Arrangement Competition for the German-Jewish Songbook of 1912

The German Choral Association (DCV), in cooperation with the German-Israeli research project “Project 2025 – Arche Musica” and Schott Music, is organizing an arrangement competition on the German-Jewish Songbook of 1912. The aim of the competition is to stimulate an active choral culture of remembrance and engagement with Jewish musical culture.

Complete material

The complete material is digitally available at: https://www.arche-musica.org/work/sefer-ha-shirim-das-buch-der-lieder/

Conditions of participation

Composers who have Israeli or German citizenship or are resident in Israel or Germany are eligible to participate. Only one entry per person may be submitted to the competition.
In addition to the score (PDF without attribution), an application form, a concept letter, a short biography and a photo must be submitted. The competition will be conducted anonymously; personalized information will be separated from the material that is passed on to the jury.
Deadline for submissions is 31.12.2024.
Submit the files to: projektbuero@deutscher-chorverband.de
Submission format: works should be submitted in digital form, preferably as an xml music file and as a PDF and – if possible – also as a midi file.
If possible, please submit the arrangement in a file created with a widely used music notation software such as Dorico, Finale or Sibelius.

Criteria

The composers should engage with the theme of musical remembrance culture and create two new arrangements of one title, each from the Hebrew and German-language sections of the songbook. It is also possible to combine two originals in one arrangement.
The total length of both compositions must not exceed 6-10 minutes and must be a cappella or accompanied by piano or guitar and unamplified. Vocal or body percussion elements may be incorporated. Other non-vocal elements are not permitted.
The vocal distribution may be in two to four voices. The target group (children‘s, youth, adult, choir, etc.) and the instrumentation (equal or mixed voices) can be freely chosen.
The submitted arrangements may not have been performed, published or entered into another competition.
A jury of choral music experts will evaluate the compositions according to their innovative value, vocal approach, depth of effect of the compositional ideas and compositional concept with regard to the chosen template and the idea of the musical culture of remembrance.
Ideas that enrich choral music with a new or changed element are considered innovative – these can be extended vocal and sound techniques as well as ideas for performance practice (e.g. of a dramaturgical nature).
Another important criterion for the jury is the practical feasibility of the compositions for amateur choirs.
The publishing prize is awarded by Schott Music to three composers.

Jury

The jury is chaired by Danny Donner (conductor, composer and head of the music department of the Tel Aviv School of Arts) and Stephan Doormann (choral conductor, music teacher and artistic director of chor.com). The jury will be composed of an equal number of jury members from Israel and Germany.

Prizes

Jury prizes: The prize money of up to €20,000 can be divided into two categories by the jury: 1. arrangements for mixed voices and 2. arrangements for equal voices. The jury is free to decide on the exact distribution and awarding of prize money based on the quality and number of works submitted.
Publishing prize: The prize-winning compositions will be published by Schott Music.
All finalists will receive a free participation ticket for the Chorfest 2025. Travel and accommodation costs for the finalists in Germany will be subsidized up to an amount of €500 per person.

Legal framework

The copyright remains with the arrangers.
The competition participants declare their consent to radio and television recordings and recordings by the organizer of the Chorfest 2025 and chor.com 2026 as well as recordings on sound and image carriers (including their reproduction and exploitation) in connection with the competition, the Chorfest and chor.com. The musical works of the participants reproduced on these image and/or sound recordings may be reproduced, distributed, performed, combined with other types of works, broadcast and/or made available to the public without restriction in terms of subject matter, time and place, as long as these image and/or sound recordings are used for non-commercial purpose or in press coverage.
Legal recourse is excluded in all aspects of the competition.