2nd Balkan Composer Competition in Prishtina – BCCP 2021
Prishtina ● Peja ● Prizren | September 6 - 10
Applications for the Balkan Composer Competition in Prishtina (BCCP) 2021 are now OPEN!
We are looking for composers from the twelve Balkan countries (Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey) to submit a piece of 3-5 minutes for solo flute, piccolo, alto flute or bass flute (without electronics). Six composers will be chosen as finalists whose works will be premiered by Susanne Peters, a fierce advocate of contemporary music who has worked with numerous composers and performs regularly with top contemporary music ensembles throughout Europe. She is currently flutist of Oerknal Ensemble (The Hague), Ensemble Contrechamps (Geneva), Collegium Novum Zürich and Le NEC (La Chaux-de-Fonds). The premiere performances (Video x Audio) will be streamed online on September 6th 2021.
The six finalists will have the opportunity to work with Susanne in online sessions at the beginning of August. After the performances are streamed on September 6th, an international jury will select a winner. That winner will receive the BCCP Silver Lynx Award and their composition will be performed in a public concert in Prizren on September 10th 2021. They will also receive a monetary prize of €500 and a commission for a new work to be premiered at DAM Festival 2023.
How to apply
BCCP is open to all composers living in the twelve Balkan countries (Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey) as well as composers from these countries who currently reside in the EU. All applicants should be born on or before January 1st 2003. BCCP welcomes applications from composers from a wide range of musical styles and backgrounds.
To apply please email the following to balkan.ccp@gmail.com:
●Score of a piece for solo flute with a duration of 3-5 minutes (PDF). New compositions are strongly encouraged. However, older compositions will be considered so long as they have not yet been recorded or performed publicly.
● 1-3 other scores/recordings for solo instrument or chamber ensemble (optional)
● CV (including picture with high resolution)
Deadlines for applications are as follows:
Early Bird (Free): May 26th – July 11th 2021
Standard (€25): July 12th – July 18th 2021
Late Bird (€50): July 19th - July 25th 2021
Finalists will be announced on August 1st.
Prizes
Balkan Silver Lynx Award (BCCP Symbol designed and created in Filigree):
prize to include €500 and the commission of a new work to be premiered at DAM Festival 2023.
Audience Award:
chosen by online vote of the audience – prize to include commission of a new work to be premiered at BCCP 2023.
Jury
Klaas de Vries, composer (Netherlands)
Helen Bledsoe, flutist (USA / Germany)
Ashkan Behzadi, composer (Iran / Canada)
BCCP was created by Dardan Selimaj – founder and artistic director of DAM Festival – and Rreze Kryeziu-Breznica – general director of DAM Festival – with the goal of giving emerging composers from the Balkans an opportunity to work with a world-class European new music ensemble.
Guided by American conductor and composer Gregory Charette, this program enables selected composers to work directly with the players of Oerknal during a week of workshops and rehearsals in Prishtina, Kosovo. The residency culminates with a public concert in Prishtina as part of DAM Festival, after which a jury made up of internationally recognized figures in the world of contemporary music selects one or more of the participants to write a newly commissioned piece to be performed by Oerknal in and around The Netherlands. In this way the ultimate goal of BCCP is to build substantive relationships between composers and music institutions in the Balkans and the EU.
For information on BCCP 2019 click here.