New! Inaugural Year for Song Competition Prizes
Songfest is pleased to announce two song prizes in 2024 that encourage singers/pianists to develop innovative
and engaging recital programs that explore song repertoire in a new format.
SONGFEST 2024 at Pomona College, Claremont, CA
SongFest Festival – May 30-June 21 • Composer Mentorship Program – June 11-18
The Art Song XXI Prize
This prize will offer 4 young artists (Two (2) singer-pianist duos) the opportunity to work closely with internationally renowned pianist and scholar Graham Johnson. They will work together in private coachings with Mr. Johnson to create a unique and innovative recital program.
Awardees will receive
• $1000 cash prize per singer/pianist duo
• Full tuition waiver
• Room and board partial cost
• Private coachings with the senior piano faculty
• One complete half of a full Songfest recital performed at the 2024 festival
Awardees will be selected by SongFest’s artistic leadership and by Mr. Johnson himself, who will review the two duos’ audition materials. Although not required, applicants for this prize are encouraged (not required) to submit a draft of their concert program proposal along with their regular SongFest Application materials. No special recordings need to be submitted at the time of application. All audition recordings will be considered to assess the applicant's eligibility for the prize. If awarded the prize, the songs submitted might not necessarily be part of the final recital program.
Criteria will include:
• Quality of application materials
• Unique quality of the programming, if submitted.
Questions?
Javier Arrebola, co-artistic director - javier.songfest@gmail.com and contact for this project with any questions you may have.
Rosemary Ritter, director – songfestus@gmail.com
The American Song XXI Prize
This is the inaugural year for The American Song Prize. John Harbison will be this year’s featured composer. Each subsequent year a different SongFest composer will be highlighted.
This prize offers 4 young artists (Two (2) singer-pianist duos) the opportunity to grow their programming skills, knowledge of contemporary American art song repertoire and performance experience by creating an innovative and interesting half-recital program. The duos will have private coachings with selected SongFest’s senior composers: John Harbison, Jake Heggie and Libby Larsen and senior piano faculty Lydia Brown, Rosemary Ritter and Liza Stepanova.
• $1000 cash prize per duo
• Full tuition waiver
• Room and board partial cost
• Private coachings with the composition and senior piano faculty
• One complete half of a full SongFest recital to be performed at the 2024 program
Special criteria for The American Song
Applicants interested in being considered for this prize must submit a draft of their concert program along with their regular SongFest Application materials. This draft should include a detailed description and draft of your program proposal by March 4 (or Feb 16 for Early Bird App: $25 app fee) and how it will be executed. Consider the following while developing your program
• Length – Recital program must be no longer than 40 min.
• Repertoire – a. Can Include immigrant composers who reside in the U.S. b. Time period: Works included must have been written by composers born after 1930, or must have premiered no earlier than 1930.
Your application materials do not need to include songs from your proposed recital program.
PLEASE NOTE: Songfest will provide a list of resources to assist in developing your program. Suggestions of previous SongFest resident composers and commissions, repertoire lists of those composers, and sample programs will be available under “Other Resources”.
Criteria will include:
• Inventiveness of the program
• Description of the event
• Quality of application materials
Questions?
We are happy to answer any questions you may have.
Rosemary Ritter, director – songfestus@gmail.com
Martha Guth, co-artistic director – martha.songfest@gmail.com
Guidelines for Applicants of Both Prizes
• Applicant – Applicants for both prizes may be established duos, proposed new partnerships or individual applicants (singer or pianist, in which case, if awarded any of the prizes, will be paired by SongFest’s artistic leadership).
• Partnership – It is expected that duos will work collaboratively to create these programs, sharing in the ideas, workload, and creativity.
• Deadline – Applications must be submitted in FULL on YAP Tracker with all required materials plus $40 application fee on or before the deadline of March 4 to be considered for this prize. Should you wish to apply by the ‘Early Bird’ date, February 16, the application fee is $25.
• Notification – Awardees will be notified of acceptance no later than March 15, 2024.
• Deposit due – $700. Non-refundable housing/meals deposit must be received by March 21. The remainder of housing costs (minus $700 and any scholarship awarded) is due April 1. All duos will receive a full tuition fellowship and partial room & meals.
*Early applications are strongly encouraged!
• Enhancements – Recitation, projections, and any other program enhancements are welcome and encouraged for the American Prize. Recitation for the Art Song Prize is accepted. If selected as an awardee, all visual and supporting materials (no subtitles) must be finalized, approved, and delivered to SongFest administration no later than April 8, 2024. SongFest reserves the right to edit any additional content for any reason.