2022 New Voices Competition & Concert Series

This competition supports students who wish to learn new repertoire that is often underrepresented at schools of music and in some classical venues in the United States. Winners will be showcased in a public concert series taking place at Lloyd Ultan Recital Hall with an in-person and live-stream audience. Musicians who deserve special recognition for the concert repertoire will be publicized as Featured Artists for several months.

Who can enter the competition? 
Any registered UMN Twin Cities student. You may enter more than one cycle of the competition. Remote participation is permissible, but winners receive $200 for performing in the concert.

What repertoire? 
Since the goal is to increase the study and performance of underrepresented repertoire, contestants need to attest to having learned a work that was not already in their repertoire. Recommended length is no longer than 15 minutes, but brief submissions are also welcome. Excerpts are discouraged except from operas or other large-scale works. The contestant decides whether a composer meets the competition guidelines. For example, a composer who identifies as Mexican-American can be represented in ¡Viva México!: A Celebration of Mexican Music or Tapestry of American Music, but a contestant may not submit a recording of the same work to more than one competition. For advice on repertoire, contact Karen Painter (kpainter@umn.edu), who will redirect queries to experts in the field. For help with searching in the Music Library’s collections and using interlibrary loans, contact Music Librarian, Jessica Abbazio (jabbazio@umn.edu).

Adjudication Process
Contestants submit a video recording and either strip the video in order to create an audio recording or provide a separate audio recording. There is no need to create a professional-grade recording, but the recording quality should not interfere with an appreciation of the performance. The panel of three judges evaluate the audio recordings anonymously, without access to the video recording. To preserve anonymity, avoid discussing with peers any plans to submit a recording and what repertoire you are learning. The contestant may be asked to order a score via ILL or supply a copy for use by the judges.

Compensation Details 
All contestants who submit a recording of a high-quality performance will be recognized on the website and receive a $25 prepaid credit card.

Winners perform in the New Voices Concert Series in Ultan Hall; each winner receives $200.

Featured Artists are selected based on the novelty of repertoire as well as the quality of performance. Each series artist receives $100 for their submitted recording being featured on the competition website and publicized through School of Music social media for five months. (If a winner is also selected to be a featured artist, they are not paid more than $200 in total.) Usage fees to the publisher are covered by the New Voices Competition.

An accompanist or member of a chamber ensemble will be paid the same as a soloist. If an ensemble larger than a quartet wins, we may need to locate supplemental funding. If unsuccessful, then the ensemble would divide the $400 or $800 evenly.

Winners, Featured Artists, and Contestants are encouraged to take credit for their achievement on their curriculum vitae or resumé, but financial awards are only for musicians who learn new repertoire for the competition.

All contestants will be invited to a luncheon following the concert, where winners and Featured Artists will be recognized. Graduate students are invited to the luncheon at no cost.

Winners and honorable mentions will be encouraged to submit a brief program note (ideally under 100 words), which will be edited for clarity. Program notes, with attribution, will be projected during the concert and included on the competition website.

This initiative is generously funded by the Office of Diversity and Equity at the University of Minnesota, the Graduate School, and the College of Liberal Arts Office of Diversity and benefitted from the expert help of School of Music staff.

Questions? 
Please contact Karen Painter at kpainter@umn.edu.