2025
Call
For
scores
Versipel New Music is pleased to announce a Call For Scores for Batture Contemporary – a three-day new music festival consisting of concerts, workshops, and open rehearsals showcasing the diverse array of composers and performers based in Louisiana.
Batture Contemporary is accepting submissions from Louisiana-based composers of any age, nationality, or career stage for inclusion in the festival. Composers may submit works for live performers, with or without electronics, and fixed media compositions, with or without video.
Selected composers will be given a $100 travel honorarium for their inclusion in the festival.
One composer will be awarded a $1000 commissioning contract with Versipel New Music to compose a new work for Batture Contemporary 2026.
Batture Contemporary will take place September 18-20, 2025. Attendance for selected composers is required.
Apply Here at New Music Engine
Eligibility:
- Open to:
- residents of the state of Louisiana or
- students studying and living in the state of Louisiana as of September 2024 or
- students who studied in the state of Louisiana during the 2024/25 academic calendar year
- NOT open to:
- members or family members of Versipel New Music performers, staff, or board of directors or
- members or family members of nienteForte Contemporary Music performers or staff
Versipel New Music strongly encourages applications from all individuals regardless of age, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, career stage, or traditional classical music upbringing.
Application Guidelines:
Applicants may submit up to two works of any duration for consideration. There is no fee for these two submissions.
Instrumentation may be for 1-6 players from the following (one player per except where indicated):
- Fixed or interactive audio up to 8 channels and/or fixed or interactive video
- mezzo-soprano
- piccolo/flute/alto flute
- clarinet/bass clarinet
- alto/tenor/baritone saxophone
- violin (2 players)
- viola
- cello
- piano/synthesizer
- guitar (electric, classical)
- double bass/electric bass
- percussion (contact us with instrumentation questions)
The composer may also elect to provide their own Louisiana-based performers and/or perform their own work as either a soloist or a member of a larger ensemble.
Dates and Deadlines:
- April 1, 2025: Call for Scores Application Portal opens
- May 10, 2025: Call for Scores Application Portal closes
- June 10, 2025: Winners Announced
- September 18-20, 2025: Batture Contemporary Festival
Application:
The primary substance of the application will include:
- One of the following:
- PDF of the Full Score
- Written performer directions for works that have no score
- Representative sample audio and/or video of the work no longer than five minutes per work. MIDI realizations of acoustic works are acceptable if no live recording is available. Video is only required for works that utilize video in performance.
Audio samples can be uploaded directly into the submission portal. Video samples should be hosted on a streaming (YouTube, Vimeo, etc.) or cloud (Dropbox, Google Drive, Box, etc.) service and not uploaded directly into the application portal.
Incomplete applications will render the application ineligible.
Selection Process:
All applications will go through a multi-step selection process:
Step One: Manual Review – a panel-based evaluation that measures the suitability for each submission’s advancement to Step Two with no utilization of ranking or narrowing the pool of submissions deemed suitable
Step Two: Controlled Lottery – a lottery-based selection process that uses a Google Sheet randomizing function to select final works from the pool of submissions that advanced
Step Three: Invitation – selected composers are invited to participate
More details and reasoning behind the selection process can be found on our Detailed Selection Process Page.
At the conclusion of the festival, one of the participating composers will be randomly selected and awarded a $1000 commissioning contract with Versipel New Music to write a new and original work for the Versipel Collective to be performed at Batture Contemporary 2026.
Questions? Contact us.