Composer callout! Sonic Vocabularies: Climate, Weather and Music
About this project
The climate crisis is a global issue strongly influencing the evolution of art music: shaping new directions in creative practice and informing conceptual frameworks. Music has an important role to play in climate crisis discourse, by offering a sonic pathway to bridge the gap between data, understanding, reflection, and action. While climate change is often described as ‘global’ warming, we all experience it as a change in the weather where we live. With the emergence of renewable energy as key to solving the climate crisis, weather, its fuel, will be more central to society's evolution than it ever has been in human history.
The Sound Collectors Lab, Monash University Performing Arts Centres, and ARC Centre of Excellence for Weather in the Twenty-First Century invite expressions of interest from composers and sound artists for the development of new work that explores climate and weather change through music. The successful artist/s will join an interdisciplinary team, and engage in consultation and collaboration with artistic researchers, musicians, directors, environmental historians, and scientists in the development of the work.
Commission details
This commission is for the development of a new work, to be completed during 2024, for a fee of $12,000.
Additional support provided includes access to rehearsal and development venues, instruments and sound equipment, and technical support. This includes access to the Meyer Sound Constellation System if required.
A professional documentation video developed during the creative development will also be provided.
Proposals must engage between one and four performers from The Sound Collectors Lab. Instrumentation can include acoustic or electronic instruments as discussed with the collaborative team, and must include at least one percussionist. Proposals including performers from other artforms are welcome. Please reach out to Louise Devenish with any questions about instrumentation, performers, etc.
Artists at any career stage are welcome to apply. First Nations and gender diverse artists are particularly encouraged to apply. If you have questions about your idea, please contact louise.devenish@monash.edu - all questions welcome!
Timeline
EOIs are open between 8 April - 31 May 2024 (closing 11.55pm on 31 May)
Applicants will be notified of the result by 28 June 2024
An initial meeting for the creative team will take place in July 2024, at Monash University.
Artists must be available for an in-person creative development period of approximately 5-10 days at Monash University between 28 October to 8 November 2024
Future presentation will be supported by MPAC as part of the 2025 Progress Festival, September 2025
Additional information
The Sound Collectors Lab is a creative lab dedicated to the research, development, and creation of new music, based in the Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music and Performance at Monash University. Our key artistic research themes are post-instrumental practice, the climate crisis and environmental communication through music, and percussion performance, presentation and pedagogy.
Monash University Performing Arts Centres (MPAC) is the public performing arts and cultural arm of Monash University. MPAC seeks to connect, challenge, and excite its audiences through the commissioning of unique works, along with curating a program that brings the best of local, national and international performing artists to its stages.
The ARC Centre of Excellence for the Weather of the 21st Century researches how Australia’s weather is being reshaped by climate change and looks ahead to how the weather will change over coming decades. Our research will feed into better decision making on how society can harness the benefits of weather resources and how we can adapt to changes that may impact many aspects of our lives. Key project info available here.
How to apply
Apply here