8th International Composition Competition 2024
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The cultural association Associazione Culturale Polifonie announces the 8th International Composition Competition “Appassionato Ensemble” to be held in 2024.
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The competition is open to italian and foreign composers of any nationality with no age restriction.
Each composer can participate with more than one piece, making an entry for each composition they intend to submit.
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The scores must be composed for the following organic, in any combination from 1 to max 5 performers.
The scores that do not comply with the above rules regarding the number of performers and/ or the instrument(s) will be eliminated.
- 1 Flute (Flute, Alto G Flute, Bass Flute, Piccolo)
- 1 Clarinet (Bb Clarinet, A Clarinet, Eb Clarinet, Bb Bass Clarinet)
- 1 Violin
- 1 Viola
- 1 Cello
- 1 Piano
The composition must have a maximum duration of 15’.
The composition must not have been published or been awarded prizes in other contests before, but it may have already been performed in public.
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The application fee is € 45 for the first score and € 25 for any following ones by the same author.
The payment must be made by bank transfer to the:
Associazione Culturale Polifonie
Banca Prossima – filiale di Milano, p.zza Paolo Ferrari 10 – 20121 (MI)
IBAN: IT24F0306909606100000069721 – BIC: BCITITMM
and specifying the reason for the transfer as:
Application for the International Composing Competition.
or with PayPal (info@polifonie.it):
The application fee is non refundable, except in the case of cancellation of the Contest.
Applicants may contact the Contest secretary’s office for any further information by writing to: info@polifonie.it
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To enroll in the contest, each participant must send an email to info@polifonie.it containing the following documents to the Contest Organizers:
- the application form
- A PDF copy of the score, perfectly readable and completely anonymous;
- the first page of the score must bear the title of the work and the approximate length of the composition;
- short explanatory notes related to the submitted work in Italian or English (max 1000 characters, including spaces).
- the photocopy of an identity document or passport;
- a short curriculum vitae (in Italian or English);
- the receipt of payment of the application fee (non refundable) of € 45,00
The email, in order not to be excluded, must be delivered to the Contest secretary’s office no later than 1st September 2024.
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An International Jury will meet to choose the 5 (five) finalist scores, which will be performed by Appassionato Ensemble on Sunday, October 13, 2024 during the Como Contemporary Festival 2024 – International Festival of Contemporary Music and other Arts.
The Jury will be composed by:
- José Manuel López López (Spain), President
- Accursio Antonio Cortese (Italy), Composer
- Umberto Pedraglio (Italy), Artistic Director
The commission judgment is final and cannot be contested.
The finalist composers will be invited by the organization to send the individual parts of each instrument.
At the end of the concert the Jury will meet to select the winner.
The prize-giving ceremony will be held at the end of the concert.
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The author of the winning score will receive a 1.000 euros cash prize, an audio/video recording made by Appassionato Ensemble, a precious gift produced in cooperation with the famous Como silk textile company Mantero 1902 and the score will be published by EDIZIONI SCONFINARTE.
If the winning composer has an exclusive agreement with other publishers, taking part in the competition he/she agrees to produce the written consent for the publication of unlimited copies.
An attendance fee is provided for foreign composers and for participants whose domicile is located farther than 200 km from Como (please contact us at info@polifonie.it).
If a participant cannot attend the final round of the Competition, they will not have access to the attendance fee.
The Jury reserves the right not to assign the prize in case none of the finalist scores is judged to deserve it.
Any tv or radio recordings are authorized by the author without any further charge on the organization.
The personal details of the contestants will be used only for matters concerning the competition.
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All the documents and materials sent will be kept in the archives of the Associazione Culturale Polifonie and nothing will be returned, as the Association will become the owner.
The Association will have the ownership of the materials, while the author will keep the copyright.
The scores sent for the contest will become an integral part of the Music Archive of the organising association.
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The contestants accept unconditionally and integrally the present regulation in all of its parts.
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In case of controversy, the Contest Announcement in Italian is to be considered the official text.
with the contribution of
In collaboration with
Downloadable files:
Announcement in PDF
Application form
English (UK) 
Italiano