The opportunities involve writing new works for the following ensembles, leading to performances or sharings at the 2026 soundfestival. Please note that there is a progression through the opportunities, with each one catering to composers at different points in their careers. We thus expect the majority of composers to apply to one of these opportunities rather than multiple opportunities.

1. A duo of musicians from Red Note Ensemble (alto flute and percussion) in the run up to the soundfestival. This is aimed at very early career composers.

2. North East Scotland’s new music ensemble, Any Enemy, conducted and mentored by Pete Stollery in the run up to the soundfestival. This is aimed at early career composers slightly further along their career path.

3. A 3-day Composers’ Lab with Quatuor Bozzini during the soundfestival. This is aimed at more experienced emerging composers.

These opportunities are part of sound’s soundcreators programme focusing on nurturing creative talent. soundcreators is currently funded by Creative Scotland, Aberdeen City Council, the Hinrichsen Foundation, the William Syson Foundation and through the PRS Foundation’s Development Network fund supported by PPL. These particular opportunities are in addition funded by The Garrick Charitable Trust.

Candidate Information

• By very early career we mean composers who are aiming for a career in composing, and are at a stage where they need opportunities to work with and write for real musicians. If they have studied music, we would expect them to be at post-grad level at least.

• By early career, we mean composers who are more confident in writing for live musicians, and need a bit more of a challenge to help them hone their skills.

• By emerging, we mean composers who are able to demonstrate a number of years of compositional experience, who are emerging onto the professional scene.

• By Scottish composers / composers based in Scotland we mean composers of any nationality, who have been resident in Scotland for at least 18 months and expect to stay for the next 2 years at least. Scottish-raised composers who are studying elsewhere in the UK for a limited amount of time may also apply, but will be expected to pay for any travel to get to Scotland.

For the Red Note, and Any Enemy opportunities we are looking for composers who have:

• have strong notation skills and experience in working with and writing for classically trained musicians, and are interested in developing this skill further;

OR

• are coming from a not classically trained background, but are able to demonstrate ability/skill set to produce a score (including graphic, text, semi-graphic) for classically trained musicians to play from.

For Composers’ Lab with Quatuor Bozzini, the candidates must have strong notational and experience in working with and writing for classically trained musicians.

All composers will need to be able to articulate their development needs and how the particular opportunity would benefit them at this point in their career. They can be of any age and background, including those who have had to take a substantial career break due to maternity leave or other reasons, or those who practised composition as amateurs in previous years and have now started to take steps into the professional world. They might also be those who have had a career in another field of music and are only now identifying as composers.

We are committed to working with and supporting composers from under-represented groups. Female, trans, gender-diverse, and global majority or Gypsy/Traveller composers, composers from a low-income background, and/or composers with a disability are encouraged to apply. By global majority we mean people from all ethnic groups except white British and other white groups, including white minorities.

Opportunity Descriptions

1. Writing for Red Note duo: alto flute and percussion

Since its formation in 2008, Red Note Ensemble has taken up a leadership position as Scotland’s contemporary music ensemble, performing and developing both an extensive, highly-varied and critically-acclaimed programme of new music.

6 very early career Scottish composers (see definition above) will have the opportunity to develop short works for a duo of alto flute and percussion with mentoring support from Shiori Usui.

The schedule for the opportunity is as follows:

•  Introductory session: 2nd and 3rd July
•  Mentoring support: Early/Mid August
• Workshop session with musicians: 19th or 20th September, Aberdeen
• Additional rehearsal session: early October, Central Belt (date tbc)
• Performance on 1st November, Aberdeen

Expenses

A stipend of £200 will be available for each successful candidate who completes the opportunity. Second-class travel within Scotland will be reimbursed, and any necessary accommodation booked. See the paragraph on accessibility below for additional access costs.

2. Writing for Any Enemy

Any Enemy (established in 2018) is a contemporary music ensemble formed of local musicians in North East Scotland. The ensemble meets regularly with conductor Pete Stollery to rehearse a wide range of new music for flexible instrumentation, and has commissioned a number of new works. For the past 5 years it has offered development opportunities to composers across Scotland and beyond.

3 early-career Scottish composers (see definition above) will have the opportunity to develop works for Any Enemy (instrumentation: fl, ob, bn, vn, va, vc, perc, tuba) with mentoring support from composer Pete Stollery.

• Introductory session: 2nd July
• Workshop session with musicians: 19th or 20th September, Aberdeen
• Performance on 24th October, Aberdeen

Expenses

A stipend of £250 will be available for each successful candidate who completes the opportunity. Second-class travel within Scotland will be reimbursed, and any necessary accommodation booked. See the paragraph on accessibility below for additional access costs.

3. Composers’ Lab with Quatuor Bozzini

Quatuor Bozzini has been an original voice and strong advocate in new, experimental and classical music since 1999. Driving the hyper-creative Montréal scene and beyond, the quartet cultivates an ethos of risk-taking, experimentation, and collaboration, venturing boldly off the beaten track. With a rigorous eye for quality, it has nurtured a rich and diverse repertoire, regardless of trends, and leading to a great number of commissions and some 500 premiered works. Its open, collaborative, artist-led approach has resulted in the realization of numerous innovative and highly praised productions, including inter-disciplinary projects with video, theatre and dance.

4 emerging Scottish-based composers will take part in an intensive workshop on string writing. The workshop aims to improve technical skills in writing contemporary music for string quartet instruments, and to generate creative ideas in an open and stimulating environment.

Accepted participants must produce 6 weeks in advance a nearly-finished or finished work for string quartet. The workshop will conclude with a public sharing as part of the soundfestival on the Thursday 29th October, showcasing the work accomplished during the week.

• 27th-29th October – Workshop sessions with Quatuor Bozzini in Aberdeen
• 29th October: Public sharing as part of soundfestival, Aberdeen

Expenses

Second-class travel within Scotland will be reimbursed, and accommodation will be provided. See the paragraph on accessibility below for additional access costs.