Previous Calls


Call for Scores: Iron Giant Collaboration

Concert Date: August (Exact Date TBD)

Submission Deadlines:

· Notification of general interest: March 25, 2022

· Submission of score: May 31, 2022

Submission:  with title “Iron Giant Collaboration”

Concert Location: Railroad Park and 2 more parks TBD

Instrumentation: Undefined (Read the “What” section below)

Duration: No specific duration, though the program will be for a total of 60 minutes of music.

Who:

BAMA collaboration with Iron Giant Percussion.  Iron Giant Percussion is a contemporary music ensemble based in Birmingham, Alabama.

What:

A concert series of pieces of indeterminate style/instrumentation to be performed at different parks in Birmingham. Each composer would write a piece of 2-4 parts for undetermined instruments. The parts can have descriptors on the type of sound such as “metallic”, “melodic”, etc. but it would not be for a specific instrument. Iron Giant would then choose the instrumentation to go along with the piece. The instruments won’t necessarily be your standard instruments (they’ve created xylophones from bottles for example).

Examples of compositions“In C” – Terry Riley.

· https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpYBhX0UH04

· https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aX96z7AuICs

· A workshop will also be provided by Iron Giant on writing for percussion/in an indeterminate style as well to assist the composers. Iron Giant will be available for composers to contact as they write their pieces after the workshop.

When: 

· Concert to be in the August timeframe

· BAMA request for general interest to end March 25

· BAMA call for scores to end May 31

· Workshop in late March (exact date TBD)

Where:

· 3 parks in total. 1 at Railroad Park, the other 2 TBD.

Other Notes:

· Each concert may have the same pieces (depending on the number of submissions), but it could be an entirely new experience based on the instruments used.

· Iron Giant has mentioned they have pieces from BAMA composers but often can’t perform them because of the instrumentation. This style of writing would allow them to continue to perform the pieces regardless of instrumentation at hand which can lead to continual promotion for our composers.

Please contact Eric Mobley  with questions.


Call for Scores: Chamber Music @ AEIVA, 2021

BAMA is partnering with the UAB concert series “Chamber Music @ AEIVA” to present a concert that connects music with the art exhibit “Marking Time,” which will be on display in the AEIVA galleries.

Concert date:  October 28, 2021, 5:30 or 6pm

Submission deadline: September 15, 2021

Concert location: Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts

Instrumentation: Any combination of guitar, piano, clarinet, violin, viola

Duration: No specific duration, though the program will total 30 – 45 minutes of music.

Requirements: Compositions must relate in some way to the art of exhibit “Marking Time”, an exhibit featuring 50+ works of amateur and professional visual artists impacted by the criminal justice system and mass incarceration. Themes include but are not limited to conveying the concept of time passing and highlighting every-day life that is missed.

Here is a summary of a similar exhibit: https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/5208

How to Submit:

   Include the following information with submission:

  • Composer
  • Title
  • Duration
  • Date of composition
  • Instrumentation
  • A brief description of how the piece relates to the exhibit’s work

Please send a PDF of your score and parts to . Recordings are welcome but not required.

Questions? Contact:


Call for Scores: What Can I See from Railroad Park

Concert dates: October 2021
Submission deadline: Proposal by 03/31/2021, performance materials by 8/15/2021
Venue: Railroad Park
Instrumentation: Saxophone Quartet, optional additional instruments and/or conductor


Submit a new work that is informed by something that is visible from Birmingham’s Railroad Park. The Cahaba Saxophone Quartet will form the core instrumentation. You may specify additional instruments, providing willingness to secure performers, arrange rehearsals, and supplement performer fees. ASO Assistant Conductor Kevin Fitzgerald is available as needed for, as example, works with spatial displacement or extra performers. Preferred are pieces with all four instruments (soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone sax), but subsets may be considered. Preference may also be given to works under 10 minutes.

How to Submit:  Proposal: By March 31, send a description of the landmark and how it will be the basis of the composition, instrumentation, and projected duration to  using “RR Park proposal” as the subject. 
 Materials: If the proposal is accepted, by August 15, send score, parts, title, duration, brief bio and program notes to  using “RR Park concert” as the subject.


Bent Frequency Duo

Call for Scores: Bent Frequency Duo 
Concert dates: January or February 2021, TBD 
Submission deadline: August 31, 2020 
Venue: TBD 
Instrumentation: See below

Acoustic duos are preferred. Solos may be considered, as may works with electronics if easily staged for repeat performances. 

  1. soprano saxophone and/or alto saxophone 
  2. vibraphone, 2 toms, 1 pair bongos, kick drum, suspended cymbal, perhaps other small items 

Duration: Preference may be given to works under 6 minutes 

How to Submit: Send a PDF of your score plus any parts to  using “Bent Frequency” as the subject. Recordings are welcome but not required.

Please include the following information with your submission. 

  • Composer 
  • Title 
  • Duration 
  • Brief biographical statement 
  • Brief program notes 
  • Date of composition 
  • Instrumentation 

For questions about this call, contact 


2020 Birmingham New Music Festival

Call for Scores: 2020 Birmingham New Music Festival 
Concert dates: Saturday, August 22, 2020 – others TBD 
Submission deadline: Extended to May 5, 2020 
Venues: Hoover Library, others TBD
Instrumentation: Variable 
Duration: No maximum limit, although preference may be given to proposals under 10 minutes 

This is the only call for the 2020 festival. Those submitting for Category A are encouraged to also submit a second choice for Category B in case A is not selected. Only one work per member is likely to be programmed. 

There is a possibility that some pieces could incorporate dance. Please indicate if interested in having your performance choreographed — in which case a recording is strongly recommended. 


Category A

Submit a work (first priority only) for one of the following categories:

  • Cello, with or without electronics – Craig Hultgren 
  • Clarinet/Eb Clarinet/Bass Clarinet/Saxophone(s), solo with or without electronics — or in acoustic duo/trio/quartet with Soprano, Flute, and/or Piano – Lori Ardovino, LeBaron Trio, Vinna Trio (Note that a quartet may require supplementary funds from the composer.)
  • Piano, with or without electronics – Adam Bowles or Chris Steele 

Category B

Submit a work for any instrumentation, and be responsible for securing performers and organizing rehearsals. For this option, compensation from BAMA is limited to $220 (up to two performers) per composer. Submissions for larger ensembles will be accepted providing the submitter will compensate additional performers. 


How to Submit

Send the following info to  with the subject “BNMF2020” by May 1, 2020: 

  • Category A: Composer, title, duration, score/parts/other performance materials, requirements, and optional recording. 
  • Category B: Composer, title, duration, requirements, and optional recording. 

If not submitting your own composition, consider sponsoring an emerging or mid-career composer whose work you admire. Women and minority composers are particularly encouraged. The process is the same as submissions from performer members. 


BAMA Players – Spring 2020

BAMA Players – Spring 2020
Overview: The BAMA Players will present their spring concert.
Concert date: Monday, April 20, 2020
Submission deadline: Tuesday, March 10, 2020

Concert location: TBD, most likely, Samford

Instrumentation: Any combination of flute, clarinet, 2 violins, viola, cello, piano

Duration: No maximum duration, though the concert will last approximately one hour

How to Submit: Send a PDF of your score plus any parts to using “BAMA Players Spring 2020” as the subject. Recordings are welcome but not required. Please include the following information with your submission:

Composer
Title
Duration
Date of composition
Instrumentation
Contact:

For questions about this call, contact


Call for Scores – Fall 2019 Chamber Music @ AEIVA

  • Concert date: September 14, 2019, time TBD
  • Submission deadline: August 10, 2019
  • Concert location: Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts
  • Instrumentation: Any combination of string quartet, piano, mezzo-soprano, and soprano
  • Duration: No specific duration, though the concert will last one hour

Overview: BAMA is partnering with the UAB series “Chamber Music @ AEIVA” and the Alys Stephens Center’s “EMERGE Fest” to present a concert featuring “emerging artists” that connects chamber music with the art on display at the Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts.

Eligible composers: This call is open to students and composers in the early stages of their careers. Submitting composers (1) must be full-time students or (2) must have had no commercial recordings, publications of their works, or ticketed performance by an orchestra or other large ensemble.

Art exhibit: Compositions must relate in some way to one or more of the following exhibits: Mary Frances Whitfiled “Why?”; Quention Morris “Meditations on Black”; Christina West “Unscene”. See below for descriptions of each exhibit and visit https://www.dropbox.com/sh/8ppdxvu0vcrzy8a/AABk1e_NA5A4B8H2sFD8ITHda?dl=0 for visual examples. The West and Morris images aren’t necessarily what will be displayed, but they give a sense of the artists’ work. The Whitfield is what will be on display.

Submissions: Send a PDF of your score plus parts to or mail a hard copy to:

Laura Usiskin
950 13th Street South, HC 231
Birmingham, AL 35294

Recordings are welcome but not required.

Submissions must include the following information:

  • Composer
  • Title
  • Duration
  • Date of composition
  • Instrumentation
  • Brief description of how the piece relates to the art

Questions? Contact:

Exhibit descriptions:

Mary Frances Whitfield: Why?

https://www.uab.edu/news/arts/item/10218-why-by-alabama-artist-mary-frances-whitfield-presented-by-uab-s-aeiva-may-31-nov-23

Exhibition Description:  

Co-curated by AEIVA Curator John Fields and Dr. Brandon Wolfe, Assistant VP of Campus and Community Engagement in the Office of the Vice President for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at UAB, Mary Frances Whitfield: Why? is a collaborative exhibition between UAB’s Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute.

This exhibition was developed in conjunction with the Jefferson County Memorial Project (JCMP), a grassroots coalition of community leaders working with the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) to retrieve Jefferson County’s memorial from the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama. The mission of the JCMP is to bear witness to the country’s painful past and change the historical memory of Jefferson County to better include its history of racial terror and the legacies of racial injustice.

One of the most significant of Alabama’s ‘Outsider Artists’, Mary Frances Whitfield uses painting to create intimate windows into her cultural past. Inspired by the rich and illuminative ancestral history offered in the stories told by her grandmother, Whitfield’s paintings present an affecting portrayal of daily existence for African Americans living in the Southern United States during the 18th and 19thcentury.

WHY? presents paintings inspired by the artist’s first visit to the BCRI. These works graphically depict horrific racial terror lynching perpetrated against African Americans. This is the first time these works have been exhibited in Whitfield’s hometown of Birmingham, Alabama

Quentin Morris: Meditations on Black

Exhibition Description: Philadelphia-based artist Quentin Morris uses a variety of mediums to explore issues surrounding identity, race, spirituality, and cultural mythologies. What’s most interesting about this work is that for nearly 60 years, Morris has explored these themes through an astoundingly focused and prolific series of black monochrome paintings. These paintings are wonderfully subversive and deceptive in their depth. This will be Quentin Morris’ first major exhibition in the South.

Christina West: Unscene

Exhibition Description:

Christina West is an Associate Professor of Art at Georgia State University. West creates immersive sculptural installations that utilize figurative sculptures and the alteration of space to create psychologically charged environments. These installations explore notions of what the artist refers to as “individual subjectivity in our experience of reality, and the ways our physical encounters with spaces and with representations of bodies can affect perceptions of our own bodies.“