Royal Northern Sinfonia Searches for Tomorrow’s Mozarts

The orchestra of the North-East’s young composer competition, spearheaded by new music director Lars Vogt, is about more than finding new talent – it’s about saving an entire performance tradition “The chamber orchestra is in many ways at the heart, or centre of classical music. Sitting between the spectacular symphony orchestra and deeply intimate chamber ensembles – quartets, trios and the like – is the chamber orchestra. So the great chamber orchestras can provide the full experience, the excitement of a large force with the detailed emotion of the even smaller groups. But in their search for novel sound-worlds, instrument combinations and musical expressions, many composers today have tended to forget that fact. So our mission here is nothing less than the future of the chamber orchestra. Of Mozart’s orchestra.” So says Thorben Dittes, Director of the Royal Northern Sinfonia, introducing the orchestra’s major new competition for young composers. The goal is to (re)inspire composers to write for chamber orchestras – a tradition dating back to the era of Mozart and before. And after. Leonard Bernstein, Igor Stravinsky and many 20^th century composers wrote works specifically for the smaller orchestra. But today, say Dittes and the RNS’s Music Director Lars Vogt, fewer leading composers set out to write for such an ensemble. “And this,” says Vogt, “despite the fact that we probably have finer chamber orchestras now than at any time in history.” The RNS is undoubtedly to be classed in that elite group (hailed by The Guardian as, “practically flawless”) and so it is apt that they should be taking a bold step to solve the issue.  Taking their lead from the fact that there will be a focus on “Reclaiming Mozart” in their 2015/16 season, the RNS are launching a search for a young composer to write music for the ensemble, inspired by the Mozartian tradition. Judged by a prestigious panel that includes Vogt, alongside composers Sally Beamish, John Casken and Agustin Fernández, the composers must be full-time music students studying at undergraduate or postgraduate level at a UK university or conservatoire during the 2015/16 academic year. The brief is to create an eight-minute work, scored for chamber ensemble (meaning 2 flutes, 2 oboes, 2 clarinet, 2 bassoons, 2 French horns, 2 trumpets, timpani and string 8.6.4.4.2, plus auxiliary instruments i.e. piccolo, bass clarinet and contrabassoon).  Entrants are encouraged to engage with Mozart’s world by responding to a specific Mozart work or operatic scene. Six semi-finalists will have their works played by the orchestra in a workshop day in November. And from these, three pieces will be selected by the panel and orchestra, to be performed for the public by RNS, conducted by Lars Vogt, in January. At that concert, the audience, jury and orchestra together will pick their prize-winners. The overall winner will be awarded £2,500; the two runners-up will win £1,500 each. “It is my hope that we find a real new jewel, or perhaps several, for our orchestra and all chamber orchestras,” says Vogt, “But even more than this, I hope that the very fact of this competition might inspire many more composers to write for chamber orchestra. To join us on a journey that may have begun with Mozart and many other great composers, but still has a long, beautiful way to go.” The deadline for submissions is 5pm on Wednesday 31 October. All details for applicants can be found at sagegateshead.com/join-in/mozarts-of-tomorrow-young-composers-competition/