For the second year in a row, cash prizes will be offered to song contest winners in five categories during ArtPrize; new “busking stations” will spotlight live music.
2012 Jazz Winner: Roger MacNaughton played with Tom Lockwood and John Gist on opening night of the ArtPrize Musicians’ Showcase.
Hailing the importance of music as art, St. Cecilia Music Center in Grand Rapids will once again host a song competition during ArtPrize with $10,000 in prize money split between winners in five categories.
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But don’t dilly-dally: To qualify, musicians and songwriters must register on the ArtPrize website and create an artist profile by June 6. Once registered, artists must enter their songs into the competition by Sept. 1
This is the third year that St. Cecilia Music Center and Mackinaw Harvest Music have spotlighted music as entries in ArtPrize and the second year that the music center has offered cash prizes to winners of the song competition in pop/electronic, rock/blues, folk/country, jazz and classical categories.
This year’s international ArtPrize competition takes place in Grand Rapids from Sept. 18 to Oct. 6.
“The goals are to attract songwriters to ArtPrize and give them a platform for their art form,” noted St. Cecilia executive director Cathy Holbrook. “We love that people might get to know more about SCMC in the process as well but it’s really to give musicians their rightful place in the event and be recognized for their work.”
Award Presentation: Mackinaw Harvest Music’s Michael Crittenden and St. Cecilia Music Center’s Cathy Holbrook with 2012 rock/blues winner Delilah DeWylde, center.
The historic St. Cecilia Music Center in downtown Grand Rapids also has been the site of music showcases during ArtPrize the past two years, spotlighting performances by the lion’s share of artists entering original songs into the competition.
Although it’s uncertain whether those showcases will return due to funding concerns, this year’s ArtPrize will feature five “busking stations” around Grand Rapids where musicians with song entries will get a chance to perform for the public. Other performance opportunities are expected indoors at St. Cecilia Music Center and outdoors through WOOD TV 8, which last year held lunchtime ArtPrize concerts at Rosa Parks Circle in downtown Grand Rapids. ArtPrize visitors also will be able to listen to song entries in listening stations at St. Cecilia Music Center.
SEPARATE COMPETITION USES OFFICIAL ARTPRIZE VOTE TALLIES
The cash prizes offered to musicians and songwriters by St. Cecilia Music Center are separate from those awarded as part of the overall ArtPrize competition that focuses mostly on visual art, though winners of the song contest are chosen based on official ArtPrize vote tallies for entries.
Showcased: Grand Rapids blues-rock band JuxTApose performed outside St. Cecilia Music Center last fall.
In 2011, the first year that songs were accepted as ArtPrize entries, 47 artists participated. Last year, that number rose to 79. Although most entries have come from Michigan songwriters, the competition is open to musical artists from across the world. “We hope it will grow based on the fact that we are offering prize money and people will be interested in that opportunity,” Holbrook said.
In addition to the separate music competition, registered artists will be eligible for ArtPrize’s $200,000 grand prize as well as a juried award of $20,000 in the “time-based/performance” category, though songs have yet to crack into any of the top spots in the overall ArtPrize competition.
THE OFFICIAL RULES
Here are the official rules for song entries:
• The song or piece must be an original piece of music written within the last three years.
• You must register on the ArtPrize website and create an artist profile by June 6. Enter at www.artprize.org, listing the form as “Time-Based” and the medium as “Music.”
• There must be a recording of the piece embedded by the time ArtPrize begins and must be provided to St. Cecilia Music Center via YouTube.com or Vimeo.com for video and SoundCloud.com for audio. You can create a free account on one of those type of sites and paste the embed code in the space provided on the Work Entry form. Questions regarding embedding can be answered at artists@artprize.org .
• Once a profile is created, musicians should “connect” to St. Cecilia Music Center so officials can see the request to enter as a performer.
• Pay the registration fee as needed: $50 for solo artist and $25 per additional collaborators.
• An artist may only enter once, either as a solo artist or as part of a group.
Those with questions can contact Holbrook at SCMC; email her at cathy@scmc-online.org.
Happy Wives: Crittenden and Holbrook presenting a check last year to The Crane Wives.
LAST YEAR’S WINNERS
And to whet your appetite and help inspire this year’s potential entrants, here’s a list of the 2012 winners, with links to listen to their songs:
Pop/Electronic – “Shakti Gayatri,” Michael Cohen (Click here to listen to song.)
Rock/Blues – “Win My Love,” Delilah DeWylde and the Lost Boys (Click here to listen to song.)
Folk/Country – “Easier,” The Crane Wives (Click here to listen to song.)
Jazz – “Grand Traverse Bay,” Roger MacNaughton (Click here to listen to song.)
Classical – “Concerto for Section Percussion and Orchestra,” Shannon Wood (Click here to listen to concerto.)
(On a separate note, St. Cecilia Music Center also recently announced the return next season of the Fresh Folk/Local Spins Live Contemporary Folk Series, with Rachael and Dominic John Davis on Nov. 7, with special guest Troll for Trout, a singer-songwriter round robin on Jan. 9, 2014 with Drew Nelson, Jimmie Stagger, Mark Sala, Jen Sygit, Josh Rose and May Erlewine, and Potato Moon and The Northern Skies on April 10, 2014.)
Email John Sinkevics at jsinkevics@gmail.com.
Copyright 2013, Spins on Music
