A New Commission, Searching for a Composer
Commissioned by Dr. Stan Hill, Artistic Director, Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus
Underwritten through the generosity of Alan Braun,
which was matched by husbands Dean A. Genth and Dr. Gary W. Swenson
Premiere Performance: Friday and Saturday, March 30 & 31, 2012 – 8:00 pm
Ted Mann Concert Hall, Minneapolis, Minnesota
GALA Festival 2012 – July 7-11, 2012 – Denver, Colorado

Submission Requirements
All submissions become the property of Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus and will not be returned.
Notification of the final composer/lyricist selected will be no later than Friday, June 17, 2011.
All submissions must be original compositions and not arrangements of existing works. Submissions may be
existing compositions and/or lyrics, but they must be original works, written by the composer/lyricist.

1. Submit CD, DVD, or YouTube URLs, or iTunes or Rhapsody tracks WITH accompanying scores. Any
audio or video submission without accompanying scores will not be considered.

2. Submissions should be voiced and scored for TTBB and any combination of instrumentation or a cappella.
3. Submission should represent three contrasting styles:
a. Youth – as the piece spans generations, we would like to hear something that represents sounds that
young people are into: Crunk – going crazy (in a good way), Sick = amazing, Poppin’ – good fast beat,
Boom – good deep beat, Monster – term for Lady Gaga fans, Pop, Deep Bass, R & B, Hip-Hop,
Mashup, are some typical styles.
b. Traditional Choral (could be a Gospel or Spiritual) as in the style of Randall Thompson, Aaron Copland,
Stephen Paulus, Morten Lauridsen, Z. Randall Stroope, Moses Hogan, etc.
c. Contemporary Classical Choral as in the style of Eric Whitacre, Hans-Ola Ericsson, Dominick Argento,
Jaakko Mäntyjärvi, etc.
d. And/or Theatrical/Broadway style which involves the entire chorus rather than solo-centered.

Submission Procedures
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS. All submissions must be postmarked by midnight, Friday, June 1, 2011.
Send submissions to:
Dr. Stan Hill, Artistic Director
Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus
528 Hennepin Avenue, Suite 307
Minneapolis, MN 55403
-Or-
Email materials to: shill@tcgmc.org

Composition Specifications
NOTE: the Goals and Objectives of this Spec Sheet are to detail components which will eventually be contained
and included in the final contract between Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus and the composer. NOTHING in this Spec
Sheet shall be considered binding between the Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus and the composer. This non-binding
stipulation includes any and all phone conversations, e-mails or any other communication between anyone
representing the Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus and the composer or his representatives. The Twin Cities Gay Men’s
Chorus’ Artistic Director, Dr. Stan Hill, has complete responsibility and authority to approve or reject any part or
whole of the composition.
All music and lyrics must be original and not derivative of any other work.
The work will be chorus focused, not character or soloist focused.
1. Total length of complete work: 50 minutes
2. Instrumentation: To be determined between the Artistic Director and the Composer
3. Remuneration:
a. Music Composition: $12,500.00 – inclusive
b. Lyricist: $7,500.00 – inclusive
c. If the composer is the lyricist the inclusive amount shall not exceed: $20,000.00 – inclusive
4. Payment Schedule: (in three installments)
a. 1st Payment (1/3 of the fee) Upon signing of the contract
b. 2nd Payment (1/3 of the fee) Upon approval of all lyrics and outline of music
c. 3rd Payment (1/3 of the fee) Upon submission of final work including all scores,
instrumental parts, chorus/piano parts and any other submissions required by the contract.
5. Deadlines:
a. Lyrics outline and schematic submitted Monday, August 1, 2011
b. Music outline and schematic submitted Friday, October 7, 2011
c. Final submission of all scores, chorus/piano parts, instrumental parts and complete conductor’s score
and any other submissions required by the contract: Friday, December 23, 2012
6. Caveats
a. The Composer and Lyricist (or one person providing both services) will stipulate that the entirety of the
music and lyrics are original and do not appear anywhere else in any form.
b. All lyrics must be submitted and approved by the Artistic Director prior to setting to music.
c. All music, lyric underlay, instrumentation, voicing and all other musical components must be approved
by the Artistic Director prior to submission. All scores must be thorough and complete, representing all
of the sounds and voicing specified by the composer and submitted both in .pdf format and in Finale
2011. Any studio-generated tracts must be notated. Lyrics may be submitted in either .pdf format or
word documents.
d. The Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus will submit all planning that has come from the Commission
Committee as to the prospectus, theme, content, plot, characters, intent, direction and outline of the
work done by the Commission Committee to the Composer/Lyricist. The composer and lyricist, in
collaboration with the Artistic Director shall present a revision of the theme, overview, content and plot
(if applicable) of the work within one month of signing the final contract.
e. Prior to signing the contract, Twin Cities Gay Men’s Chorus will make arrangements for the composer and
lyricist to travel to Minneapolis to meet with the Commission Committee, the Artistic Director, and
Chorus Membership.