On Feb 22, 2005, at 4:28 PM, Dennis Bathory-Kitsz wrote:
At 04:15 PM 2/22/05 -0500, Christopher Smith wrote:Funny this comes up like this; I had no problems at all turning 40 - it
was 35 I had problems with. Why, you may ask? It's because all the
young composers contests have cutoff ages of 35
We gave our annual Golden Bruce Award over this: http://kalvos.org/gbruce.html http://kalvos.org/bathessc.html
And no, I've never won a competition. I suppose it would help if I entered
something else other than Nissim. :) I did Rome Prize and Prix Ars
Electronica for the experience, but alas, there was no feedback. And I did
the NSO state-level competition, but that earned the reverse: a Golden
Bruce for our state arts council. :)
D
Nicely stated (in the links.) I have always known going in that contests have their own agendas - it's NEVER about only the music. And like grants and bursaries (and parents putting conditions in their wills to control their children with inheritance), contests are a way for organisations to say "THIS is what we stand for, and we pay to collect people around us who agree with us." As much as I would like them to be altruistically open in all ways, I'm not sure they are about to change their minds real soon.
What actually bugged me the most about being overage for these competitions is that I was being told more or less, "Up until now, we have admired your potential and young drive, and give you this encouragement to continue to develop and grow. However, now that you are 35, you are supposed to have grown up and realised your potential, so stop slacking off and asking for money to 'explore', and write something good for a change that we can actually program on a concert!" Then as the door slams behind me "Geddouttahere, ya bum!" Only thirty five, and already over the hill. Gads.
Christopher
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