note:
As of late 2020, the iceCOMMONS database has been under construction.
We will post updates about this platform on our homepage. Stay tuned!
iceCOMMONS Artist-in-Residence program is now called “Call For____.” Learn more here.
icecommons HISTORY
Launched in 2017, iceCOMMONS was our platform for discovering new composers through their works. It was free and open to everyone: a crowdsourced, searchable database of information about musical compositions submitted by the composers themselves. iceCOMMONS connected composers with performers to spark new collaborations, reducing obstacles such as economic advantage and academic pedigree, which have historically disadvantaged many composers—especially those from groups underrepresented in classical music—from accessing opportunities to build their professional creative practice.
What was once an annual invitation to submit proposals for new works in icelab from 2011 to 2014 is now a regular process. iceCOMMONS was a free and public portal which collected composer submissions into one database. While it served as our primary method of discovering emerging and lesser-known talent, it also acted as a tool which counteracts the traditional barriers faced by composers.
The result was a shift in programming wherein new works by undiscovered composers consistently populated programs on all of our series around the world. Through iceCOMMONS, new artistic relationships were constantly forming, on and off stage.
ICECOMMONS ARTISTs-in-residence
Each year, we invited selected composers and sound artists from the iceCOMMONS database to be artists-in-residence with the Ensemble. Throughout the following year, composers work with musicians from the Ensemble to develop new works through workshops, discussions, open rehearsals, and performances.
Represented by a diversity of backgrounds and musical styles, iceCOMMONS Artists-in-Residence (AiR) were selected by a panel of Ensemble musicians and outside experts who, over the course of six weeks, become familiar with more than 700 composers and sound artists who submit their creative work for consideration via a “call for scores” on the iceCOMMONS web portal. Six artists received a paid commission, collaborative workshop opportunities, promotional support, and world premiere and repeat performances, as well as video and audio documentation throughout the entire creative process. iceCOMMONS Artists-In-Residence was made possible with leadership support from the Jerome Foundation.
