DionysiaTrust is pleased to announce a call for submissions for its international competition for musicians and composers of all ages, nationalities and genders for the DT Competition for Original Music Composition 2023 drawing inspiration from The Parthenon Sculptures.

The Sculptures occupy a unique place at the pinnacle of Greek and global cultural heritage, while they are currently the subject of discussion at the highest level in Greece and on the world stage. Ideas and perceptions on these matters are changing, even while Greece looks to the future with confidence always drawing strength from the timeless values embodied by The Sculptures themselves.

DionysiaTrust believes this subject can be a powerful and rich source of inspiration for composers to create something new, which in turn can contribute to the conversation and reflection surrounding a subject of such significance.

Submissions will be judged on both the music score and the required analytical description of the inspiration behind each composition.

An e-certificate of participation will be given for each valid submission.

For the winning composition DionysiaTrust has secured the support of the ERT Greek Radio Symphony Orchestra to Premiere the winning composition in a special concert or radio concert for The Parthenon Sculptures or with a recording (made previously with the orchestra in the ERT Recording Studios) to air in an ERT Greek National Radio broadcast in the summer of 2024.

The winning symphonic work cannot be performed in public, or recorded for public distribution, before this premiere.

The DT Competition for Original Music Composition 2023 is held under the auspices of the Greek Ministry of Culture with the support of Music Ensembles of ERT (National Greek Radio and Television).

Composers of any age, nationality and gender may apply.

Compositions must not have been previously published (all entries will be thoroughly checked).

Compositions must not have won any prize in a previous composition competition (all entries will be thoroughly checked).

Compositions must never have been performed in public (all entries will be thoroughly checked).

Only one entry per composer is permitted.

The competition is exclusively for a Orchestral composition that does not exceed 12 minutes in duration.

Each applicant can submit only one work.

The work should be composed for an orchestra with any and/or all of the following instruments:

2 flutes (second optional piccolo)

2 oboes (second optional English horn)

2 clarinets (in B flat or A)

2 bassoons

4 horns (in F)

2 trumpets (in C or B flat)

3 trombones

1 tuba

1 timpanist

3 percussionists (snare drum, bass drum, cymbals, tambourine, bells, metallophone, triangle, castanets, cymbal on base, tοm-tοm, gong)

12 first violins

10 second violins

8 violas

6 cellos

4 bass

THe Judging Panel will be composed of five distinguished panelists, all accomplished in the world of music and culture and selected by the Board of Directors.

We can confirm the participation of:

Miltos Logiadis (Conductor, Professor of Conducting at Ionio University)

Zoe Zeniodi (Conductor, Artistic Director of El Sistema Greece, Hart Institute of Women Conductors Fellow, The Dallas Opera)

Gerald Wirth (Composer, Conductor, President of Vienna Boys’ Choir, Founder & Artistic Director of Wirth Music Academy)

Dr. Sara Graef (Composer, Professor of Music at California State University, Los Angeles)

Dr. Robert Deemer (Chair of Department of Theatre and Dance and Professor of Music Composition at School of Music at State University of New York in Fredonia, Founder & Director of Institute of Composer Diversity)

Coordinator of the Judging Panel:

Laura Mamakos – (President & Co-founder of DionysiaTrust, Soprano)

The judging panel’s decisions are final and cannot be appealed.

In order to be valid, all applications must be submitted to info@dionysiatrust.com (all attachments must be in Word or PDF format) by the 31st of December 2023.

To submit a complete application all applicants must agree to the Terms and Conditions (review below in menu bar) of the DT Competition for Original Composition 2023.

All applications must include all of the 6 following items:

1 - Personal Information

Required: First Name, Last Name, Date of birth, Nationality, Full Address, E-mail, Telephone Number, TIN (Tax Identification No.) or SSN (Social Security No.)

Optional: website, social media handles.

Please note that if applicants are under 18 years old they must also include details of their legal guardian’s Personal Information.

Files must be sent in Word format and clearly labelled.

2 - Short personal bio

(500 words max) including educational background and any other previous awards received from other competitions.

Files must be sent in Word format and clearly labelled.

3 - Analytical Description

A personal essay (1,000 words max) explaining your primary source of inspiration for the composition you are submitting, in relation to any of the following:

1. The History and Symbolic Value of The Sculptures for Global Cultural Heritage

2. The myths or stories portrayed by The Sculptures

3. The Sculptures in relation of the fragments to the whole

4. The importance of The Sculptures for the identity of contemporary Greece

5. An aesthetic and/or emotional dimension that The Sculptures embody

6. The importance of The Sculptures for Greek contemporary identity

7. The Sculptures removal and claims for restitution

Please keep in mind that this accompanying essay about your work, and how it can contribute to a productive dialogue is very important to the judging panel and their assessment and therefore should be written in English.

Files must be sent in Word format and clearly labelled.

4 - Music Score

Must include the composer’s name, a title, be typeset and sent as PDF files.

5 - Application Fee

A fee of EUR 75 will be charged for submission (excluding wire transfer fees). Please note applicants must cover charges for wire transfer.

The application fee is payable by bank transfer to:

Dionysia Trust

Alpha Bank

Account Number: 436002002004395

IBAN: GR4801404360436002002004395

Swift: CRBAGRAA

Bank Address: A. Lazaraki 19, 16675 Glyfada, Greece

6 - GDPR Regulations

DionysiaTrust places a high priority on the security and privacy of personal data. To this end, DionysiaTrust implements technical and organizational measures aiming towards the protection of personal data subject to the requirements and standards set by applicable data protection laws and in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Please see our GDPR Regulations and send back a scanned and signed copy as part of your application.

Only electronic submissions are valid.

Incomplete applications will not be considered (see Application).

No age, nationality or gender restrictions apply.

One submission per applicant is permitted.

All valid submissions will receive a e-certificate of participation.

Works submitted must be no longer than 12 minutes in duration. Otherwise, the submission will be disqualified.

Scores must be submitted with a title and the composer’s name, be typeset and sent as a PDF file of max 30MB. PDF files must be divided appropriately for easy performance and reading. Should these requirements not be fulfilled, the work will be disqualified.

The applicant certifies that the composition(s) submitted is/are his/her own original work and has not been previously published and has not won in any previous competitions. Otherwise, the applicant will be disqualified.

Submissions are now open. Submission deadline is 19:00 (GMT+2) on the 31st of December 2023. Depending on specific situations, the submission deadline may be postponed. Should this be the case, it will be accordingly published on the website. Submission date of each work will be the day of receipt of both full application and payment of fees and will be confirmed accordingly via email to the applicants. Applications failing to fulfil any of these requirements will be disqualified.

The winner will be selected by a Judging Panel of distinguished musical professionals, will be notified directly via email, and will receive a digital winner’s e-certificate. The Judging Panel’s decisions are final and cannot be appealed.

For the winning composition DionysiaTrust has secured the support of the ERT Greek Radio Symphony Orchestra to Premiere the winning composition in a special concert or radio concert for The Parthenon Sculptures or with a recording (made previously with the orchestra in the ERT Recording Studios) to air in an ERT Greek National radio broadcast in the summer of 2024.

If an ERT recording is made it will be available to the composers for their personal use. However, commercial use by the composer will require a separate and direct agreement with the Music Ensembles of ERT.

The winning work may not be performed in public, or recorded for public distribution, before the above mentioned ERT concert or radio premieres.

DionysiaTrust may use the ERT recording for promotional purposes, and to further its cultural aims only, without requiring any prior authorisation by, or any payment to, the author. This requirement cannot be cancelled nor appealed by the author or their possible heirs.

The author of the awarded work must state on every promotion or advertising event where the awarded work is a part of, as well as on every recording, edition and program including the awarded work the following statement: [award received] of DT Competition for Original Music Composition 2023.

All ownership and authorship rights shall remain the author’s.

The applicant certifies that all information included in his/her application is true. Otherwise, the applicant will be disqualified.

The applicant understands that the Judging Panel’s decisions are final and cannot be contested.

DionysiaTrust will not be responsible for plagiarism or any offence or transgression of current intellectual ownership regulations in Greece or worldwide which authors may incur. The applicant recognizes that this application does not imply any parallel or future agreement between the applicant and DionysiaTrust.

Participating in this Competition implies the unconditional acceptance of these Terms and Conditions. Interpretation of these Terms and Conditions remains exclusively within the powers of DionysiaTrust.

DionysiaTrust places a high priority on the security and privacy of personal data. To this end, DionysiaTrust implements technical and organizational measures aiming towards the protection of personal data subject to the requirements and standards set by applicable data protection laws and in compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The DT Competition for Original Music Composition 2021 was held for musicians and composers of all ages and nationalities on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the Greek War of Independence.

On that historic milestone for Modern Greece, DionysiaTrust offered a platform to Greek and international composers who, like everyone in the arts, had suffered many frustrations during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The composers drew inspiration from the historical events surrounding 1821, the ideals behind them (shared by the French and American revolutions), the trajectory of Greece since that time, contemporary Greece and, of course, the view to the future.

The DT Competition for Original Music Competition 2021 was held under the auspices of the Greek Ministry of Culture and as part of the “1821-2021 Initiative” with the support of the Music Ensembles of ERT.

The competition had two categories:

Mixed Chamber Music Ensemble

String Quartet and Quintet

The DionysiaTrust Board of Directors was pleased to announce the following results on November 9, 2021:

Prize in Mixed Chamber Music Ensemble category: Stathis Chomatsas ‘Drosoulites’

Commendation in Mixed Chamber Music Ensemble category: Nikolaos Exarchos ‘1821 Suite’

Prize in String Quartet or Quintet category: Theodoros Grigorakakis ‘Thrymmatismenoi’

Commendation in String Quartet or Quintet category: Giorgos Sgourdas ‘After 1821: three causes’

A recording of the two winning compositions (one in each category) was made at the recording studios of ERT by the Music Ensembles of ERT and had their Premiere on ERT Greek National Radio on March 25, 2022, the Greek National Day of Independence.

Please listen to the recordings of two prize compositions HERE