The Azrieli Prize for Jewish Music
Josef Bardanashvili, Winner of The 2024 Azrieli Prize for Jewish Music
Eligibility
- Nominations will be accepted for individual works by living composers and from composer estates that hold copyright in the nominated work.
- Multiple nominations of works by the same composer will not be accepted.
- Works written and/or premiered after January 1, 1949 are eligible for nomination.
- Nominated works:
- may have already received a premiere performance;
- must not have been commercially recorded (such works are ineligible); and
- must be at least fifteen (15) minutes and no longer than twenty (20) minutes in duration.
- Nominations may be submitted by individuals and institutions of all nationalities, faiths, backgrounds and communities.
- Composers of nominated works may be of any nationality, faith, age, gender, background and level of experience.
- Any nominator (individual or institution) may submit a maximum of two (2) nomination packages, each of which must be for a different composer and their work.
- Eligible works must be shown to be relevant to the field of Jewish music (a written explanatory note must be provided.) Please see below the Foundation’s definition of ‘What is Jewish Music’ to ensure that the nominated work complies. All works that do not comply with this definition will be disqualified.
The Nomination Package
Please note: all documents and media must be submitted electronically via the online application portal on or by Friday May 5, 2023.
All Nomination Packages must include:
- a completed nomination form;
- a completed work description form;
- a biographical note on the composer of the nominated work (not to exceed 500 words), including pertinent information as to the composer’s engagement with Jewish music;
- the full score of the nominated work in PDF format;
- It is the responsibility of the nominator to ensure clarity and legibility of the score.
- A live audio recording of the nominated work (if possible) in MP3 format or a MIDI simulation where a live recording is not available;
- where a nominated work contains cultural content not original to the composer, proof of permission to use such cultural content (e.g. text, music, audio recordings, or the like); and
- a written explanatory note (not to exceed 1,000 words) describing those aspects of the nominated work that are relevant to Jewish music.
Important Information
Guidelines for Nominated Works
All nominated works must meet the following guidelines. Any work that does not meet these guidelines will be disqualified.
A nominated work must:
- Demonstrate its relevance to the Prize theme – a celebration of excellence in new Jewish music;
- be a minimum of fifteen (15) minutes and a maximum of twenty (20) minutes in duration; and
- be suitable for the musical forces of the OSM Chorus:
- SATB up to forty-eight (48) choristers, twelve (12) choristers per section;
- Maximum of three (3) divisi per section; and
- Chorister solos of up to sixteen (16) measures per section are permitted
In addition, works may also include:
- Up to four (4) additional instrument and/or soloists (vocal and/or instrumental); and
- pre-recorded digital media
Proposed works must not exceed fifty-two (52) musicians in total.
Composer Agreement
The composer or composer’s estate that wins the Azrieli Prize agrees to:
- have the winning work premiered as part of the AMP Gala Concert; performed in two additional international concerts; and professionally audio recorded, mixed and mastered for future commercial release;
- be available in person (either physically or virtually, as conditions dictate) for the rehearsals and performances of the winning work; and
- participate in outreach events, workshops, press conferences, media interviews, and other such promotion and education activities as they relate to the Azrieli Music Prizes and its objectives to educate the general public about the enduring appeal and artistic importance of works that result from engaging with the topic of Jewish music.
Some Considerations for a Successful Submission
In addition to the guidelines and requirements stated above, the AMP Juries have provided the following considerations to help shape a more successful submission:
- Don’t worry about how ‘Jewish’ you are (or are not) before considering a submission to this prize. People from all faiths, backgrounds, nationalities, gender, ages and communities are equally welcome to share their artistry, creativity and musicality in response to the Prize theme. In fact, one of the Foundation’s hopes for AMP is to generate productive intercultural understandings through a rich consideration of what Jewish music is and can be.
- Carefully consider the guiding notes below in addressing your reflections on how the nominated work is a piece of Jewish music. A successful submission will suggest an interesting, appropriate yet compelling response to these reflections. We are looking for composers who have extended their own creativity, curiosity and thoughtfulness in seeking out this response. We are also calling for a deeper, more purposeful and conscious consideration of Jewish values and experiences that extend beyond simple representations of Jewish people or subjects, or simple incorporations of Jewish secular, sacred and/or traditional musical materials. We are seeking works that are authentic, original, honest and convincing.
- A submission package must be conceptually and musically balanced. Strong musical examples accompanied by an insubstantial explanatory note will not succeed within the competition. The inverse is also true: a strong explanatory note will not compensate for weak musical examples. The two must go hand-in-hand.
- Please note that the quality of submitted scores and recordings greatly affects the Jury’s ability to evaluate your application. Please be sure that submitted scores are easily legible and that recordings are as clear and undistorted as possible. If the quality of the score or sound is so poor that it’s difficult to ascertain the artistic product, this will impact an evaluation.
Review Process and Criteria
Once received, submissions are first registered and screened by our staff for eligibility and completeness.
Submissions are then pre-screened by a small team of staff and Jury members to evaluate their fit and relevancy to the Prize theme. Those submissions that clear the pre-screening process are then delivered as qualified submissions to the AMP Jewish Music Jury for their evaluation.
The Jury reviews and grade the qualified submissions using the following three main criteria: Artistic Merit, Technical Merit and Thematic Fit. These criteria are weighted based on their level of importance to arrive at a score out of 100 for each evaluated submission.
Artistic Merit (60 points)
This is the most important criteria the Jury applies in evaluating each submission. It is directly tied to the composer’s proven ability to write original choral music of high artistic merit.
The Jury will determine:
- the level of creativity displayed in the conceptual, formal/structural and musical ideas of each qualified submission;
- the ability of the submitted musical examples to sustain a listener’s attention over their entire length;
- the level of authenticity and distinctiveness displayed in the composer’s artistic voice;
- the composer’s ability to work successfully within the complex format of Choral music (i.e. music for mixed voices, from 12-48 singers, plus additional instruments); and
- the composer’s capacity to generate high quality, original and professional musical material based on the 2024 AMP guidelines for instrumentation and duration.
Technical Merit (20 points)
The Jury will evaluate each qualified submission with the aim of identifying how well thought-out it is in regard to its use of form, rhythm, melody, harmony, timbre, texture, dynamics, articulations and orchestration. They will evaluate these elements especially in regard to how well they express or positively reinforce the composer’s purpose and intentions for the submitted work, and as they relate to the objectives of the Azrieli Music Prizes.
Thematic Fit (20 points)
The Jury will evaluate whether the qualified submission offers a topical and original fit to the objectives of the Azrieli Music Prizes based on the approved guidelines of what constitutes Jewish music.
All decisions made by the AMP Juries are final and non-negotiable.
There is no appeal process.
What is Jewish Music?
For the purpose of the Azrieli Music Prizes, the Azrieli Foundation defines ‘Jewish music’ as broadly as possible, taking into account the rich and diverse history of Jewish musical traditions, as well as music by Jews and non-Jews, which may be said to incorporate a Jewish thematic or Jewish musical influence.
Jewish themes may vary broadly, and can include biblical, historical, liturgical, secular and/or folk elements.
Fundamentally, the Foundation encourages an understanding of Jewish music as deeply rooted in history and tradition, yet forward-moving and dynamic. As such, it encourages themes and content drawn from contemporary Jewish life and experience.
Jewish music can*:
- be based purposefully and consciously on musical materials traditionally perceived as belonging to a specifically “Jewish melos” – sacred or secular;
- incorporate actual liturgical melodies or secular folk tunes from any one of numerous distinct geographic or cultural Jewish traditions;
- be based on Jewish historical or biblical subjects, events, or characters, or Jewish legends or literary themes;
- include or be founded upon Jewish texts or Jewish literature (prose, poetry, or drama);
- incorporate specifically Jewish languages such as Hebrew, Yiddish, or Ladino;
- depict in musical terms, with or without sung or spoken text, visual images of Jewish connection (landscapes in the land of Israel, for example) or scenes of Jewish religious or folk life (a Hassidic gathering, a Yemenite Jewish wedding, or daily life of Jews in an eastern European market town, or shtetl, to cite three examples);
- express moods of Jewish life-cycle events or holy days;
- give voice to Judaic ideas or concepts; and/or
- have been composed expressly for a Jewish commemoration, celebration, ceremony, or other occasion—conceived in some way to represent the nature of that occasion.
*excerpted from Dr. Neil W. Levin, The Milken Archive of Jewish Music
For more information about the Azrieli Music Prizes please contact:
Phone: 1-(416)-322-5928 ext. 326
Azrieli Music Prizes
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