Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute (February 1)

Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute (February 1)

Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute (RSMI) Announces International Composition Competition with $7,500 in Prizes and Performance at Ravinia

Submission deadline is Feb. 1, 2018

In celebration of 30th anniversary of the summer conservatory Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute (RSMI), where the best young professional musicians from around the world enjoy training with the great teachers and artists of the festival, Ravinia is pleased to announce Bridges: An International Jazz and Classical Fusion Composition Competition. Bridges is an exciting venture into the fusion of jazz and classical music and will exhibit works for string quartet and jazz trio written by young artists, awarding winners the David Baker Prize. The competition and its top prize were devised by the directors of RSMI’s Program for Jazz in honor of the late jazz great who had served as the director of the program since its creation.

In the past, such composers as Ned Rorem, Ramsey Lewis, Aaron Jay Kernis, Jake Heggie, Stephen Paulus and Augusta Read Thomas have been commissioned to write world-premiere pieces for RSMI. Bridges also continues a genre-blending tradition of the past century, from the music of George Gershwin, Kurt Weill, and Darius Milhaud to new pieces Seiji Ozawa brought to Ravinia in the 1960s and, especially, the work of Leonard Bernstein, whose centennial Ravinia will celebrate over the next two seasons.

“For decades, Ravinia’s impressive impresario Edward Gordon and James Levine dreamed of having a college-level conservatory right here at Ravinia, and they made it happen in 1988. We’re here today to launch the 30th anniversary of Ravinia’s Steans Music Institute with this important opportunity for composers,” said Ravinia President and CEO Welz Kauffman. “This competition doesn’t just commemorate an important anniversary, it helps give young professionals a place on the map—if not the world stage—which is precisely what RSMI has been granting singers and instrumentalists for the past three decades.”

Submissions will be judged by the directors of RSMI’s Program for Jazz: Grammy award–winning pianist Billy Childs, saxophonist Nathan Davis, and bassist Rufus Reid. Bridges winners will have their compositions performed in Ravinia’s prestigious Martin Theatre during a concert on Saturday, June 9, at 8:30 p.m.

Up to three competition winners will be selected, and each will be awarded a prize of $2,500. Entrants must be between ages 18 and 30—the same range as participants in the Program for Jazz—and must submit a new piece written for string quartet and jazz rhythm section at a length of 10 minutes. Submissions must include the full score and all instrument parts and will be accepted between Nov. 1, 2017, and Feb. 1, 2018. Audio and/or video recordings may be included. Complete instructions can be found at