La Biennale di Venezia, chaired by Paolo Baratta, announces the 4th edition of the Biennale College – Music, as it launches the international call starting Thursday December 15th on the website www.labiennale.org (the call will remain open through January 22nd, 2017).
The international call for the 4th edition will be online from December 15th 2016 to January 22nd 2017. Participation is open to teams of composers, librettists, directors and set designers and for the first time video artists aged 35 and under. The selection of the 3 projects and teams – to be made by the Director of the Music Sector Ivan Fedele – will be announced in mid-February 2017.
The aim of the Biennale College – Music 2017 is to promote and support the production of up to 3 micro-budget musical theatre chamber works on a theme of choice, lasting no longer than 20 minutes each, for an ensemble of 8 instruments (flute, clarinet, trumpet or trombone, violin, viola, cello, percussions, MIDI keyboard) and 4 voices (chosen among soprano, mezzosoprano, tenor, baritone, bass). The short works will be presented as part of the 61st International Festival of Contemporary Music 2017 and shown online on the Fourth Stage, the virtual space of the Biennale website dedicated to live performance.
The 3 selected teams will be accompanied in the development and production of their projects through phases of training and production that will take place in four steps:
1 – within the month of March 2017, a week-long workshop will be held in Venice with artists and masters, focusing on general themes in traditional and contemporary musical theatre, especially as they concern the relationship between text and music;
2 – by mid-April 2017, the teams must submit at least half of the score, the project for the stage production and the libretto. In this phase, there will be a one-week workshop on the work done up to this point;
3 – between late May and early June 2017 there will be a one-week working session in Venice with the tutors of the Biennale College. The full score must be submitted at this time, and the teams must organize the production of the works, including: the selection of the singers; verification and final draft of the budget; a production plan that includes stage and musical rehearsals;
4 – on the days preceding the debut in October at the 61st International Festival of Contemporary Music, the stage and music rehearsals will be held with the support of the tutors of the Biennale College, leading to the final production of the works (more or less one week of work).
The official and complete text of the international call for the 4th edition of the Biennale College – Music may be consulted starting tomorrow December 15th 2016 at the following address: www.labiennale.org/en/music/collegemusic/.
Biennale College is an innovative and complex experience that engages all the Sectors of the Biennale di Venezia, promoting young talents and offering them the opportunity to work side by side with the masters to develop creations.
The first edition of the Biennale College – Music selected and produced 4 projects for short chamber works which were presented at the 58th International Festival of Contemporary Musicin 2014; for the second edition, 23 young musicians from around the world were selected to work with conductor Michele Carulli, performing the closing concert of the 59th International Festival of Contemporary Music 2015, dedicated to Sinopoli; the third edition focused again on musical theatre with 4 short chamber works presented as part of the 60th International Festival of Contemporary Music.
Biennale College – Music, organized by the Biennale di Venezia, is supported by the Ministry for the Cultural Heritage and Activities – General Director for the Performing Arts.
