Call for Works for Guitar for Bloomsday in Budapest Project 

Introduction:

The Contemporary Music Centre, Ireland is delighted to partner with the Hungarian guitarist Katalin Koltai, the Budapest Music Center and the Embassy of Ireland, Hungary for the Bloomsday in Budapest Project. 

This project follows from Katalin Koltai’s visit to Ireland in March 2019 to present at the TU Dublin Conservatory of Music & Drama Dublin Guitar Symposium and her performance at the Embassy of Hungary in Ireland.

The Bloomsday in Budapest Project includes a call for new or existing works for guitar by Irish and Hungarian composers, with performances of these works by Katalin Koltai to take place in Hungary and Ireland across 2020/2021. The aim of this call is to present international performances of works that stretch the idiomatic boundaries of the classical guitar, interrogating stereotypes of the instrument and enriching the canon of works for 6 and 8 string guitar. 

In the selection of works, priority will be given to works that include the use of unusual scordaturas and/or capodasters (*see notes below).  Works using standard tuning are also welcome. This call offers composers from Ireland and Hungary the opportunity to develop international artistic exchanges, and to have their guitar repertoire performed to new audiences. 

 

Call for Scores for Guitar Works:

Basic Criteria for Submission:

• Composers born or residing in Hungary
• Composers born or residing on the island of Ireland
• All applicants will receive equal opportunity irrespective of gender, civil status, family status, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, race or membership of the traveller community 

Details of Works for Submission:

• This call is for new or existing original compositions for 6 or 8 string guitar of up to a maximum of 15 minutes duration
• The aim of this call is to present international performances of works that stretch the idiomatic boundaries of the classical guitar, interrogating stereotypes of the instrument and highlighting the canon of works for 6 and 8 string guitar
• In the selection of works, priority will be given to works that include the use of unusual scordaturas and/or capodasters (*see notes below)
• Works using standard tuning are also welcome

Notes on Scordaturas:

Any change to the following standard tuning is acceptable:

6 string: E-A-D-G-B-E

8 string: C-E-A-D-G-B-E-A 

Notes on Single String Capodasters:

A single string capo is a new tool for the 6 string guitar invented by Katalin Koltai.  It is able to hold down a single string on any fret without obstructing the other open strings.

The following example will demonstrate how a single string capo can enhance an arrangement to include clusters, pedals and multi-layered textures:

www.classicalguitarmagazine.com/video-pick-of-the-week-katalin-koltai-plays-bartoks-the-nights-music-and-check-out-her-single-string-capo-invention/

Single string capodasters can be used on any string up to the 9^th fret on the guitar.

There is a special capo for the highest pitch c (3^rd octave) on the 1st string.

Composers should submit scores that show both sounding and playing notation, as below:

Notes for Composers:

• Deadline for submission: Monday, 30 March 2020
• Duration of works for submission: up to a maximum of 15 minutes per work
• Up to a maximum of 5 works by composers from Ireland will be selected by a panel, and the composers will be informed by email
• Up to a maximum of 5 works by composers from Hungary will be selected by a panel, and the composers will be informed by email 

Submission:

To submit a work for consideration for the Bloomsday in Budapest project, composers must submit scores in pdf format by email to [email protected] on or before Monday, 30 March 2020, with the subject heading Bloomsday in Budapest.

Composers from the island of Ireland seeking further information, please contact:

Evonne Ferguson, Director of the Contemporary Music Centre, Ireland at [email protected]

Composers from Hungary seeking further information, please contact:

Katalin Koltai at [email protected]

 

Further Details:

As part of the Bloomsday programme presented by the Embassy of Ireland, Hungary, selected works will be performed by Katalin Koltai at the Budapest Music Center on 16th June 2020, with Irish performances to follow in 2020/2021.

A number of travel bursaries will be available to selected composers, as well as guest rooms provided by the Budapest Music Center. 

Katalin Koltai:

Katalin Koltai is an internationally acclaimed guitarist, soloist, and chamber musician, performing regularly with major orchestras and constant champion of contemporary music, creating interdisciplinary stage works and transcriptions, she records for North/South Recordings, Naxos, Hungaroton and Genuin. Her transcriptions from various musical eras have been published by Doblinger Austria, and received international critical acclaim, notably from Classical Guitar Magazine and Gendai Magazine.

Katalin gained degrees from the Budapest Ferenc Liszt Academy of Music, Royal Conservatory of Bruxelles, and the Conservatorium Maastricht, taught by József Eötvös, Antigoni Goni, Raphaella Smits, Carlo Marchione, and José María Gallardo Del Rey. She is a PhD researcher at the International Guitar Research Centre, University of Surrey since Fall 2018, focuses on guitar transcription and new music for guitar supervised by Prof. Steve Goss and Tom Armstrong. Currently a FASS Scholarship Holder, Katalin is a former fellow of the Dutch Cultural Ministry and winner of the Hungarian Junior Prima Prize.

www.katalinkoltai.com

The Contemporary Music Centre, Ireland:

The Contemporary Music Centre is Ireland’s archive and resource organisation for new music, documenting, developing and promoting contemporary music from the island of Ireland through creative partnerships in Ireland and internationally.

www.cmc.ie

Budapest Music Center, Hungary:

The collective and coordinated presentation of contemporary Hungarian music – the core mission of Budapest Music Center remains the same ever since its 1996 founding by trombonist and academy professor László Gőz. As a concert venue, record label, library and information center, BMC actively works on establishing the international recognition Hungarian music deserves. 

Embassy of Ireland, Hungary:

The Embassy of Ireland, Hungary represents the interests of Ireland and her citizens in Hungary, and also in Kosovo and Montenegro to which the Embassy is also accredited on a non-resident basis.

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