OPPORTUNITIES
FOR EMERGING SONGWRITERS ABUNDANT AT
KERRVILLE
FOLK FESTIVAL
KERRVILLE
,
Texas
– Music has a great power
of bringing people together.
With so many forces in this world acting to drive
wedges between people, it is important to preserve and
nurture those things that help us experience our common
humanity. Music
and songwriting may be the best examples of this.
For this reason, the Kerrville Folk Festival
continuously strives to promote and encourage the art of
songwriting through various competitions and activities.
The
Kerrville Folk Festival is
North America
’s longest running, and perhaps most prestigious,
songwriters festival. 2006
will mark our 35th consecutive year during the
18-day event which will run from May 25 – June 11.
Kerrville
has always been about songwriters and songwriting.
Each year the festival invites musicians from all
over the world to attend songwriting workshops, programs
designed to promote music in schools, and to participate in
various songwriting contests.
There
will be three songwriting contests and competitions featured
at the 2006 Kerrville Folk Festival:
The GRASSY HILL KERRVILLE NEW FOLK COMPETITION FOR
EMERGING SONGWRITERS; the MUSIC TO LIFE contest produced by
the Public Domain Foundation; and the SONGWRITING
COMPETITION FOR TEXAS’ UNIVERSITIES.
Established
at the suggestion of Peter Yarrow in 1972, the Kerrville NEW
FOLK competition and concerts are one of the highlights of
each year’s festival.
Co-sponsored by the Texas Folk Music Foundation and
Grassy Hill.org, the NEW FOLK competition has been a notable
part in the early success of artists like Lyle Lovett and
Nanci Griffith. Of
the 800 entries received each year, 32 writers/performers
are selected as finalists and are invited to perform their
original songs at the Kerrville Folk Festival during the NEW
FOLK concerts over Memorial Day weekend.
Six NEW FOLK winners are then announced and get to
come back and play extended sets the following weekend.
In addition to getting the opportunity to perform to
an appreciative audience which includes many music industry
professionals and presenters, the winning NEW FOLK artists
receive cash awards, a variety of prizes, and a coveted
distinction they can place at the very top of their resume.
Entries for the 2006
GRASSY HILL KERRVILLE NEW FOLK COMPETITION may be submitted
between the dates of December 1, 2005 and March 15, 2006.
Only the first 800 entries will be accepted.
Official contest guidelines must be followed and are
posted on the festival website at www.kerrvillefolkfestival.com/newfolk.htm.
Guidelines may also be obtained by calling the
Kerrville
festival office at (830) 257-3600.
Another
high-profile songwriting contest scheduled for next year’s
Kerrville Folk Festival is the Public Domain Foundation’s
MUSIC TO LIFE contest. The
Public Domain Foundation, in conjunction with the Kerrville
Folk Festival, has now produced two MUSIC TO LIFE contests
and concerts (2001 and 2003) and will conduct its third in
2006. This third MTL series once again seeks original or
previously unpublished compositions dedicated to a social or
political issue of concern. Finalists receive travel
stipends and free passes to the Kerrville Folk Festival, and
top award winners receive donations of up to $1,000 to the
charitable organization(s) of their choice.
The MTL contest solicits and receives entries from
songwriters domestically and abroad. Subsequently, MTL
judges choose ten finalists to perform their compositions on
June 3, 2006 at the Kerrville Folk Festival. Finalists
typically each represent a different state from around the
country and offer songs which speak to such issues as the
emotion of children in foster care, the vitality of
volunteers, and the brutal impact of war.
The
Public Domain Foundation promotes and facilitates the
creation of cause-related music and furthers its impact upon
issues and organizations of social and political justice.
To learn more about the Public Domain Foundation or
to obtain MTL guidelines and an entry form for the 2006
MUSIC TO LIFE contest, visit www.pdfoundation.org.
Lastly,
for the fourth straight year, the Kerrville Folk Festival
and the Texas Folk Music Foundation will be hosting
songwriting competitions at several Universities across the
state of
Texas
. Student
songwriters from the selected Universities are given the
opportunity to perform their original material at contests
held at their particular school.
Winners from these contests will also be able to
perform at the 2006 Kerrville Folk Festival.
The Universities where the competitions are held
change each year, and have included The University of Texas
in Austin, Texas A&M University in College Station,
Texas State University in San Marcos, and North Texas State
University in Denton.
The list of schools and dates where these
competitions will be held are currently being finalized.
Promoting
and hosting contests and activities like those at the
Kerrville Folk Festival will continue to be the major focus
for the Kerrville Music Festival organization.
Music and songwriting are important! Like water,
music takes the shape of whatever space it occupies, leaving
the listener to choose what form it takes.
Like food, music has the power to nourish - to
nourish the souls of innumerable listeners as well as the
souls of countless musicians who have shared the gift of
music for ages. Going
beyond time, emotion, language, and culture, music is the
most powerful bond in a world in great need of harmony.
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