Vantaa Orchestra will organize the second Competition in composing and arranging bearing the name of Markku Johansson in September 2023. Competition’s results will be heard in a gala concert in Helsinki Music House on September 30th, as a part of Vantaa Pops’ 75-year festivities.
The objective of the competition is to find new music for the orchestra, and pay homage to long-term conductor of the Vantaa Orchestra, Markku Johansson and the significant influence on Finnish music that he has had.
There are two categories in the competition, composition and arrangement:
For the composition category one can participate with an original, unpublished instrumental composition.
For the arrangement category there is now a chance to choose between an arrangement for orchestra and vocal soloist, or alternatively an instrumental arrangement (without vocals). The arrangement also needs to be an unpublished, newly-made work.
Both the arrangements and compositions must be prepared for the large lineup of the Vantaa Orchestra. In its evaluation the jury will emphasize the following criteria: The composer’s view of entertainment music in the 2020’s Skillful instrumentationIdiomatic qualities of each instrument in the orchestraThe arrangement should respect the mood and character of the original piece.
Rules:
- All musicians and interested parties may participate in the competition without any geographical limit or age restriction, with the exception of the competition organizers and the jury.
- The piece (composition or arrangement) should be previously unpublished and unperformed.
- The piece should be between 3 and 6 minutes long.
- Each contestant can participate with one piece in each category.
- The competition has two categories:
Composition Competition: An instrumental composition.
Arrangement Competition: A vocal arrangement of an existing composition, either for a male or female soloist. The male soloist’s register should be baritone, the female’s alto.
Or alternatively: an instrumental arrangement of an existing composition (without a vocal soloist). - Instrumentation of Vantaa Orchestra:
2 flutes (one doubling on piccolo or alto flute), 2 oboes (one doubling on english horn), 2 clarinets (one doubling on bass clarinet), 2 bassoons (one doubling on contrabassoon), 4 French horns, 3 trumpets (in Bb), 3 trombones, 1 tuba, timpani, 2 percussion players, 1 harp, 1st violins, 2nd violins, violas, cellos, double basses, electric guitar, piano/keyboards, electric bass (doubling on amplified double bass), drum set. - Arrangement permit
Each contestant is responsible for acquiring the appropriate arrangement permit for their arrangements. If You are unsure about the process and want to ask for advice, write to us at: kilpailu@viihdeorkesteri.fi - Material to be submitted:
Score and parts should contain the score for the conductor and all the necessary performance material for the orchestra. All of these materials should be sent in electronic form as pdf-files with the composer’s/arranger’s pseudonym. The participant’s identity may not appear anywhere in the participant’s arrangement/composition. We recommend that the participants familiarize themselves with, for example, these instructions for the finishing of the materials: https://www.mo.nl/library, http://www.pekkasiponen.fi/materiaalit/nuottimateriaaliohje/, https://mola-inc.s3.eu-west-1. amazonaws.com/files/mola3/MOLA-Guidelines-for-Music-Preparation.pdf
A link to the demo version of the piece in mp3 format. For example files generated from music scoring programs are suitable for this purpose. Attach a link to your piece in the e-mail message, from where the linked file can be downloaded. Do not attach an mp3 file as an attachment to the message.
Participant’s contact details: name, address, phone number and e-mail address.
All material must be sent in one e-mail message to the address: kilpailu@viihdeorkesteri.fi
All of the competition materials must be sent no later than 15 June 2023 at 16.00. EET (UTC + 2) - Vantaa Orchestra has the exclusive right to perform the song’s competition version for two (2) years from the final concert. All copyrights of the work remain with the original rightsholders of the work. The pieces will remain in the collections of Vantaa Orchestra. Vantaa Orchestra reserves the right to record an audio and video recording of the competition songs, photograph or film the final concert for television, or otherwise record the songs.If a contestant’s piece is published later, the right to use the sheet music material in future concerts remains with Vantaa Pops Orchestra without any extra compensation.
- The winning compositions and arrangements are played at the concert in Helsinki’s Music House on September 30 2023. The works are pre-selected for the concert by the competition jury. The combined prize money for the whole competition is 10000,-euros. The competition jury decides on the distribution of the prize money.
The contestants whose pieces have been chosen for the final concert willbe informed by August 31 2023. - The members of the competition jury are:Lauri Porra Sampo KasurinenSanna SalmenkallioVili OllilaMarkku Johansson
The conductor of the concert is Vantaa Orchestra’s chief conductor Nick Davies.
For more information, contact the secretary of competition:
Jussi Lampela
+358 505580386
kilpailu@viihdeorkesteri.fi
Link:
2nd Markku Johansson competition in composition and arrangement (English verson below the Finnish one)