ÉLAN AWARD 2025

APPLICATION DEADLINE: Tuesday November 5, 2024 at 10am CEST.

For the ÉLAN AWARD 2025 applications, please note that the call organizer requires the following information from your profile: Email address, Address (1), Date of birth, Citizenship, City, Country of residence, First name, Last name, Phone (1), Website, Zip code
When applying you will communicate those information to Ircam.

COMPETITION RULES
 

PREAMBLE

In 2022, IRCAM and the Orchestre national d’Île-de-France, two musical bodies with a strong commitment to promoting contemporary creations and a new generation of artists, are joining forces to create the Élan Award, a new international composition competition for an orchestral work, including the “Île de créations” (the orchestral composition competition created in 2010 by the Orchestre national d’Île-de-France) at the IRCAM Academy. The young composers shortlisted to compete in the Élan Award will enjoy an exceptional creation support platform that combines the expertise of the two bodies in terms of training on composing a work for orchestra and electronic music. They will be guided in their composition work both by musicians at the Orchestra and by IRCAM’s teams, as well as by guest artists who will join the supervising team each year.

In 2025, as part of the ManiFeste festival academy, the finalists will attend an orchestral composition workshop and will take part in the rehearsals of the works they have composed for the competition. These will be played by the Orchestre national d’Île-de-France. Following this public concert, the Élan Award ceremony will be held, endowed by France Musique and the Maison de la Musique Contemporaine. The winning composition will be played on France Musique radio station during Anne Montaron’s programme “Création mondiale” and the score will be published by Durand-Salabert-Eschig.

The winner will also receive a commission from IRCAM and the Orchestre national d’Île-de-France to compose a new work for solo instrument (one instrumentalist from the Orchestre national d'Île-de-France), orchestra and electronic music, which will be developed during the following year’s ManiFeste festival. As part of the winner’s training in electronic music, they will receive support and advice from IRCAM’s computer music producers.

The compositions of the Élan Award winner may be performed during the Orchestra’s seasons, on tour in the Île-de-France region around Paris and in other regions across France to guarantee their very broad dissemination.

A genuine springboard for the career of young composers, the Élan Award is designed to promote their outreach and provide them with professional support over several years.

GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. Candidate profiles

The competition is open to composers of all nationalities born after January 1, 1990.

A laureate of a previous ÉLAN Award may not take part in the competition.

A candidate who has been twice finalist of previous ÉLAN Award competitions cannot take part in the competition. 

2. The work

The candidate will compose a work for orchestra. No concerto or concertante work will be accepted. 

This work must be composed specifically for this competition, must be original and must never have been performed, in full or in part.

This condition is mandatory and suspensive. 

The orchestra number must not exceed the following list:

10 first violins, 8 second violins, 6 violas, 5 cellos, 3 double basses, 2 flutes (the second of which can play piccolo), 2 oboes (the second of which can play English horn), 2 clarinets (the second of which can play bass clarinet), 2 bassoons (the second of which can play contrabassoon), 2 French horns, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, 1 bass trombone, 1 percussion (who cannot play timpani), 1 timpani (who cannot play percussions), 1 harp.

For strings, accepted divisi:
V1 divisi in 4
V2 divisi in 3
Viola divisi in 2
Violoncello divisi in 2
Double Bass divisi in 2

Available percussions: snare drum, bass drum, tom, tambourine / vibraphone, xylophone, glockenspiel en valise / tubular bells, suspended cymbals, pair of orchestra cymbals, sizzle cymbals, crotales, triangle, tam tam (Chinese gong), windchimes / rain stick, wood blocks and temple blocks, castanets, claves, rattle, flexatone, slide whistle, whip, sleighbells, guiro, maracas, vibraslap, whistles, klaxon horns (auto-horn, taxi-horn, motor-horn).

No additional instrument or accessories, no prepared instruments, no electronics, no amplification will be accepted.

This condition is mandatory and suspensive.

The work must be ten minutes in length, broken down into five miniatures each lasting two minutes, which must be separated.

This condition is mandatory and suspensive. 

Candidates are required to mark the metronomic tempo of each miniature on the score, as well as the date of composition at the top of each part. 

Candidates are informed that the Orchestre national d'Île-de-France will only have two hours’ service for each work shortlisted for the final.

The rehearsal schedule will be sent to candidates one month prior.

The work programme will be decided by the conductor upon assessment of the work time required for each work. 

SUBMISSION PROCEDURE

The candidate must submit the full bid on the ULYSSES platform - www.ulysses-network.eu – by Tuesday November 5, 2024 at 10am CEST. 

Candidates must create an account (or use a pre-existing account) on the ULYSSES platform www.ulysses-network.eu, fill in their profile and click on “Apply” on the page “Élan Award 2025 – International Composition Competition for orchestra”, then:

• enter personal details (full name, gender, age, nationality, addresses, mobile telephone number, ID photo, a headshot which may be used by IRCAM and the Orchestre national d’Île-de-France for access passes and yearbook);

• write a short biography (800 characters MAXIMUM);

• list their education and professional experience, awards and scholarships won;

• present two recent works they have composed, possibly with electronic music (audio mp3 and pdf of the conductor’s score);

• write a statement of intent presenting the orchestra work entered for the competition (1500 characters MAXIMUM);

• present the first 2 minute-miniature of the orchestra work entered for the competition, conductor’s score in pdf format.  

The platform will notify of any incompleteness before the final submission. Applicants may save their application as a draft before the submission deadline and must click on SUBMIT button to finalize their application. 

Candidates are informed by email that their submission has been received.

Final entry constitutes acceptance of the conditions defined in these rules. 

SELECTION PROCEDURE 

1. First round 

The candidate must have written one full miniature of the score in pdf format A4 (21X29,7) or B4 (26X35) portrait or landscape (Italian).

The selection panel will shortlist maximum three scores from those received.

The results of the first round will be announced from Thursday December 19, 2024.

2. Selection panel 

The selection panel will be made up of the Chief Conductor and Music Director of the Orchestre national d’ÎIe-de-France, Case Scaglione, conductor Yalda Zamani who will lead the final concert, composer Lucia Ronchetti who will be this year’s guest judge and mentor, composer Matteo Franceschini and a musician of the Orchestre national d’Île-de-France. 

3. Second round 

Composers whose works have been shortlisted following the first round: 

- will receive an online master class with Lucia Ronchetti, composer and guest judge and mentor of this year’s award, and an online work session with the Orchestra’s musicians to indicate passages to be modified for technical reasons. Date to be set between December 2024 and April 2025. The master classes will take place on-line. 

- will submit the full composition by email, i.e. ten minutes of music, by Tuesday, March 4, 2025 at 1pm CEST at the latest. Mandatory and suspensive condition.

- will send a simulation recording (MIDI or mp3) of their new composition.

The Orchestra’s librarian, Ms. Elsa Rahmoun (bibliotheque@orchestre-ile.com  / + 33(0)1.41.79.03.49), will provide rules to prepare the orchestra material in digital format. 

Selected composers will send by email to both academy@ircam.fr and (bibliotheque@orchestre-ile.com their digital scores as following: 

-  The full digital conductor’s score in pdf format, 

-  The separate parts of the full score, in digital format. 

4. Jury

The jury, which will select by secret ballot the winning work out of those chosen by the selection panel, will be comprised of: guest judge and mentor, composer Lucia Ronchetti, composer Matteo Franceschini, the Music Director of the Orchestre national d’ÎIe-de-France Case Scaglione, conductor Yalda Zamani who will lead the final concert, the director of IRCAM, a representative of France Musique, a representative of the Maison de la Musique Contemporaine, a representative of the Durand-Salabert-Eschig publishing house, a musician of the Orchestra. In the event of a tie, the jury chairperson will have the casting vote.

5. The final

The jury will meet on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, after concert of the 3 short-listed works, to select the winning work.

Each of the works shortlisted for the final will be performed in public by the Orchestre national d’Île-de-France with the jury and finalist composers in attendance. 

6. Results

The finalists will be informed of the results of the second round after the public final. 

PRIZES

The winner selected by the jury will receive the “2025 Élan Award - International Composition Competition for an orchestral work - Orchestre national d’Île-de-France – IRCAM”.

The Maison de la Musique Contemporaine will award the winner with a prize of a gross amount of €3000 following the performance.

The winning work will be performed by the Orchestre national d’Île-de-France and will be broadcast in Anne Montaron’s “Création Mondiale” programme on France Musique during 2025. The winner will receive from France Musique a gross amount of €1000 following the performance.

Durand-Salabert-Eschig will publish the score. 

The winning work may be performed again during a series of concerts during the 2025/2026 & 2026/2027 season. 

In addition, the winner will receive a joint commission from the Orchestre national d’Île-de-France and IRCAM for a new 10-minute work for soloist (tbd) and orchestra with electronic music for a gross amount of €6000. The winner will be welcomed to IRCAM’s studios during the 2025/2026 season to work closely with a computer music producer who will provide assistance and advice and will support them for the electronic part of the work. The work will be performed in public during the concert for the Competition final in 2026.

The audience attending the final will vote for the “Public choice” work. The winner of the “Public choice” work will receive a reward from Durand-Salabert-Eschig publishing house. 

The musicians of the Orchestre national d’Île-de-France will vote for their “Orchestra’s choice” work.

The three finalist composers will receive a recording of their works for promotional purposes.

CREATION AND DISSEMINATION OF THE WINNING WORK 

1. Communications

The composers shortlisted for the second round will be requested to send in the next days they will have been informed, the following to Vanessa Gasztowtt (vanessa.gasztowtt@orchestre-ile.com / +33 (0)1.41.79.03.43) and Zoë Crampon (zoe.crampon@orchestre-ile.com / +33 (0)1.41.79.02.49) :

• a short biography in French and English (1500 characters maximum), 
• a digital photo (300 Dpi minimum), 
• a statement of intent in French and English (1000 characters maximum).

2. Publishing

On the conductor’s score and on all future communication media concerning this work, the words “Commission of the Orchestre national d’Île-de-France and France Musique, as part of the 2025 Élan Award and in partnership with IRCAM” must be stated. 

The conductor’s score and the material of the winning work will be published by Durand-Salabert-Eschig. The winning composer will have to send the final material to the publisher within 48 hours of their naming as winner. They undertakes to register this work with a copyright company, in France or abroad. 

3. Recording and radio broadcasting

The works of the finalist composers will be recorded during the rehearsal services scheduled with the orchestra for the final by the École nationale supérieure Louis-Lumière.

They will receive a promotional copy of these recordings. 

The winning work will be recorded and broadcast on France Musique in 2025. Radio France may broadcast the work in its entirety four times. 

The composer will receive royalties from their copyright company for radio broadcasting. 

COMMITMENTS 

1. Finalists

The finalists undertake to attend: 

• Between December 2024 and April 2025, on-line work sessions (one with Lucia Ronchetti, one with musicians of the Orchestra)
• From Wednesday, June 11 to Tuesday, June 17, 2025:  
  • individual meetings with the conductor and the guest composer Lucia Ronchetti the day before the first rehearsals;
  • all rehearsals scheduled with the Orchestre national d’Île-de-France, including those of the other finalists which will be held at the Maison de l’Orchestre (dress rehearsal at the concert venue);
  • work sessions led by Lucia Ronchetti with the group of finalists which will be held either at IRCAM or at the Maison de l’Orchestre;
  • the lectures that Lucia Ronchetti and Matteo Franceschini will give as part of the 2025 ManiFeste Academy to all participants in the Academy which will take place at IRCAM;

The finalists are cordially invited to attend the other activities of the 2025 ManiFeste Academy which will take place from June 16 to June 28, 2025 in Paris (programme under development).

Selected candidates will have no registration fee to pay for the academy ManiFeste-2025.

IRCAM and the Orchestre national d’Île-de-France do not provide any scholarships, nor reimburse travel or accommodation fees. Accepted applicants must find their own lodging.

2. The winner

The winner undertakes to take part in:

- the cultural initiatives conducted in relation to their work and organised by the Orchestre national d’Île-de-France;

- the recording of the work and the editing of the programmes dedicated to them;

- the work sessions in the IRCAM studio for the creation of the joint commission from Orchestre national d’Île-de-France/IRCAM.

CONTACTS

IRCAM 

1, place Igor Stravinsky – 75004 Paris

www.ircam.fr

Academy coordinator: Natacha Moënne-Loccoz academie@ircam.fr / Tel + 33 (0)1 44 78 45 66 

Orchestre national d’Île-de-France - Maison de l’Orchestre 

19, rue des Écoles - 94140 Alfortville

Tel +33(0)1 41 79 03 40 / Fax +33(0)1 41 79 03 50 

http://www.orchestre-ile.com

Head of culture, education and social department / youth programming: Vanessa Gasztowtt - vanessa.gasztowtt@orchestre-ile.com  / Tel + 33(0)1 41 79 03 43

Cultural outreach officer: Julie Mercier julie.mercier@orchestre-ile.com / Tel + 33(0)1 41 79 39 30

Librarian: Elsa Rahmoun bibliotheque@orchestre-ile.com / Tel+ 33(0)1 41 79 03 49