The 8^th NCPA Young Composer Programme, is hereby officially kicked off and will continue on for two years until December 2025. As a follow-up to the Seventh Session, which focused on the creation of concertos for Chinese bowed string instruments and orchestras, the current “Young Composer Programme” is open to an innovative interpretation to the accompaniment of the erhu, the zhonghu, the gaohu, the banhu, the jinghu and other traditional Chinese instruments in a modern musical context. The “Young Composer Programme” endows composers with free space. In terms of composition, there are essential requirements for orchestra staffing and piece length, whereas there is no requirement for theme selection. Composers are encouraged to follow their hearts to compose whatever truly reflects their own artistic pursuit. Meanwhile, they are supposed to dig deep into and present the rich connotations of Chinese musical culture.

The Final Evaluation Concert for the 4^th Young Composer Programme

After the deadline for submission, the NCPA will set up a panel of experts, including well-known composers, conductors and art managers with an international vision and profound academic background, to evaluate the entries in stages. The evaluation process consists of five stages including pre-evaluation, preliminary evaluation, stage presentation, re-evaluation, and final evaluation. Adhering to the principle of not communicating with any others or convening any consultative conference throughout the evaluation process, the Panel will show full respect for every panel member’s independent judgement in order to ensure that each entry is evaluated fairly and objectively. Ten entries will be selected for stage presentation during the preliminary evaluation and could be staged in public by Chinese orchestras. Five entries will be picked out during the final evaluation and performed publicly on the stage of the NCPA so that a wider audience and more music lovers may witness a professional presentation by young composers. The NCPA will also produce albums for the entries selected during the final evaluation, intended to promote the wider dissemination of excellent musical compositions. For the three top entries, the NCPA will offer greater financial support to assist composers with further modifying and improving their compositions.

On-site evaluation at the Final Evaluation Concert from the previous Session of the “Young Composer Programme”

At the previous sessions, the award-winning works were performed by various orchestras around the world, and this demonstrates the wide-ranging influence of the Young Composer Programme. This time, at the stage of final evaluation, the Organising Committee will also organise outreach activities such as exchange visits and seminars to provide the composers with opportunities to hold direct dialogues with industry experts. This will also help them to bridge for exchanges between Chinese and Western modern music.

Voting for “Musicians’ Favourite Musical Composition”

Conductors and composers were rehearsing for the Final Evaluation Concert at the previous session