To be eligible for AMP-PF support, music ensembles must:

• be a registered not-for-profit corporation or charitable institution in their home country;
• retain professional artistic and administrative leadership and hire professional musicians;
• have completed at least two years of operations as a live concert music producer and presenting organization;
• demonstrate regular, ongoing live concert programming that is delivered to professional performance standards before a paying audience;
• propose to program at least one AMP-winning work in their 2024-2025, 2025-2026 or 2026-2027 concert season; and;
• exhibit good governance, administrative structure and financial management.

PLEASE NOTE: AMP will only accept one proposal per music ensemble per year.

Multiple proposals from the same ensemble will not be accepted.

The completed application form and supporting documents must be submitted online on or before July 12th, 2024.

The proposal package must include:

• Information about the music ensemble that demonstrates it meets the Fund’s eligibility criteria, including:
• name, address, and corporate and/or charitable registration number; • names and short biographies for artistic and administrative leadership;
• documentation of the past concert season and the current season’s programming;
• financial statements for the most recently completed fiscal year; and
• a budget for the fiscal year that includes the proposal.
• Audiovisual recordings of the ensemble performing two contrasting and recent examples of contemporary works
• Examples may be sent as audio and/or video. Accepted formats are MP3 or WAV for audio and MP4 or MOV for video
• Hyperlinks for freely accessible audiovisual recordings posted online will also be accepted (e.g. YouTube videos and the like)
• A proposal for the concert featuring the AMP-winning work(s), including:
• Concert date and location (Please Note: this concert must fall in the 2024-2025, 2025-2026 or 2026-2027 season to be eligible for AMP-PF support);
• Name of proposed soloist(s) (if required);
• A list of other works that will appear on the concert program;
• If part of a concert season, a brief explanation of how the proposed concert fits into the season; and
• A brief statement about how the concert will help advance the objectives of the Azrieli Music Prizes.
• A concert budget showing the amount requested of the AMP-PF (not to exceed $25,000 CAD) with a short explanation for how the funds will be used.
• Optional: Submissions may be accompanied by no more than two letters of reference. All letters should clearly indicate the applicant’s name as follows: “(Ensemble’s Name) Letter of Reference, Azrieli Music Prizes Performance Fund” Please use the AMP-PF PROPOSAL FORM to organize your work.

The ensembles that receive AMP-PF support agree to:

• Program AMP-winning work(s) in a manner that features it/them in the best way imaginable and in accordance with world class professional standards;
• Rehearse and perform the work(s) to world class professional standards;
• Communicate to the public the Azrieli Music, Arts and Culture Centre (AMACC) and the Azrieli Music Prizes names and logos in relation to the AMP-PF supported concert;
• Include a special statement in the concert house programme recognizing the Azrieli Music Prizes Performance Fund;
• Maintain open, timely and professional communication with AMACC concerning the execution of the supported rehearsals and the concert; and
• Provide a final report to AMACC following completion of the concert, including:
  • a letter recognizing the Azrieli Foundation’s support through AMP-PF;
  • concert documentation, including but not limited to the house programme, photos and media reviews; and
  • one-page reflective statement on how the concert helped meet AMP objectives.

In addition to the guidelines and requirements stated above, The Azrieli Music Prizes Advisory Council has provided the following notes to help applicants shape a more successful submission:

1. Don’t worry about how ‘Jewish’ or ‘Canadian’ your programming is or is not. One of AMP’s objectives is to generate productive intercultural understandings through a rich consideration of what Jewish and Canadian music is and can be.

2. A successful proposal must be conceptually and musically balanced. Strong, musical examples accompanied by an insubstantial and/or ill-conceived concert proposal will not succeed within the competition. The inverse is also true: a strong concert proposal will not compensate for weak musical examples. The two must go hand-in-hand.

3. It is preferred that AMP-winning works be programmed alongside other works from the 20th and 21st Century concert repertoire. That said, compelling proposals for programming alongside earlier works will be considered.

4. Please note that the quality of the support documents greatly affects the ability to evaluate a proposal. Please ensure that submitted recordings are as clear and undistorted as possible and that printed materials are clean and legible. If the reproduction quality is so low that it is difficult to ascertain the product, then this will impact the Council’s evaluation.

5. Please be certain that submitted written materials and musical examples demonstrate your ensemble’s ability to undertake the rehearsals and concert for one or more of the AMP-winning works to world class industry standards. AMP seeks to support ensembles that will showcase these works at the same level of excellence we expect of our Laureates.

Once received, proposals are registered and screened by AMACC staff for eligibility and completeness. The proposals that pass this screening are delivered to the AMP Advisory Council as qualified submissions.

The Council will evaluate qualified submissions for their fit and relevancy to the objectives of AMP and the purpose of the Performance Fund. The Council will review and grade the submissions using the following three main criteria: Artistic Merit, Thematic Fit and Capacity. These criteria are separately weighted based on their level of importance to arrive at a score out of 100 for each evaluated submission.

Artistic Merit (50 points)

This is the most important criteria the Council applies in evaluating each submission. It is directly tied to the ensemble’s proven ability to program and perform new concert music at the highest artistic standards. The Council will determine:

• the level of creativity and distinctiveness displayed in the ensemble’s programming;
• the ensemble’s capacity to generate high-quality professional performances; and
• the ability of the submitted musical examples to sustain a listener’s attention over their entire length.

Thematic Fit (30 points)

The Council will evaluate whether the qualified submission:

• proposes a relevant thematic fit to the objectives of the Azrieli Music Prizes;
• presents one or more of the AMP-winning works in the best way imaginable, in accordance with world class professional standards;
• offers an authentic expression of the ensemble’s current and past programming; and
• produces productive intercultural understandings through a rich consideration of what Jewish and Canadian music is and can be.

Capacity (20 points)

The Council will evaluate the qualified submissions for the ensembles’ ability to execute their concert projects as proposed.

Can the proposal be realistically and successfully achieved? Does the ensemble demonstrate enough previous experience to assure the Council that it will deliver on its proposal on time and on budget? Has the ensemble’s leadership allocated adequate resources to meet the expected standard of achievement?

Those proposals for which the Council can answer these questions in the affirmative will advance in the competition.

The AMP Advisory Council anticipates making decisions concerning which ensembles/proposals will receive AMP-PF support approximately two months after the deadline (i.e. by mid-September 2024). Successful applicants will be notified by AMACC staff via email with an AMP-PF funding agreement to follow in writing 3-4 weeks later. All other applicants will receive a notification letter along the same timeline.

The decisions of the AMP Advisory Council regarding the Performance Fund are final and non-negotiable. There is no appeal process.

The Council does welcome feedback on how to improve the AMP-PF application, evaluation, notification and implementation process. Feedback may be sent by email to music@azrielfoundation.org with the subject line “AMP-PF Feedback” or by post to:

Attn: Azrieli Music Prizes Performance Fund
2 St. Clair Avenue West, 9th Floor
Toronto, ON M4V 1L5
CANADA