{"id":2140068,"date":"2025-11-07T00:37:45","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T00:37:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2140068"},"modified":"2025-11-07T00:37:45","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T00:37:45","slug":"contemporary-music-interactive-opens-call-for-new-compositions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/contemporary-music-interactive-opens-call-for-new-compositions\/","title":{"rendered":"Contemporary Music Interactive opens call for new compositions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>      <!-- Body --><\/p>\n<p>Last year marked a vibrant addition to Winnipeg\u2019s musical landscape with the launch of the <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cmiwinnipeg.ca\/\"><strong>Contemporary Music Interactive (CMI)<\/strong><\/a> \u2014 an initiative devoted to presenting new works by composers connected to Manitoba. Founded by violinists <strong>Sophie Reimer-Epp<\/strong> and <strong>River Sawchyn<\/strong>, the project gives emerging composers an invaluable opportunity to have their music performed at a professional level, discussed in depth, and brought to life before an audience.<\/p>\n<div class=\"jeg_video_container jeg_video_content\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Call for composers! Submit your work to CMI\u2019s 2025\u201326 season by Jan 5 at cmiwinnipeg.ca.\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pn7nCbNg3CA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>In collaboration with <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/gswell.ca\/\"><strong>Groundswell<\/strong><\/a>, CMI supports the next generation of musical voices \u2014 helping young composers prove that their works are both artistically compelling and performance-ready.<\/p>\n<h3>A Strong Debut Season<\/h3>\n<p>The organization\u2019s inaugural season culminated this past May with two concerts at <strong>Fort Garry Mennonite Fellowship Church<\/strong>, featuring eight Manitoba-based composers.<\/p>\n<p>Reflecting on the experience, <strong>Sophie Reimer-Epp<\/strong> said, \u201cOh yeah. it surpassed any expectations we had. It was so fantastic. We had great audience turnout, the music, the performances of all the pieces was amazing. Our composers did so well up on the stage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For <strong>River Sawchyn<\/strong>, the realization of CMI\u2019s first season was \u201cone of those moments, you know, when you&#8217;ve been planning a project for so long, it almost starts to feel like fictitious at some point\u2026 But as soon as we started rehearsing and going to the church and getting everything set up, and then as soon as people started walking in, it was just a very surreal experience.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Learning and Growing from Year One<\/h3>\n<p>Following their first season, CMI has been actively gathering audience feedback. \u201cThere\u2019s so much enthusiasm for the initiative that we\u2019ve created,\u201d said Reimer-Epp. \u201cYou never know when you\u2019re creating something new \u2014 is there going to be demand for it? Are people going to be excited by the idea that you&#8217;ve created? And people definitely were.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The duo has continued to refine their approach through surveys and newsletters. \u201cWe really want to hear from our audience,\u201d Reimer-Epp added. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to hear as much as possible from people, what they thought, what they think we could work on.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Partnership and Support from Groundswell<\/h3>\n<p>CMI was supported last year by <strong>Groundswell\u2019s Ground Floor Initiative<\/strong>, which provides mentorship and resources to emerging projects. \u201cGroundswell was very integral to building us up as a new organization,\u201d said Sawchyn. \u201cWe really appreciated all the support and guidance we got from some very, very key people.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Although the exact nature of this year\u2019s partnership is still being finalized, both founders expressed their appreciation and hope for continued collaboration.<\/p>\n<h3>Supporting Young Composers \u2014 \u201cThey\u2019re Us\u201d<\/h3>\n<p>When asked why creating opportunities for young composers is so important, Reimer-Epp put it simply: \u201cThese young composers, they&#8217;re us. River and I are the demographic that we&#8217;re targeting.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She explained that CMI grew out of their shared experience as young musicians. \u201cWe were really loving new music, and we just can&#8217;t get enough of it. We wished there were more opportunities for young people. So when we started dreaming up all the different aspects of the series, it was like, what would we want in our dream opportunity\u2026 and we literally got to build that ourselves.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Sawchyn agreed, noting how vital it is for composers to experience their music being performed live. \u201cStep one is write the music. Step two is share the music,\u201d he said. \u201cWe found there is just a lack of kind of in-room, up-close and personal, intimate sharing experiences for up-and-coming composers.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Call for New Compositions for 2025\u201326<\/h3>\n<p>The Contemporary Music Interactive is now accepting submissions for its <strong>2025\u201326 season<\/strong>, expanding its instrumentation requirements.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re really excited this year to be expanding our operations a little bit,\u201d said Sawchyn. \u201cWe\u2019re looking for instrumentation up to five chamber players, and the piece needs to be between five and 15 minutes long.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As for eligibility, the term <em>\u201cup-and-coming composer\u201d<\/em> remains open-ended. \u201cWe talked about this very thing \u2014 should we have an age limit?\u201d Reimer-Epp said. \u201cIn a spirit of wanting to have as many people as possible have this opportunity\u2026 we wanted to just leave that a little bit ambiguous so that if someone was looking on our requirements and said, \u2018I feel like I&#8217;m an up-and-coming composer,\u2019 that they&#8217;d feel welcome to apply.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>From Submission to Stage<\/h3>\n<p>Once submissions close, a panel will review the works. \u201cWe\u2019re going to be putting together a panel\u2026 River and myself and then a few other key compositional new music people from the community,\u201d said Reimer-Epp. \u201cEach of us will listen through all the pieces\u2026 and then we\u2019ll get together and discuss not only which compositions will suit CMI\u2019s purposes best, but also which ones will make a really great program together.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>A Platform for Dialogue Between Composer and Audience<\/h3>\n<p>CMI\u2019s concerts are unique for their focus on interaction. Composers introduce their works and speak about the creative process. \u201cWe include space to tell us what makes your piece unique,\u201d said Sawchyn. \u201cWe highly encourage you to think outside the box\u2026 if you want to bring a dancer, show a film, something that is integral to your piece.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reimer-Epp emphasized the importance of this exchange: \u201cThe more you know and understand about a piece, the more you understand about new music techniques, the more there is to listen for. We didn\u2019t want there to feel like there was a divide\u2026 we wanted to create a more educational format where not only are we experiencing the music together, we\u2019re also learning together.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Looking Ahead<\/h3>\n<p>Looking ten years down the road, Sawchyn envisions CMI growing its reach: \u201cWe really want to continue to expand ourselves as an organization\u2026 having more concerts a year, bringing in composers from out of province as well\u2026 maybe find more collaboration out of province and out of country and kind of open up branches elsewhere.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>How to Apply<\/h3>\n<p>Composers can find submission details at <strong><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/cmiwinnipeg.ca\">cmiwinnipeg.ca<\/a><\/strong> under the <em>Composers<\/em> tab. CMI can also be found on social media as <strong>@contemporarymusicinteractive<\/strong> on Instagram and Facebook.\u00a0For those interested in learning more, the website also offers information about CMI\u2019s mission, past concerts, and a newsletter sign-up for ongoing updates. Submissions are open now until <strong>January 5th.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>      <!-- Audio --><\/p>\n<p>      <!-- Video --><\/p>\n<p>      <!-- Gallery --><\/p><\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source classic107.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Last year marked a vibrant addition to Winnipeg\u2019s musical landscape with the launch of the Contemporary Music Interactive (CMI) \u2014 an initiative devoted to presenting new works by composers connected to Manitoba. Founded by violinists Sophie Reimer-Epp and River Sawchyn, the project gives emerging composers an invaluable opportunity to have their music performed at a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2140069,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2140068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Contemporary-Music-Interactive-opens-call-for-new-compositions.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2140068","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2140068"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2140068\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2140072,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2140068\/revisions\/2140072"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2140069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2140068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2140068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2140068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}