Young Composers and Emerging Musicians

The National Centre for Early Music (NCEM) has announced details of the 2022 Young Composers Award, for composers aged 25 and under. The Liverpool Philharmonic has launched of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Emerging Musicians Fellowship to provide four musicians at the beginning of their orchestral careers with an immersive experience in the world of the orchestra.

The NCEM Young Composers Award 2022 is presented in association with BBC Radio 3. The 2022 edition of the award asks young composers to write a work for string quartet (lasting three to four minutes), working alongside the Consone Quartet, an historically informed group playing on gut strings.

Shortlisted composers will be invited to the Award Day at the National Centre for Early Music in York when the shortlisted compositions will be presented by the Consone Quartet in a workshop led by composer Professor Christopher Fox.  In the evening, the Consone Quartet will perform each of the pieces for a panel of judges.

The two winning pieces, one from each age category (18 years and under; 19 to 25 years), will be premiered by the Consone Quartet at Stour Music festival on 26 June 2022. The performance will be recorded for future broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s Early Music Show, and the quartet will be performing the compositions at the Stour Music Festival.

Full details from the award website, and you have until 18 February 2022 to register.

Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Emerging Musicians Fellowship will run annually starting with the 2022-23 season, and will provide four musicians at the beginning of their orchestral careers with an immersive experience in the world of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, both on and off the stage through four residencies during four weeks spread over the course of a year. Notably, the Fellowship is the first paid opportunity of its kind in the North of England.

Fellows will rehearse and perform with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra as part of the regular season programme, receiving bespoke training and will be mentored by an orchestral musician. Fellows will rehearse and perform within chamber ensembles, with the year culminating in a public chamber performance. They will access the Orchestra’s pioneering Musicians Performance and Wellbeing programme, and participate in Learning programmes such as In Harmony Liverpool.

Further details from the orchestra's website.