FOREWARD
Tonal Center, a new and innovative musical ensemble of soprano, clarinet and percussion is pleased to announce its first annual composition contest. A resident ensemble of New York City, Tonal Center’s mission is to work with new and upcoming composers, giving them opportunities to showcase their works in New York City venues, while at the same time creating new repertoire for this unique ensemble.

ELIGIBILITY
All composers are eligible to enter.

AWARDS
The first place composition will receive $200 plus a NYC premiere. The second place will receive $100 plus NYC premiere. An undetermined amount of runners up may receive a performance of their work. First and second place compositions will be performed during the 2007 – 2008 season. A recording of the performance will be given to all award recipients. The winners will be notified by March 1, 2007. TC and associates reserves the rights to withhold awards if no score is deemed worthy.

SUBMISSION OF APPLICATION AND COMPOSITIONS
All forms and compositions are to be postmarked by Dec. 15, 2006. All forms must be filled out completely (including permission of text and/or electronic sample) and sent together in same package. Every applicant must include a one page bio and a one page resume. The Official Entry Form must be inserted in a clean envelope and sealed with the applicants telephone number as the only mark on its face. Any forms not completed or material missing will result in an automatic disqualification.
Each composition must be marked with the applicant’s telephone in place of the applicant’s name, for sake of anonymity. The same telephone number must also appear on the properly completed Official Entry Form and the Score Identification Form. If the submitted composition is a collaboration between two or more composers, please use only one phone number. The composer’s name or any other information indicating, which include but are not limited to, their identity, school, copyright notices, or nationality must be removed from the score. The composer’s name(s) must not appear any place except on the entry form.
Text, lyric or libretto used in the composition must have proper written permission from the author or other copyright proprietor of the text, lyric or libretto for its use in the composition or information as to the source from which the text, lyric, or libretto was taken, with evidence that it is in the public domain. As a general guideline, this year written permission is probably required for all texts copyrighted in 1923 or after, but this is not a guarantee. All composers must make sure text, lyric or libretto is used legally.
No compositions will be accepted without signing statement of ownership of composition and affirming to the following: “I warrant that I am the sole composer and owner of such composition; that it is an original work, and that I have the full right and authority to enter the composition in this competition.” Signing the Official Entry Form constitutes affirmation and eligibility. This certification will be detached and retained in the files as evidence of eligibility and in no case will be seen by the judges prior to their decision. In the event that a composition shall be the work of more than a single composer, all such co-writers must be eligible to enter this contest. Such a jointly written work shall be considered as a single entry and those co-writers may not submit additional works. If the composition is by more than one composer all composers involved must sign the official entry form, but contact information for only one composer is needed. Should a jointly written work receive any type of monetary award under this contest, the entrants bear sole responsibility for its division.

MANUSCRIPTS AND TAPES
All manuscripts must be in legible form through a computer software program (e.g. Sibelius, Finale, etc.). Scores must be labeled with Soprano on top, Clarinet in the middle, and Percussion on the bottom. Three scores are to be included with each entry. Any inaccuracies or ambiguities in the score can or will affect the final judgment of the composition. TC and associates reserves the right to refuse manuscripts which, are in their opinion illegible or musically illiterate. Applicant must retain an original copy of their composition and all related materials sent to us.
Electronic music should try to be presented in the score in a clear and adequate manner. Recordings must be on an audio CD. If permission is needed for an electronic sample the applicant must have proper written permission from the author or other copyright proprietor of the source. The composer entering a score which includes a recorded part must send the score with an audio CD of the entire work, labeled with composition name and telephone number.
Each composer must submit an audio CD of the composition. The CD may be a midi recording, studio recording, or live performance. If the work has multiple movements, track marks are required between each movement. If the piece has a recorded music component, then a separate track of just the recorded part is to be put at the end of the CD.

LIMITATIONS OF CDS AND MANUSCRIPTS SUBMITTED
All compositions must include clarinet, voice, and percussion. A list of instruments and ranges is available below. The duration of the work should be no shorter than seven minutes and no longer than twenty minutes. Each composer or group is allowed to enter only one work each year. The composer retains all rights to their submitted composition. Tonal Center may choose to perform any submitted work in the future. Due to the projected volume of submissions, Tonal Center can not return submitted materials unless a SASE is provided.
The theme for this year’s competition is children. Text choices can be on any topic related to children (e.g. Bedtime stories, lullabies, fables, etc.). Text must be in English, French, German, Italian, or Spanish. If you would like to write for other languages please contact Tonal Center. One copy of the text with translation must be attached to the score with a paper clip.