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University of Minnesota School of Music, Noel Zahler, Director

2007 Spark Festival of Electronic Music and Art

West Bank Arts Quarter, University of Minnesota Twin Cities Campus

CALL FOR COMPOSERS, ARTISTS, and PRESENTERS

Submission Deadline: September 30, 2006 (postmark)

The University of Minnesota School of Music is proud to present the 2007 Spark Festival of Electronic Music and Art, February 20-25. The festival will be held on the Minneapolis campus of the University of Minnesota (USA) and neighboring Minneapolis performing arts venues, and will feature guest artists Morton Subotnick, Richard Devine, and others to be announced.

Now in its fifth year, the Spark Festival showcases the newest groundbreaking works of digital music and art. Last year’s festival included innovative works by over one hundred international composers and artists, including featured guest artists Alvin Lucier and Scanner. Leading scholars and technology specialists also presented papers relating to new technology and creativity. Audiences for the concerts, installations, and lectures last year totaled approximately 4,000 people and garnered multiple mentions in local and national media.

Spark invites submissions of art, dance, theater, and music works incorporating new media, including electroacoustic concert music, experimental electronica, theatrical and dance works, installations, kinetic sculpture, artbots, video, and other non-traditional genres.

Spark also invites submission of scholarly papers on Collaborative Arts, Interactivity, Cognition, Compositional and Artistic Process, Social and Ethical Issues in the Arts, Art, Music, Video, Film, Animation, Theater, Dance, Innovative Use of Technology in Education, Scientific Visualization, Virtual Reality, intermedia composition, performance, human-computer interaction, software/hardware development, aesthetics, and history and all topics related to the creation of new media art and music. All accepted papers will be published as part of the Spark proceedings. Please see 

 for a PDF copy of the Spark 2006 proceedings and program.

Music submissions will be accepted in four categories:

1. Concert works: Interactive works for acoustic instruments and electroacoustics (performance forces are available, TBA) Electroacoustic works with and without performers. Performance venues will accommodate 2-8 channel works and works with video. Although there is no strict limit of duration, pieces of fifteen minutes or less are encouraged.

2. "Spark Nitelife”: Experimental electronic performances in a "club-style" venue. Performers of various styles will be considered, including those influenced by IDM, hip-hop, glitch, jazz, and etc. Selected performers will be given sets of 15-30 minutes. Performance venue will accommodate stereo sound and video.

3. Installations: [See "Art Works" below]

4. Music with video [See “Art Works” below]

Submissions will be accepted in three categories:

1. Installations and gallery works: A number of installation and gallery exhibitions will be mounted in various spaces on the UMN campus, including the Weisman Art Museum. Please include technical and space requirements with submission. Installations may be physical objects, video and/or sound projections, or combinations thereof. Artists may be required to provide some or all of necessary technology to mount installations.

2. Video: Experimental video works will be screened at multiple Spark events. Videos featuring digital music compositions (two-channel or Dolby 5.1) are welcome, but this is not required. Although there is no strict limit of duration, pieces of twelve minutes or less are encouraged. Please submit on DVD (NTSC) or DVD data disk in mpg, mov, or avi file format.

3. Theater/Dance: A number of theatrical and dance works incorporating new technologies will be programmed at Spark 2006, with a special interest in shorter works that can be integrated into programs with music and video works. In addition, although not confirmed as of this writing, we hope to produce at least one performance in a dance theater with video projection and an Internet 2 connection. Please include performance venue and technical requirements with submissions.

Technical papers, lecture/demonstration, and workshop submissions that deal with topics relating to creating arts and music with new technology are encouraged, including Collaborative Arts, Interactivity, Cognition, Compositional and Artistic Process, Social and Ethical Issues in the Arts, Art, Music, Video, Film, Animation, Theater, Dance, Innovative Use of Technology in Education, Scientific Visualization, Virtual Reality, intermedia composition, performance, human-computer interaction, software/hardware development, aesthetics, and history.

Paper presentations will consist of a twenty-minute presentation and five minutes of Q/A, and all accepted authors must attend to present their papers.

Submissions should consist of a two-page abstract with bibliography. Camera-ready papers will be due on November 1, 2006.

Individuals may submit a maximum of one paper and one lecture/demonstration, and these will be submitted online. More information about the submission process will be available soon on the Spark 2007 website when the online submission procedure has been activated. All accepted papers will be published as part of the Spark proceedings.

Applicants are invited to submit one work per category in up to three categories for consideration. All applicants must complete an online submission form on the Spark Festival website and include their submission number(s) with any physical media sent via postal mail. The submissions website will be at 

http://spark.cla.umn.edu/submissions.html

 and will be activated in late August. More details about the submission process will be available on the Spark 2007 website when the online submission procedure has been activated.

Regarding music and other performance works: Performing resources will be drawn from the University of Minnesota and Twin Cities area musicians. However, availability of musicians will be taken into consideration when selecting works, and therefore applicants are encouraged to bring their own performers when possible. More information about available performers will be posted on 

 when the online submission procedure has been activated.

Composers and artists whose works are selected for inclusion are strongly encouraged to attend the festival. Scholars whose papers or demonstrations are accepted will be required to attend Spark to deliver their presentation.

Selected works will be announced by November 1, and travel and accommodations information will be posted on 

Submission deadline is September 30 (postmark). More information and the online submissions procedure will be posted soon on the Spark 2007 website at 

 Questions can be directed to the Spark hosts at sparkfst@umn.edu.

University of Minnesota School of Music, Noel Zahler, Director
Announces

Douglas Geers, Director
West Bank Arts Quarter, University of Minnesota Twin Cities Campus

Now in its fifth year, the Spark Festival showcases the newest groundbreaking works of digital music and art. Last year’s festival included innovative works by over one hundred international composers and artists, including featured guest artists Alvin Lucier and Scanner. Leading scholars and technology specialists also presented papers relating to new technology and creativity.  Audiences for the concerts, installations, and lectures last year totaled approximately 4,000 people and garnered multiple mentions in local and national media.

Spark also invites submission of scholarly papers on Collaborative Arts, Interactivity, Cognition, Compositional and Artistic Process, Social and Ethical Issues in the Arts, Art, Music, Video, Film, Animation, Theater, Dance, Innovative Use of Technology in Education, Scientific Visualization, Virtual Reality, intermedia composition, performance, human-computer interaction, software/hardware development, aesthetics, and history and all topics related to the creation of new media art and music. All accepted papers will be published as part of the Spark proceedings.  Please see http://www.spark.cla.umn.edu/media.html for a PDF copy of the Spark 2006 proceedings and program.

MUSIC SUBMISSIONS
Music submissions will be accepted in four categories:

1. Concert works: Interactive works for acoustic instruments and electroacoustics (performance forces  are available, TBA) Electroacoustic works with and without performers.  Performance venues will accommodate 2-8 channel works and works with video.  Although there is no strict limit of duration, pieces of fifteen minutes or less are encouraged.

2. "Spark Nitelife”: Experimental electronic performances in a "club-style" venue.  Performers of various styles will be considered, including those influenced by IDM, hip-hop, glitch, jazz, and etc.  Selected performers will be given sets of 15-30 minutes.  Performance venue will accommodate stereo sound and video.

4. Music with video [See “Art Works” below] 

ART WORKS
Submissions will be accepted in three categories:
1. Installations and gallery works: A number of installation and gallery exhibitions will be mounted in various spaces on the UMN campus, including the Weisman Art Museum.  Please include technical and space requirements with submission.  Installations may be physical objects, video and/or sound projections, or combinations thereof.  Artists may be required to provide some or all of necessary technology to mount installations.

2. Video: Experimental video works will be screened at multiple Spark events. Videos featuring digital music compositions (two-channel or Dolby 5.1) are welcome, but this is not required. Although there is no strict limit of duration, pieces of twelve minutes or less are encouraged.  Please submit on DVD (NTSC) or DVD data disk in mpg, mov, or avi file format.

3. Theater/Dance:  A number of theatrical and dance works incorporating new technologies will be programmed at Spark 2006, with a special interest in shorter works that can be integrated into programs with music and video works.  In addition, although not confirmed as of this writing, we hope to produce at least one performance in a dance theater with video projection and an Internet 2 connection. Please include performance venue and technical requirements with submissions.

PAPERS
Technical papers, lecture/demonstration, and workshop submissions that deal with topics relating to creating arts and music with new technology are encouraged, including Collaborative Arts, Interactivity, Cognition, Compositional and Artistic Process, Social and Ethical Issues in the Arts, Art, Music, Video, Film, Animation, Theater, Dance, Innovative Use of Technology in Education, Scientific Visualization, Virtual Reality, intermedia composition, performance, human-computer interaction, software/hardware development, aesthetics, and history.
Paper presentations will consist of a twenty-minute presentation and five minutes of Q/A, and all accepted authors must attend to present their papers.

Submissions should consist of a two-page abstract with bibliography. Camera-ready papers will be due on November 1, 2006. 

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS
Applicants are invited to submit one work per category in up to three categories for consideration. All applicants must complete an online submission form on the Spark Festival website and include their submission number(s) with any physical media sent via postal mail.  The submissions website will be at http://spark.cla.umn.edu/submissions.html and will be activated in late August. More details about the submission process will be available on the Spark 2007 website when the online submission procedure has been activated.

Regarding music and other performance works: Performing resources will be drawn from the University of Minnesota and Twin Cities area musicians. However, availability of musicians will be taken into consideration when selecting works, and therefore applicants are encouraged to bring their own performers when possible. More information about available performers will be posted on http://www.sparkfestival.org when the online submission procedure has been activated.

Composers and artists whose works are selected for inclusion are strongly encouraged to attend the festival.  Scholars whose papers or demonstrations are accepted will be required to attend Spark to deliver their presentation.

TECHNICAL DETAILS
Selected works will be announced by November 1, and travel and accommodations information will be posted on http://www.sparkfestival.org by the same date.

Submission deadline is September 30 (postmark).  More information and the online submissions procedure will be posted soon on the Spark 2007 website at http://www.sparkfestival.org. Questions can be directed to the Spark hosts at sparkfst@umn.edu.


Spark Festival 2007 call for Composers, Artists and Presenters