in the area.
Eligibility
Open to Los Angeles area-based composers. Experimental works are encouraged. If you are writing contemporary, classical concert music, you live and work primarily in Los Angeles, and you have not had a work performed at the festival in the last three years, you are eligible to submit a work in one of the following categories:
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, 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
Vocal Chamber Music
Either solos, duets, or vocal group up to 8 members
- May be combined with instruments, up to 8 musicians total including vocal
- No more than 15 minutes in length
Instrumental Chamber Music
- All combinations of strings, woodwinds and brass will be available. We will have a piano.
- For 1 to 8 players
- No more than 15 minutes in length
Note: Submissions may have been performed before, and multi-movement works are acceptable.
PERFORMANCES
- Performing ensembles available include Lyris Quartet (founding ensemble of Hear Now), Brightwork Ensemble (ensemble-in-residence), HEX Vocal Ensemble (ensemble-in-residence — up to 8 singers), plus other first-rate musicians in the Los Angeles area.
HOW TO APPLY
STEP ONE
FOR ALL SUBMISSIONS please fill out and submit the form linked here
This form will collect the following information:
- Title of your piece
- Your contact info, including email, phone, and 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 that could be extracted? Recommended local musicians for difficult or thorny parts, etc.?)
- (Optional) If you identify as a member of a historically underrepresented group (also including female, LGBTQ+), please indicate.
- Please agree to the statements at the bottom, including: 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.*
STEP TWO
Please send the following NO LATER THAN AUGUST 15, 2024 to hearnowcomposersfestival@gmail.com:
Please use the subject line: HEAR NOW 2025 SUBMISSION
- 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. Please DO include the title of your piece.
- For all submissions, make sure that these files are ANONYMOUS. Non-anonymous submissions cannot be considered.
Please send from your regular email so that the person who codes your submission can match it with your submission form. If your sound files are too large to be attached to an email, please send them via Hightail, Dropbox, or a comparable file transfer service.
YOUR SUBMISSION WILL NOT BE COMPLETE UNTIL REQUIREMENTS OF BOTH STEPS HAVE BEEN FULFILLED. Both must be completed by the stated deadline.
If you have any questions, please contact artistic director Hugh Levick or general manager Heidi Lesemann at hearnowcomposersfestival@gmail.com
The review process is detailed on our website: http://www.hearnowmusicfestival.com/the-hear-now-music-festival-selection-process/
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.
PLEASE PASS THIS ALONG TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS.