Music Theatre NOW

The Music Theatre NOW Network of the International Theatre Institute (ITI) in cooperation with the German Centre of the ITI invites artists to make submissions to their worldwide competition for the creators of new opera and music theatre. First productions of new works, which have been staged professionally anywhere in the world since July 2015, are eligible for submission.

We are looking forward to groundbreaking works from all forms of professional opera and music theatre. The jury welcomes submissions that demonstrate dynamism textually, in genre, score, or staging. We welcome works made by opera and theatre institutions, works created by festivals, or works created by individuals: the jury will appreciate a broad range of submissions that demonstrate new developments and dynamism.

Special attention will be given to works, whose musical and theatrical vocabulary originates from outside of the Western European tradition. As a guideline for regions where music theatre or opera are not well defined: we encourage interdisciplinary submissions, where music plays a dominant role.

Prizewinners will be invited to the international meeting of Music Theater NOW in May 2019, which will be held at the Operadagen, an annual international performing arts festival in Rotterdam (The Netherlands). Practitioners and presenters from all over the world will attend the convention. Music Theatre NOW award winners will present their work in short lectures to an invited group of performing arts festival directors and presenters from across the globe – giving the winners a unique opportunity to introduce themselves to important professionals in the field.

Prizewinners will also qualify for an additional prize: invitations to perform at prestigious partner venues across the world. For the upcoming round several festivals have declared their intent to invite winning productions to perform in the near future. Operadagen Rotterdam have committed to stage at least one production during 2019. Additionally festivals such as Prototype Festival (New York), NOA Festival (Vilnius) and Beijing Music Festival have all expressed serious interest in staging productions.

A five-member internationally renowned jury will select a total of 10 prizewinning works that are exemplary in terms of the contemporary developments in music theatre. Jury members are: Krystian Lada (dramaturg / Brussels), Neo Muyanga (composer and musician / Cape Town), Shoshana Polanco (creative producer / Mexico City), Liu Sola (composer, vocalist and author / Beijing) and Limor Tomer (general manager of concerts and lectures Metropolitan Museum of Art / New York).

Music Theatre NOW offers a unique opportunity in this area of the performing arts.
Since 2008 more than 1000 world premieres of new opera and music theatre have been entered into this prestigious competition, bringing together practitioners and presenters. Former winners have performed at festivals around the world. Music Theatre NOW has been the launch pad for many successful international careers.

The deadline for submissions is June 30th 2018.

More information, application form and FAQ online: 13.2.2018 – 30.6.2018

www.mtnow.org

Press Area: www.mtnow.org/about/press-area

Contact:
Christian Grammel (Coordinating Director) mtnow@iti-germany.de