Pathos Trio announces its 3rd Annual Call for Scores for their 2024-25 Season
Pathos Trio is pleased to announce its 3rd Annual Call for Scores to select a composer for commissioning a new work for our upcoming 2024-2025 season.
For this Call for Scores, Pathos Trio will select one composer to create a work for the following instrumentation to be premiered during our 2024-25 season in New York City:
2 percussionists
1 acoustic piano (Baby Grand)
Synthesizer or MIDI keyboard (or both)
and electronics (live or fixed audio playback)
Pathos invites composers who have backgrounds both in classical/contemporary music, as well as composers who write for/have strong interests in mainstream styles of music such as electronic music, alternative rock, progressive metal, minimalist music, and more. Applicants must be 18 years or older and individuals who come from various backgrounds (regardless of age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and gender) are encouraged to apply.
The selected composer will receive from Pathos Trio:
A commissioning fee of $2,500 to compose a new 7-8 minute work for two percussionists and piano/synthesizer and/or MIDI keyboard and electronics. Audio/Video documentation of the commission will also be provided, as well as promotional support.
About Pathos Trio:
“Elevated themselves into those elite ranks alongside Yarn/Wire, Sō Percussion, Tigue, Iktus and Ensemble Et Al", as described by the New York Music Daily, Pathos Trio (consisting of percussionists Marcelina Suchocka, Felix Reyes, and pianist/composer Will Healy) is a two percussion and piano trio committed to combining aesthetics of contemporary classical music with their interests in dark, heavy, dense sounds drawn from various genres of music such as alternative rock, progressive/black metal, cathedral music, minimalist music, electronic synth-wave, and more, while also aiming to bring adventurous music to audiences through collaborations with young, living new music composers.
Their accolades include being Semi Finalists for Concert Artist Guild's 2022 Victor Elmaleh Virtual Competition, 2021 & 2022 Ensemble Forward Grantees from Chamber Music America, and receiving project support from various national music organizations and NYS sources of funding such as New Music USA, Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Johnstone Fund for New Music, Amphion Foundation, and New York State Council for the Arts, amongst others.
To get a sense of the aesthetic, style and direction Pathos is seeking for this commission, here are some video examples of their most recent commissions form their most recent album Polarity that features works by Ian Chang, Phong Tran, Andrew M Rodriguez, Paul Mortilla, Vicente Hansen Atria, and Clara Warnaar:
Pathos Trio will judge submissions based on quality of audio/video samples, quality and clarity of score samples, musical style, project statement, and how your work/samples aligns with the ensemble’s interests in what we are looking aesthetically/stylistically as mentioned above.
ELIGIBILITY:
Composers of all nationalities and ages (18+) are welcome to apply.
There are no restrictions in terms of geographic location. Anyone from within the United States and abroad are encouraged to apply.
DATES & DEADLINES:
December 31st, 2023: All applications are due by 11:59pm ET. No late submissions will be accepted
mid/late January 2024: Notification of selected composer will be announced.
January - May 31st, 2024: Composer will begin writing commission and spend time with Pathos Trio workshopping ideas/sketches of their piece.
July 1st, 2024: New work must be completed with score/parts to be provided to the ensemble
July 2nd-August 31st, 2024 - Pathos will work on rehearsing/putting together commission along with the rest of their season’s worth of music
September 2024- May 2025– Premiere performance of commission will take place in New York City, venue TBA.
APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS: Through the application, we want to get to know you, your work, and your ideas for a collaboration with Pathos Trio!
Here are the main application components you’ll need to prepare for your submission:
1. 2 Audio and/or Video Samples: Please share either 2 audio samples, 1 audio and 1 video sample, or 2 video samples, completely up to you. We’re looking to get to know your creative voice and the kinds of ideas you might bring to an ensemble piece for Pathos Trio, so please send along what you feel will put you in the best light in terms of what we’re looking for! Submitting at least one live performance (either audio or video) of one of your samples is strongly encouraged.
2. 2 Score Samples: We’ll also ask you to share one score sample of an ensemble work (preferably something that closely aligns with or includes Pathos’ instrumentation of two percussionists and piano, so we can see how you might potentially write for our group) and one score sample to go along with one of your audio/video samples you submit.
3. Project Statement: In under 300 words, tell us about your ideas for a new work for Pathos Trio and why you are interested in working with us!
4. Background: CV/resume (no more than 3 pages) and 1 page bio
Applying is free, and all application components need to be emailed to pathos.ensemble@gmail.com at the postmark deadline date of December 31st, 2023 by 11:59pm ET. NO EXCEPTIONS!
If you have any questions you may also email at the same address above, but please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions section below before reaching out with any questions.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:
Am I eligible if I’m a student?
Yes, as long as you’re over the age of 18.
If chosen, would I have to travel to New York for the premiere?
It’s not required, but we would strongly encourage our select composer to join us leading up to and for the premiere of the commissioned work (with covid-safety and travel in consideration, performance date may vary or change).
If chosen, will I have my travel expenses covered for the premiere of my work in New York?
If chosen, expenses to come to New York City for the premiere plus lodging will need to come out of the expense of the composer. Depending on how our budgeting is at that time we may be able to cover travel expenses, but that is not guaranteed and the composer will still need to find their own lodging accommodations.
What if I don’t have a live recording of my work samples I want to submit?
We understand that it’s not always possible to submit recordings of your previous work. While we prefer live performance recordings, we’ll consider MIDI renditions if a live recording is not available.
Will you consider ideas for works with non-traditional notation?
Yes, as long as the ensemble is able to clearly follow along with the score with no issues, we don’t discourage composers using things such as graphic notation.