March 7-9, 2024

Call for Participation: Papers, Lecture Recitals, Performances

Deadline: Monday, October 9^th, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. CT

The Program Committee for the Eighth Annual Music by Women Festival welcomes proposals from various fields of the musical profession. This festival brings together independent musicians, composers, current and retired academics, undergraduate and graduate students, and teachers who are interested in exploring topics relating to music composed by women. Musicians from all professional settings are encouraged to submit proposals from a range of topics including, but not limited to performance, musicology, theory, and music education.

A maximum submission of two proposals per person is allowed. Presenters must be willing to present on any day of the festival and, upon proposal acceptance, are required to register as a participant no later than December 1^st, 2023. Please note that the Music by Women Festival is unable to fund travel expenses of presenters or performers.  Please also note that the festival is not able program works for prepared piano and/or using extended piano techniques.
All submissions must meet the following requirements:

1. Must contain an abstract (or program notes for performances) of no more than 200 words.
2. Must not contain any identifying information in the abstract (program notes are exempt from this requirement) or proposal title as proposals will be reviewed through a blind review process.
3. Must identify any special requirements needed (projectors, microphones, etc.).

Papers will be allotted a 25-minute presentation slot on a research topic.

Performances will be allotted up to 20 minutes for a live performance as part of the festival concerts.  In addition to the submission requirements above, performances must:  (1) feature performed work(s) composed by women historically or in the present day, (2) specify the exact duration of the performance and instrumentation, and (3) have an accompanying mp3 sound file containing a sample of the actual work(s) proposed for the performance. Sound file should be devoid of any identifying information.

Lecture recitals will be allotted a 25 minute time slot for a research presentation and a performance to demonstrate the concepts presented.  In addition to the submission requirements above, lecture recitals must:  (1) feature performed work(s) composed by women historically or in the present day, (2) have an accompanying mp3 sound file containing a sample of the actual work(s) proposed for the performance. Sound file should be devoid of any identifying information.

Timeline: Proposers will be notified of acceptance by November 7^th, 2023 and will have until December 1^st, 2023 to confirm participation by registering for the festival.

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Call for Scores

Deadline: Monday, October 9^th, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. CT

The Program Committee for the Eighth Annual Music by Women Festival welcomes submissions of original compositions from independent musicians, current and retired academics, and undergraduate and graduate students for performances at concerts throughout the festival. The festival will accept submissions for solo instruments, instruments with piano accompaniment, as well as works for small chamber ensembles. This call is open to women composers of any age, geographical location and stage in their professional career.  Preference will be given to works under 15 minutes in duration. The list of performers provided by the festival to perform new works in response to the call for scores is listed by instrument under the “Performers” tab of this website: http://www.muw.edu/musicbywomen/performers.

A maximum submission of two compositions per person is allowed. Composers must be willing to attend any day of the conference and, upon proposal acceptance, are required to register as a participant no later than December 1^st, 2023. Performers who are only performing new works by the composers in response to this call are not required to register for the festival and are welcome to attend all other festival events.

Please note that the Music by Women Festival is unable to fund travel expenses of composers or performers.  Please also note that the festival is not able to program works for prepared piano and/or using extended piano techniques.

All submissions must meet the following requirements:

1. Must contain program notes describing the work (no more than 200 words).
2. Must specify the exact duration of the composition and instrumentation, and indicate if the composer is requesting festival performers.
3. Must contain a PDF file of the composition and a sound recording (MP3 or MIDI files only).
4. Must not contain any identifying information in the composition title, score, or sound file, as proposals will be reviewed through a blind review process; program notes are exempt from this requirement.

Timeline: Composers will be notified of acceptance by November 7^th, 2023 and will have until December 1^st, 2023 to confirm participation by registering for the festival.

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