A $1000 commission to be awarded to a Jacobs School of Music student majoring in composition for a work for solo voice and instrumental ensemble to be premiered by the IU New Music Ensemble.
A list and recordings of previous Joshi commissions are found at the Recordings page. A full list of previous winners can be found here.
The Georgina Joshi Composition Commission Award, made possible by a gift from the Georgina Joshi Foundation, provides an annual award to an undergraduate or graduate student composer within the IU Jacobs School of Music Composition Department, for a composition for solo voice and instrumental ensemble. The Georgina Joshi Composition Commission Award is presented to the student composer whose Joshi Commission submission is ranked highest as judged by the composition department faculty.
Students wishing to be considered for the award will enter a work featuring solo voice or voices, with or without instruments, composed while enrolled in composition lessons at IU.
If your submitted work does not include at least six instruments, you must also submit a sample of your writing for an ensemble of at least six instruments. This work can have been composed prior to arrival at IU.
During the summer following the award, the director of the New Music Ensemble will meet with the commissioned composer to determine the length (typically about 10 minutes) and instrumentation of the new work.
DEADLINE: 12:00 noon on the Monday following Spring Break.
SUBMISSIONS
PDF and mp3 files. Do not submit Finale or Sibelius files. Make sure that your score is formatted well. Speak to your teacher if you have any questions about this.
All PDFs and mp3s must be uploaded to the SUBMISSIONS folder.
Use this format for the filename of your work with voice: J_<lastname>_<title>.pdf
Use this format for the filename of instrumental sample: JIS_<lastname>_<title>.pdf (submitted if vocal work does not include at least six instruments)
Recordings (live or synthesized) are required. Upload mp3s with filenames as above but ending “.mp3” (do not submit “.wav.” or “.aif” files)
ELIGIBILITY
- Enrollment as a composition major during fall or spring semester of the current academic year.
- Winners of previous Joshi or NME commissions are ineligible, with the exception that a student can be awarded one such commission as both an undergraduate and as a graduate student, though not one at both MM and DM levels.
- The winner of the Jon Vickers Film Scoring Award is not eligible for the Joshi commission that is awarded in the academic year following the summer announcement of the Vickers Award. This is to avoid two major commissions to one student for premiere in the same academic year. The NME commissions have timelines of 6-10 months, whereas the Vickers timeline is around 18 months.
- Students selected for commissions must be returning to IU the following year or must be willing to travel to Bloomington (at the student’s expense) to attend a minimum of two rehearsals in addition to both dress rehearsals.
Georgina Joshi
A native of Indiana, Georgina Joshi received her bachelor’s degree in music (with honors) from the Royal College of Music in London and completed her Master’s degree at the IU Jacobs School of Music. While at IU, Joshi appeared as a soloist in major choral performances and IU Opera Theater productions. An enthusiastic performer, she was featured in a variety of regional ensembles and festivals and appeared as a soloist in England, Wales, Romania, and Greece.