I’ve been working full time as a freelance composer for nearly a decade now and I’ve come to the realization that people often think of the commissioning process as very daunting. It does seem to be pretty opaque or even mysterious from an outside perspective. It almost feels like you need some kind of special permit and institutional backing in order to commission a composer. From the composer’s perspective it can often feel like you need an official composer’s license, three degrees, and the ears of administration in the aforementioned institution. However, I believe it can be a really straight forward process and anyone (from the London Phil to your great aunt Phyllis) can do it.

With that in mind, I thought it would be worthwhile to write up an FAQ for those who are interested in commissioning a new piece and for composers who might be curios about how I approach the commission process. You can read through the FAQ below or jump right to my thoughts on consortium commissions. If you have more questions, feel free to drop me a line anytime. stevensnowden@gmail.com

Commissioning FAQ

Folks who are already neck deep in the new music scene are familiar with the artistic benefits of commissioning a new piece. It can be fun, exciting, and musically rewarding to work with a living composer who has written something specifically for you.

The majority of the time, I’m commissioned by ensembles who plan on touring with and/or recording a new work. They’ve likely played some of my stuff in the past, had a good experience with it, and want something written specifically for them. However, there are lots of other reasons that someone would want to commission a new piece of music.

  • – To expand the repertoire of a particular instrument or ensemble
  • – To commemorate or celebrate a specific event
  • – To honor a person or organization
  • – To accompany another discipline (dance, visual arts, theater, etc.)
  • – As a gift

I’m sure there are 1000 other reasons that someone might want to commission a new work, but the point I want to make is that anyone can do it for any reason. Just as you might commission a visual artist to paint a portrait or commission a contractor to remodel your bathroom, it’s simply the act of hiring someone to do a job that requires a special set of skills.

The short (but vague) answer to this is: It depends. The main determining factors are the duration of the piece and number of players. However, many other things can play into this as well. Once I get some basic info from you, we can get the conversation started and sort this out pretty quickly.

As with so many other things in life, figuring out funding resources can be the trickiest part of embarking on a project. That said, there are a lot of options and I think it pays to be well informed of what’s out there and to think outside of better-known resources.

Out of Pocket
This is by far the easiest way to get things squared away. It typically happens in one of two scenarios.

1. An individual wants to commission a piece for a particular ensemble or instrumentation to celebrate an event or as a gift. This kind of commissioning isn’t too terribly common, though I would love to see more of it.
2. The performer(s) pay the commission fee from the ensemble’s budget or some combination of support from friends and family. I would lump Kickstarter/Indiegogo campaigns into this category.

Institutions with a closed application process or no application process at all

         This has generally been the most fruitful type of resource that I’ve found and has typically been related to university funding for faculty/students/alumni, the operating budget of a presenting organization/venue, or local government cultural arts programs. The key here is that the application isn’t open to the public at large. That means there often isn’t a lot of wait time to see if funding is available or tons of competition from other composers and performers vying for a piece of the same pie. There are also a lot of other institutions not directly related to music that may be interested a commission and/or presenting performances of new works. I’ve seen this happen with (for example) an architecture firm, historical society, visual art galleries, experimental theater festivals, and a number of other places you wouldn’t expect. I’ve found that tying in programmatic elements to a specific location or event can often get you a long ways, so I think it’s worth looking at things from that angle as well.
 Consortium commissions:
This has become a lot more prevalent over the past few years and I’m very encouraged to see consortiums gaining so much traction. I’ve been fortunate to have had quite a bit of experience with these and I’ve dedicated a whole other page to it. If you’re a performer who’s unsure about where to get funding for a commission, I suggest giving this option serious consideration.

— Read more about my experience with consortium commissions —

Big, well-advertised grants:
(New Music USA, Chamber Music America, Barlow, etc.) High-profile competitive grants are great and I’ve been very lucky to get a few over the years. However, I think they’re basically a crap shoot. Even though they have a seemingly huge amount of money to dole out, everybody and their brother, and their cousin, and their dog apply for them. (Last I calculated, only around 3% of NM USA applicants were selected) That said, I think they’re definitely worth a look. However, I think of them as geared more toward “wish list” projects that don’t have to operate on a specific timeline. If you’re relying on one to fund the majority of your project, the odds are stacked against it ever getting off the ground.

The piece you commission won’t turn out to be exactly what you expected and I actually think that’s one of the most powerful and exciting things about this process. You’re hiring an artist to pour their blood, sweat, and tears into a new piece and the end result is a unique creation with a personality of its own. That said, an in-depth look at the composer’s previous output can give you a general idea of their preferred style and direction.

I’m open to some direction from the commissioner, but I find that it’s often not necessary. If I’m writing for a specific ensemble, I’ll be sure to do my research and write something that plays to their strengths. I also strongly believe in composition as a collaborative process, so there will likely be a lot of back and forth before the piece is finished. Performers will often tell me about where they would like to premiere the piece and what else is on the program. That certainly informs my decisions. A big caveat here involves works in collaboration with other disciplines. In this situation, the music the music that I write commonly acts as a single component which serves a larger artistic goal. In this case, my music tends to be much more flexible and adaptable.

If you are looking for something that matches a particular style or atmosphere, I would suggest finding a composer who is experienced in commercial music. There are many highly skilled composers in this field who can craft music to very detailed specifications.

Most likely, yes! I typically create private collaboration blogs for all of my commissions. I see each new piece as a kind of collaboration anyway, so it makes sense to have a platform upon which we can share ideas, regardless of our physical location. This also serves a few other functions that I’ve found to be quite helpful. 1. The performer/commissioner gets an in-depth look at the composition process. This serves to demystify my work as a composer and gives performers insight into how they might want to interpret it. 2. It’s a great way to document everything so that I can learn from my past mistakes and have a good chuckle at the outlandish ideas I discarded along the way. 3. Everything related to the piece (parts, mockups, program/performance notes, etc.) all exist in the same place so it’s easy to track down the latest version. 4. I can get immediate feedback from performers who live just down the road or on the other side of the world.

For example, I was living in Portugal while working on Long Distance percussion and electronics. This was a large consortium commission, so having a collaborative blog was particularly helpful. One day I was working on a section with bowed pitch bends and harmonics in the vibraphone part. Though I was able to spend some time with a set of vibes months earlier, I didn’t have access to any at that time. I posted a question about technique/notation and Thad Anderson replied within a few minutes. He had some free time between classes so we Skyped and he was able to demonstrate some techniques for me on his vibes in Florida. I got an immediate answer to my questions and was able to come up with some new ideas that eventually made their way into the piece.

Yes. There is legal stuff, but I have that all taken care of. I’ll write up an official commission agreement with all of the pertinent info, which you can review and approve before signing. Here are the basic concepts it covers..

  • Deadline
    • – The agreement will include a deadline for completion of the piece as well as a range of dates in which the premiere performance is expected.
  • Payment schedule
    • – Typically, the commissioner pays the first half the commission fee within a few weeks of signing the agreement and the second half when the finished piece is delivered.
  • Copyright
    • – The composer keeps the copyright
  • Performance Exclusivity
    • – Depending upon the situation, there can be a period of exclusivity in which only the commissioning performer(s) can perform the commissioned work. This can range from a few months to a couple of years. Also, the commissioning performer(s) have exclusive rights to the world premiere. There are some subtle differences to this clause in the case of a consortium commission. You can read more about that on the consortium commission page.