Application - Lucerne Festival

Lucerne Festival Academy 2024
Composer Seminar
by Wolfgang Rihm and Dieter Ammann

Dates
Arrival Day: Friday, 16 August, 2024
Composer Seminar: Monday, 19 August - Saturday, 31 August, 2024
Departure Day: Sunday, 1 September, 2024

Program
This two-week-long composer seminar provides eight young composers an intense dialogue with Wolfgang Rihm, Dieter Ammann, and international young performers. During the first week, participants discuss their music with Dieter Ammann and Wolfgang Rihm in plenary sessions and in one-on-one discussions. In the second week, the composers will be joined by the IEMA-Ensemble 2023/24 and young conductors of Lucerne Festival's Contemporary-Conducting Program to rehearse their new works for ensemble written for the composer seminar to be premiered as part of the Summer Festival 2024.

Profile of Participants
– Advanced composition students and professional composers
– Age limit: 32 as of August 1, 2024 (not older than 32 years on August 1, 2024)
– Course language: English

Documents to be submitted (all documents can be submitted online except the scores)
– Photo (headshot)
– Curriculum vitae in German or English (maximum of two pages)
– Scores of two to three final works of different instrumentation
– Recordings in mp3 format of at least one of the submitted works

Please upload the recordings of your work and the scores (as PDF) online.

Further, send one printed copy of each score to the following address:

Lucerne Festival Contemporary
Composer Seminar
Hirschmattstrasse 13
CH-6003 Luzern

Important: The printed scores have to be delivered until Monday, 4th December 2023 at the latest!
Later entries of scores are not accepted and the application cannot be considered.

The course management will decide on active participation upon receipt of the registration forms and scores. The results of the selections will be announced by mid-January, 2024. There is no right of legal appeal. No correspondence regarding the decisions will be conducted.

Cooperation Lucerne Festival Composer Seminar with the International Ensemble Modern Academy (IEMA)
As part of a cooperation with the International Ensemble Modern Academy (IEMA), the IEMA-Ensemble 2023/24 will work during the second week of the composer seminar with the composers on new ensemble pieces, to be premiered as part of the Summer Festival 2023.
More information on IEMA.
During the closing concerts, four to five pieces will be selected by a jury formed of members of Ensemble Modern. Following a further working period with the composers, these pieces will then be performed by Ensemble Modern as part of their concert series "Happy New Ears" in Frankfurt.
The collaboration between the composer seminar of the Lucerne Festival, IEMA, and Ensemble Modern takes place through curtain_call, part of ICCS (International Composer & Conductor Seminars), Ensemble Modern's and IEMA’s programme for supporting young composers and conductors, funded by the Aventis Foundation.

New works
Composers must create a new piece lasting about eight minutes, for an ensemble of seven to twelve instruments, selected from the following instrumentation:
One flute (including piccolo and bass flute), one oboe, one clarinet (including bass clarinet), one trumpet, one trombone, one piano, one percussion, two violins, one viola, one violoncello, one double bass.
Please note that electronics may not be used.

Application deadline
Monday, 4 December, 2023 (23:59 CET, Swiss time)

Delivery dates for new works
March 18, 2024: Confirmation of instrumentation including list of percussion instruments
June 17, 2024: Delivery PDF score and parts to Lucerne Festival

Course fee
There is no fee for active participation in the Composer Seminar.

Travel
The Lucerne Festival Academy will cover the travel expenses for each active participant.

Accommodation
Lucerne Festival will arrange and cover the costs of accommodation for each active participant in a local host family.

Meals
Each active participant will receive a per diem for meals.

Scores
Each participant must provide his/her own scores.

Contact
academy@lucernefestival.ch

DATA PROTECTION AND PRIVACY
By submitting the application documents, the applicant confirms that he/she has been informed of Lucerne Festival's privacy notice. The privacy notice is available at the following link.

Composer Seminar 2024