Outside the Commissioning Box

When it comes to commissioning music, one size does not fit all. It can have many different variables. Some people, when they think about commissioning, have their own bias, and they believe that it only works in a certain way. Here are some assumptions many conductors make regarding the commissioning of a work: It costs a lot. You might get a piece that your choir can’t handle. It has to be 3-5 minutes. The conductor has no control over the parameters. The composer should have no control over the parameters. Commissioning is risky.

Most of these are myths, and don’t paint an accurate picture of the process. There are ways you can be very creative with how you commission a new piece of music. But to start with, let’s bust some of these myths:

First of all, no one person is in charge. It can be an enjoyable experience to be in collaboration with a composer about a new work. The two can decide on a text together, with the composer suggesting 3-4 poems. The conductor can also suggest possible themes for the piece that would fit the existing program.

Secondly, a conductor should always be honest about not only what their singers can handle, but also what they like to sing. I’ve had conductors brag about the amazingly hard pieces their choir has done in the past, and as a result I’ve overwritten for the choir. No one wins.

So, now both parties are in control of the project, and everyone is honest about the difficulty level that is desired. Great! Let’s move on.

Here is how to start thinking about creative ways to commission new works. Some of the following examples are from my own experience, and there are a few ideas I still wish someone would ask me to do.

Arrangement
Have a composer write an arrangement of an existing tune. It is a way to lower the risk (you agree on which tune will be arranged), and it can be a cheaper project. Most composers will quote an arrangement of a piece at a lower rate than an original composition. Make sure that the song is either in the public domain, or that you have secured the rights from the publisher to make the arrangement.

Short Piece
Nine times out of ten, a choral commission will be saddled with the parameter of needing to be 3-5 minutes long. Fine. That’s what most pieces are already. But there are plenty of pieces that are short and awesome! I think most composers would love to be asked to write a 2 minute opener or closer, or a simple encore that doesn’t take a long time to learn. I know I would! Plus, this would most likely be a cheaper endeavor for you. Win-win!

Consortia

Most commissioning money goes towards top level touring groups, not a 9th grade un-auditioned women’s choir. Consortia are a way for you to afford to commission for any choir in your program for a fraction of the cost. In a consortium, multiple choirs share the cost of a project and put a smaller fee, and in return they get enough scores for their choir and the right to have their own local premiere of the work within a certain period of time. The first consortium I organized involved three new pieces for young high school men’s choirs. Each supporting choir paid $250, and they received all three pieces by the beginning of the year. Three pieces for $250! There’s still some risk involved, but most of these folks knew my work for men’s choir already, so they had some idea what would come out. Empty, Go, and It Is Not the Fact That I Would Die That I Mind have gone on to find great places in the catalog for men’s repertoire. Since then I’ve organized projects for children’s choir, men’s choir, women’s choir, and a 7-movement choral cycle for mixed choir. These are either for myself, or through Graphite Publishing with composers like Jocelyn Hagen, Eric Barnum, and Paul Ayres. This season I wrote for the first NC-ACDA Commissioning Consortium for young men a piece for 7th-8th grade boys. It takes a lot of work to organize a consortium, and it’s usually done by the composer (so keep your eye on Facebook and ChoralNet). But that’s not to say you couldn’t get a bunch of colleagues together and approach a composer you all love. You just have to make sure you get enough interest to keep the cost down.

Rounds
Last year, Philip Brown of Hopkins High School in Minnesota approached me and asked if I could find some composers from Graphite Publishing to write for his singers. He wanted rounds to use at the beginning of the season to get the kids singing, and he also wanted them to be used as concert music and not just a warm-up. So Graphite composers Paul John Rudoi, Abbie Betinis, and myself each wrote him a round – one for his mixed group, one for women, and one for men. The three resulting pieces are wildly different, and each composer’s fee was much smaller than a through-composed (or even a strophic) piece.

Limited Voicing
The world needs more good SAB music. And SA(T)B music, and 2-part mixed choir pieces, and choral pieces that are in unison. “Easier repertoire with no divisi.” Composers are often asked if they have this kind of piece in their catalog. Usually we wish we had more to give you! Again, part of the issue is that not a lot of commissioning money goes toward creating music of this difficulty level. The SA(T)B voicing isn’t too different, but the others are! Most likely this would be a project that a composer hasn’t had the chance to write yet.

When a composer is writing a new piece, what they’re setting out to write exists on a spectrum. At one end, they have complete control and can write whatever they want. At the other, they’ve been told how long the piece should be, which text to set, which obbligato instrument to use, how much divisi is acceptable, and perhaps even what key to start it in. At this end, parameters can be limiting, but at anywhere else along that spectrum they can help foster creativity. Whenever you have to solve a creative problem by overcoming certain obstacles, what you create can be really intriguing. Parameters can help us find new ways of achieving goals, and this is no different in commissioning.

So in closing, keep the conversation open, strive for a collaborative experience, be creative and have fun. Let’s see what you can commission!