The I-Park Foundation is pleased to announce its first Thanatopolis Prizes in music composition.

The I-Park Foundation, a not-for-profit international arts community sited within an expansive nature preserve in East Haddam, Connecticut, is seeking three separate music compositions for the Thanatopolis Project, an alternative memorial park/space in the advanced conceptual phase of its development. I-Park is looking for works that harmonize with the long-term goal of Thanatopolis, which is to re-imagine our cultural and personal relationship to death, memory and memorialization - and to engage the fields of music composition/sound sculpture and other artistic and creative disciplines to bring about a new and powerfully sacred and evocative landscape/sound-space.

Judging will be by a distinguished panel and all works will be performed/presented at the Thanatopolis Exhibition on October 2, 2010. See links below for details on the submission process and elaboration on the inter-disciplinary and collaborative nature of the Thanatopolis Project.

A $2,000.00 cash award will be granted in each of the following three categories:

Memorial Composition
This piece should be between 4 and 12 minutes in length and be thematically appropriate for a (at this point, non-denominational or virtual) memorial 'service' within the Thanatopolis Space. I-Park is soliciting existing compositions that lend themselves to a live performance by a chamber ensemble or as a pre-recorded presentation with at least some live elements. The submitted piece ought not to have been previously awarded a major prize in the field.

Tone Sequence/Annunciation
For the Tone Sequence/Annunciation, I-Park is looking for an iconic new composition. The piece will likely mark the commencement and/or conclusion of the official memorial ceremony or serve as an 'effect' within the memorial ritual. The piece is intended to be a cry, an alert, a pleading or invocation. The selection should be in the range of 20 - 60 seconds in length and be, to some considerable degree, site responsive - referring to the Thanatopolis Space.

Processional
Unlike the Tone Sequence/Annunciation, which is a relatively short audio phrase, the Processional is an extended new composition that should range in length from 5 - 15 minutes, though it could incorporate major elements of repetition or cadence. The Processional will accompany the physical movement of participants during a transitional phase within the memorial ritual. It is intended to enhance the experience of the physical transition.

Entry Fee: waived for this project
Application Format: online submission through the I-Park website
Deadline: all submissions must be received by July 5, 2010
Jury Format: blind competition
Restrictions: no restrictions as to nationality, age or gender
Musical Style: no restrictions
Acoustic vs Digital Instrumentation: open
Orchestration, Vocal Elements: see http://www.i-park.org/Thanatopolis2010_FAQ.pdf
Thanatopolis Overview: http://www.i-park.org/Thanos.html
I-Park Website: http://www.i-park.org
Questions: contact Claire Jeffreys at Thanatopolis@gmail.com