Welcome to CI2!
Composers of Internet2 (CI2):
A Technology-Enabled Composition Contest
In 2004-5, Wheaton College co-sponsored an Internet2-enabled composition contest. Each of five winners received a coaching session with a panel of experts via videoconferencing, a debut performance of their work streamed over the web, a professional recording by cellist Craig Hultgren, and a monetary award. Read on for the whole story...
In the fall of 2004, Wheaton College in Norton, Massachusetts, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and the National Institute for Technology & Liberal Education invited young composers to participate in an exciting new competition.
This inaugural "call for compositions" sought works for unaccompanied cello in celebration of Dr. Ronald Crutcher, Wheaton's new president and cellist. Mr. Craig Hultgren, cellist and activist for new music, performed and recorded all the winning works in the summer of 2005.
Winners received feedback from professional composers and cellists via Internet2 videoconferences in March. All took advantage of the opportunity to revise their work before a debut concert on June 1; the concert was streamed live via the Internet and a professional recording was made to share with each composer. In addition to receiving expert guidance, participants benefited from interacting with members of a community of practice, exposure to a variety of careers, and access a broad listening audience.
June 1, 2005: Concert:
March 23, 2005: Coaching Sessions:
- Photos
- Streams of three of our five coaching sessions.. Choose "Wheaton" from the drop menu.
Learn more about the CI2 Composers
Timeline:
- Submission deadline: January 3, 2005 (extended to 1/7)
- Winners were announced on February 15.
- Coaching sessions took place on March 23. Sites: RINET as hub. UAB, UPitt, Wheaton, Univ. of South Florida (for 2 sessions).
- March 24-May 1: CI2 composers revised their work.
- Public performances took place on June 1 in Hulsey Recital Hall at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The concert was streamed live over the Internet.
Eligibility Requirements:
- You must be a high school or undergraduate composer only (15-22 years of age by submission deadline) in a U.S. school.
- Your submission must be for unaccompanied cello, and of 4-7 minutes in total duration.
- Your submission must be a new work, written within the last year and never performed publicly nor awarded in any other contest.
- Your submission must be anonymous (see application for details).
Evaluation Criteria:
This year's Selection Committee evaluated each composition based upon its:
- overall musicality, creativity, structural integrity, demonstrated understanding of the cello's abilities and limitations;
- clear notation; "readability" of the score; and
- 4-7 minutes total performance duration.
Awards:
Winners were announced in each of two categories: high school and college undergraduate. The first prize winner in the college category was included as a finalist in the 2005 Hultgren Solo Cello Works Biennial. Each winner received:
- a coaching and feedback session conducted via Internet2 videoconferencing;
- a professional recording of their work; and
- a monetary award. The first place winner in each category (high school and college undergraduate) received $500; the second place winner in each category received $400. The third place winner in the college category received $300.
Contacts:
- Ahmed Madkour (amadkour AT wheatonma.edu)
- Colleen Wheeler (cwheeler AT wheatonma.edu)
Thank you for your interest. Further details appeared in the contest's official call and application form (links to the left).