The Canadian Art Song Project (CASP) is pleased to announce the second Chung Wai Chow and John Wright Art Song Mentorship Program for Composers to support emerging and early-career composers, as well as mid-career composers new to solo vocal writing, in the creation of Art Song.

Two grants of $2000 will be awarded for 2023. The successful applicants will be expected to create three Art Songs (freestanding poems set to music), roughly 10 to 12 minutes in total within 8 months of the agreed start date. As part of the program the applicant will be paired with a recognized Canadian Art Song composer who will act as Mentor throughout the process, providing guidance and support. This program is open to Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada.

The Canadian Art Song Project is a volunteer not-for-profit with a 12- year history of engaging composers, poets, and performers in the shared goal of preserving, promoting, and building Canada’s rich body of Art Song literature. Highlights of recent years include the release of Found Frozen: The Songs of Jeffrey Ryan as well as Healey Willan: Summer Night and Other Songs for Voice and Piano which was nominated for a 2020 JUNO Award. Past CASP-commissioned composers have included Afarin Mansouri, Christos Hatzis, Ana Sokolović, James Rolfe, and Marjan Mozetich, among others.

CASP is seeking applications from graduates of composition programs, those from post graduate composition programs and/or other freelance composers who wish to advance their skills in the writing of Art Song. We strongly encourage applications from composers from non-traditional or non-classical backgrounds.

Over the past 2 and a half years CASP has been engaging in public conversations that have explored the voices of our diverse cultures and their relationship to Art Song in Canada. It is hoped that this Mentorship Program will enrich and re-imagine the writing of Art Song in Canada by engaging artists from all backgrounds, ethnicities, and genders, to bring their lived experiences into this evolving art form in a collaborative and open environment. To this end, we strongly encourage applications from all communities.

Applications:

The application package is available in PDF at the following link:

Candidates are asked to provide a statement outlining how they would contribute to the program’s purpose and priorities, specific details about what they have in mind for their songs, areas where candidates will need the most help with personal creative development and the names of potential mentors. Letters of support are required from two members of their communities who are able to speak to the merits of the application.

Deadline for submission is Friday, November 25, 2022.

Results will be announced in January 2023