After our first round of the Michigan Choral Commission Consortium, I took a year off to reflect, as well as tackle some other big unrelated projects. Now I’m back with the second edition of MC3, and I’m hoping it’s now going to be an annual thing.
In essence, we’re joining together to commission new music for Michigan choirs. Our lead composer this year is Andrea Ramsey, and she’ll be writing an upbeat, uplifting SATB+piano piece suitable as an opener/closer. The text looks great!
The coolest part of how MC3 is set up is that the value grows with the number of participants – so participating choirs are motivated to get their friends involved. For every 10 choirs who join, we commission an additional piece. I’m hoping to commission at least two pieces this year, and I think there’s the potential for three. We’re already close to signing up the first ten, just from past participants. The $300 fee is reasonable for commissioning an outstanding composer, but if you get three or more commissions for the same $300, you’re actually paying less money per piece than you might pay for octavos at the store!
Consortium members receive:
- PDFs of the composition upon completion (planned for August).
- Opportunity to influence selection of composers for future years.
- Possible special collaborative events (stay tuned).
- Your choir name listed in the octavo in the event of its publication.
- A private Facebook group for sharing insights and ideas with other MC3 members.
If you’re a Michigan choir director, watch for an email from me about joining our merry band of new music supporters. And if you don’t get one, contact me for more information, or just click here to become a new member of MC3!