The idea of
bringing a new piece of music into the world, or having someone write you
something specific, is a very exciting notion.
A notion, that up until a few years ago, I never thought would be a
reality. Commissioning or hiring a
composer seemed to be a daunting task….who do you ask? How do you find composers? How to you pay for the piece? As a quintet, Mirari does quite a bit of
commissioning, which is decided on and paid for by the group. As an individual it can seem a bit harder to
pull off. Through sharing my individual
experiences commissioning new works, I
hope to shed some light on what
can seem like an intimidating process.
Why Commission?
Commissioning a
new piece of music can seem like a daunting or confusing task, it definitely
seemed that way to me. On top of that,
for many people, the idea of commissioning a new piece of music is
expensive. As musicians ourselves, and
especially when early in our careers, we’re not exactly rolling in money…but
I’ll get to that in a bit. One reason to commission is to simply bring new
music into the world. The tuba (the
instrument I was commissioning for) has a relatively small body of music,
especially when compared to instruments
like the violin or flute. It was only in
the past 50 years or so that the tuba has been taken seriously as a possible
solo instrument, with composers writing for it in a solo setting. As a result the compositional options seemed
endless.
Another reason
to commission, which didn’t occur to me at first, is composers (for the most
part) WANT to work with performers, and the performer-composer relationship is
a unique one in the music world. Unlike
performing musicians and conductors, composers don’t have the same opportunities
to collaborate with other musicians. In
addition, commissions are one way that composers earn money for what they
do…just like performers earn money by performing, composers earn money by
composing. As a musician I like to
support fellow musicians in their craft.
Who to commission?
Unless you
already have an idea of whom you’d like to commission, the first task is
finding the composer. This can also seem
daunting at first, because unless you know a composer and his or her music
well, you may be unsure as to whether you’ll enjoy working with them and be
happy with the end product.
The internet is
a super useful tool for this. The first
time I commissioned a piece I started my search by going to a number of
different composer websites and listening to samples of their music, trying to
get an idea of what each composer and their music was about. Since this was going to be someone I was
going to be collaborating with, I also wanted to make sure that the individual
wasn’t going to be a pain in the behind to work with. Once I started narrowing my list I spoke to
people that knew the composers on a professional or personal level to get their
take on the composers as people.
I considered a
variety of composers from around the country, taking into account their
location, their musical language, what instrumentation they had already
composed for, and their current popularity and success. I wanted to commission a composer that was
clearly well thought of but not too big of a name for cost reasons number one,
and also because I wanted to promote a composer that wasn’t well known in the
tuba world. I didn’t want another work
written for tuba and piano, so specifically looked for composers that worked
frequently outside that box. In terms of
location I hoped to find a composer within driving distance to have the ability
to work with them in person. Finally, I
thought it would be great if the composer had already composed for tuba in a
solo or chamber setting, as then they would be more familiar with the
instrument.
What about the $$?
Just like there
are a variety of ways of finding and working with composers, there are also a
number of ways of funding a commission.
Commission fees vary based on a number of factors, including composer
experience, your personal relationship with that composer, length of the piece,
and complexity of the instrumentation (i.e. it’s cheaper to commission a piece
for a solo instrument over a concerto with orchestra). I found that most composers charge a certain
fee per minute of composed music then adjust that based on the other factors
mentioned.
Young and up and
coming composers want to get their music out there, and as a result often have
a much lower commissioning fee and are a great way to go if you are on a tight
budget. I commissioned a work for
trombone, tuba, and recorded sound with fellow Mirari member, Sarah. The composer (Inez McComas), Sarah, and I
agreed on a unique commissioning arrangement.
Inez considered herself to be an up-and-coming composer. As a result, she believed it was more
important and more valuable for her works to be heard in performance than to
receive a monetary fee. With this idea
in mind, Inez suggested that for each minute of music composed, Sarah and I
would owe her one live performance. The
piece she composed, called “The Middle Pigeons”, ended up being 7:15, and as a
result we owed Inez at least 7 live performances of the work.
A quick side
note about another way to find and fund a commission, and that is having the
composer find you. After performing a
duo recital a student composer approached Sarah and I, asking if she composed a
piece for the duo, would we be willing to program it in future recitals. She has composed a few pieces for tuba before
and plays horn herself. We said yes, and
since then have been in contact with her regarding the nature of the piece,
typical audiences, and extended techniques that we or are not capable of, our
personal ranges, etc.
Besides the up
and coming composer route there are many other ways to fund a commission, and
my other personal way of funding a piece was through a consortium.
Funding my commission
of Asha Srinivasan, Professor of Composition at Lawrence University, was a much
different process. During our initial
meeting, she and I agreed on a commission rate of $3000 for a 10-minute
work. She based this on her per minute
rate. Keep in mind though, that many
well known composers will charge upwards of $1000/minute. Remember….just like we as performers have to
make a living do what we do, so do the composers! Think about high-level performers charging a
high fee…composers are the same. Our
product is performance, while theirs is the music they produce for us to perform.
Back in the
early stages of finding and selecting a composer I had an idea that whatever
the commission fee ended up being would be too much for me to cover all on my
own. $3000 was indeed more than I
personally had, so I decided to establish a consortium of tuba players. I had heard of consortiums before, but had
never participated in one. Initially I
had hoped to create a consortium with a minimum of eight other members. From May through June of last year I contacted
around 40 tubists, explaining the project and the consortium, trying to
determine the level of interest in a project like this from each potential
member. I received a positive reply from
seven individuals.
All of the
administrative and emailing work was time consuming, and as you can see, in the
end I received a positive reply from less than a quarter of the people I
contacted. At first I thought, wow, what I waste of my time, contacting all of
these people. But even though I didn’t
receive a monetary contribution from every person on my contact list, making
those contacts did have value. Many of
those that I contacted I’ve never had any connection to before. This consortium has allowed me to connect and
network to musicians around the country, something that could prove invaluable in
the long run. And with the seven that
did participate in the consortium, I’ve established and/or continued to build a
stronger relationship.
Each member of
the consortium contributed $250 and in return they received a copy of the work
and participation in an exclusivity period of one year following the premiere. I created a consortium agreement form for
each member to sign and return with the $250 fee.
Besides paying
through performance or establishing a consortium there are numerous other ways
and options to fund a commission, I’ll go over a couple others. First, grants. When I began exploring options to fund Asha’s
commission and my CD project I met with the grant librarian in the Memorial
Union Library….and was completely overwhelmed.
Through my meeting with her I learned about the giant databases where
you can search for grants for an endless variety of purposes. After a day of sifting I decided that for
searching for, and the even more rigorous process of applying for grants, was
too much for the scope of that project.
That said, the grant library is a fantastic resource where I learned a
great deal. I hope to someday soon get
my feet wet with grant writing, as it is an enormous resource.
Another funding
option is using Kickstarter, an Internet and social media based source to fund
creative projects. I created a
Kickstarter project to help fund my CD recording process, but it can also be
used to fund a commission.
Connect, Collaborate,
Build Relationships
One major
difference between working on a piece you’re commissioning and most other works
is the fact that the composer is alive.
I know, this seems very, very obvious, but it is a fact that is often
overlooked. In the past I’ve played a great deal of pieces where the composer
is still living (due to the young age of the instrument) but I’ve never made
any effort to contact the composer. The
first time I made a real effort to contact a composer was for my first CD
project, URSA. For that project I made
some sort of contact with every composer, and if possible, I strongly encourage
other musicians to do the same. Building
a relationship with a composer beyond the notes on the page can add a new
element of depth and understanding to the meaning of a piece.
If you have the
opportunity to work with a composer on one of their pieces, DO IT! And keep an open mind. The composer wrote the piece hearing it in a
particular way, so they will most likely have suggestions for you, which will
hopefully aid in your understanding and preparation of the work, but at the
same time, if they also are keeping an open mind, they may adjust the music to
reflect something they like that you’re doing.
A few months before recording the title track of my CD, I had the
fabulous opportunity of working with Libby Larsen, when she came down to
Madison from the Twin Cities to work with pianist Kirstin Ihde and me on her
tuba concerto. Throughout the coaching
Ms. Larsen made a number of suggestions to Kirstin and me, but more than once,
when she heard something that we did that wasn’t marked on the page, that she
liked, she marked it in her score to later give it to her publisher for a
future publication of the piece. Once
again, composers want to work with performers!
When
commissioning music that relationship becomes even more personal. Working with a composer through a commission
becomes a true collaboration, one that can be incredibly rewarding for the
composer and performer alike.
-Stephanie
