Orion Composers' Competition 2017
in association with Dyson
The Orion Orchestra is inviting applications from young composers to write a work for Dyson Technologies and Orchestra.
The winning work will be premiered at Cadogan Hall in Spring 2018, in the opening concert of Orion Orchestra's Alpha & Omega concert series. The composer of the winning proposal will receive a prize of £1,000, and subsequently work closely with Conductor and Artistic Director Toby Purser and Dyson in creating the project. It is expected to receive significant media attention.
Applicants are invited to submit samples of their existing work, in addition to an outline of how they would approach this challenge. For further information on applying, please refer to our Competition Guidelines (pdf)
About Alpha & Omega
Orion Orchestra's forthcoming three-year concert series Alpha & Omega will explore the first and last orchestral works of some of the world’s greatest composers, traversing the musical journeys that took place over a lifetime.
Dyson HQ in Malmesbury is home to the Alpha of jet technology: the earliest working example of Frank Whittle's jet engine. As a point of departure, this year's prize takes the evolution of jet technology's journey from Whittle's engine to its current applications in Dyson machines.
Any existing Dyson technologies may be considered for use in the composition, access to which will be provided to the chosen composer. The winning proposal should succeed in telling a story true to the brief, and to the composer's own musical voice. Although there may be humorous elements to the final composition, it should avoid being purely comic.
Pre-recorded sounds (such as the Whittle Jet) are allowed, and video projections are possible. We also encourage composers to consider not only the sounds of Dyson machines, but how they could be used in conjunction with orchestral instruments (for example a rotating fan on wind chimes, a vacuum on drum head).
To apply, composers are asked to return our application form with the appropriate accompanying materials as set out in our guidelines, by midnight on 20th October 2017.