Black House
- A new music laboratory dedicated to developing new methods of creation and collaboration.
06/28/2022
06/04/2022
Black House 2022 Workshop Performance
The 2022 Workshop will be having our performance of 5 world premieres on June 8th at 7:00pm at Cammilleri Hall at the University of Southern California.
3620 McClintock Ave Los Angeles, CA
Admission is free!
04/20/2022
2022 Black House New Music Workshop Participants
We're excited to announce the performers and composers selected for the 2022 Black House New Music Workshop in Los Angeles!
Workshop Ensemble
03/16/2022
Black House SoCal 2022
Call for Musicians
The Black House Collective will be hosting its 21th new music workshop in Los Angeles, California. This workshop will take place at the University of Southern California.
The goal of the Black House Workshops is to create a supportive laboratory for musicians to connect and support each while creating new music. Participation in the workshop is completely free and there is no application fee. Participants are responsible for their own travel and lodging.
Workshop Details
Musicians may apply as performing or composing residents. All residents will meet for a three-day intensive on the UCSC campus June 6th-8th.
The format will be the same:
Monday - rehearsals
Tuesday - rehearsals
Wednesday - dress rehearsal and performance
Performing Resident Information
Performing residents will be selected to be part of a chamber ensemble. Players are expected to play at a high level and to have prepared the music before the workshop. There is a piano available and percussionists must be able to bring their own equipment.
Composing Resident Information
Composing residents will write a new 10-12 minute piece for the entire workshop ensemble (no subsets) and assist with tech and documentation for the entire workshop. The instrumentation of the ensemble will be made available shortly after artist selection. Finished compositions with parts must be provided by May 25th in order to receive feedback, make any necessary revisions and give the performers time to prepare.
Dates
- March 30: applications due
- Apri 4: acceptances sent
- May 25: scores and parts submitted
- June 6-8: rehearsals
- June 8: ending performance
HOW TO APPLY
Composers
Please submit to blackhousesocal@gmail.com:
- CV
- 2 recent scores with 2 corresponding links(please do not submit audio or video files) to recordings/video
- short proposal of what you would be interested in writing for the workshop.
Performers
Please submit to blackhousesocal@gmail.com:
- CV
- 2 links to recordings or videos of performances that demonstrate your skill and experience with new music. One piece from a living composer and one solo piece are preferred but not a requirement.
- A short paragraph about your new music experience
12/21/2021
2021 Black House New Music Soloist Competition Winners
BHC is happy to announce that violinist Lilit Hartunian is the winner of our first soloist competition. She plays the winning composition "Soliloquy for Solo Violin" by Andrew List.
After a difficult year with few opportunities to gather together to make music, it was incredibly heartening to see the many wonderful new works for soloist written in 2021. Over 60 solo works were submitted and the selection was very competitive.
Finalists
- Lilit Hartunian, Violin Andrew List, Composer
- Will Yager, Contrabass Douglas Osmun, Composer
- Andrew Anderson, Piano Erich Barganier, Composer
- Stephen Tian-You Ai, Toy Piano Kyle Miller, Composer
- Julia Lougheed, Bass Clarinet Gabo Champagne, Composer
- Anna Mach, Viola Joshua Muetzal, Composer
- Kyra Davies, Violin Michael Goodman, Composer
- Lisa Yoshida, Violin, Composer
- Raina Arnett, Violin Nathan Bales, Composer
- Christopher Jessup, Piano, Composer
- Erik Schmidt, Percussion Steve Landis, Composer
Videos of the finalists' pieces will be available on the BHC Youtube page shortly.
Congrats to everyone who participated.
08/29/2021
The 2021 Black House New Music Soloist Competition
THIS CALL IS NOW CLOSED
Soloist: $500 prize
Composition: $500 prize
In the interest of promoting excellence in new music performance, BHC is proud to present the 2021 Soloist Competition. This award is for outstanding technical and artistic achievement in the performance and production of new instrumental solo works.
Finalists will be featured on the BHC YouTube channel and the winning performer and composition will each be awarded the $500 prize and eternal glory.
Jurors
- Lina Andonovska - Flute, Eighth Blackbird
- David Byrd-Marrow - Horn, International Contemporary Ensemble
- Vicky Chow - Piano, Bang on a Can All Stars
Deadlines
All entries are due by December 1. See details on submission requirements below.
Rules & Details
- New works for soloist or soloist with electronics will be considered.
- The work must have been composed in 2021 and must not have had a professional premiere.
- School and festival performances are acceptable.
- The competition is fully online and no travel is required.
- All acoustic instruments are encouraged to participate. Vocalists will not be considered for this iteration of the competition.
- There is no application fee.
- Composers are allowed to play their own works.
- One performance will be chosen as the competition winner; the performer and composer of that performance will each win a prize.
- Selections and winners will be made by early December.
Submission Requirements
Submit a Google Drive link named lastname_blackhouse with your video by December 1.
In your submission email, include:
- the name of the piece
- PDF of the score
- personal information for both performer and composer
- name, city and state of residence, brief bio, and a headshot
All applications must be submitted to blackhousesocal@gmail.com
Video Guidelines
The video must be one continuous take with no overdubbing or cuts. Multiple cameras are fine as long as it is completely clear that all material is from one performance. This is not a competition for best video production. While it is advantageous to make videos as high quality as possible, participants will be evaluated on their performance.
Eligibility
Due to the monetary prize, only participants currently residing in the U.S. are eligible.
Composers
This is a soloist competition. The composition played by the winning performer will be the winning composition.
08/16/2021
Announcing Woodblok NFTs in Support of Black House Collective
This year has been one of incredible uncertainty for all of us in the arts. As we contemplate how to move forward in safe and creative ways, BHC has been considering how to leverage new technologies to better support and fund the arts. In the spirit of experimentation BHC has released our first batch of Non Fungible Art Tokens: the Woodblok NFTs!
All proceeds from Woodblok sales goes to support BHC’s ongoing work of new music programming.
The NFT/Blockchain world is certainly a complicated and confusing space. While the ultimate viability of NFTs is still yet to be decided, the need to search for new ways to support the arts has never been more necessary. The Woodblok NFT project has been a fun way to learn about blockchain while dipping our toe into what cryptocurrencies could mean for supporting the arts.
Visit https://opensea.io/collection/
11/30/2020
2020 Update
Black House is very grateful that we were able to put on a workshop this year at Oh My Ears before the pandemic. Unfortunately, like most organizations, we've had to postpone our projects for the rest of the 2020. We look forward to finding creative ways to support the production of new music in 2021! Stay safe and stay positive.
03/27/2020
Black House SoCal 2020 Participants
This Workshop has been postponed until 2021.
We're excited to announce the composers and performers selected for the 2020 Black House SoCal New Music Workshop!