[PD] Spark Festival-Minneapolis Deadline Approaching

[michael at berkowski.net]

Greetings Pd Community,

Attached is information about the fourth annual Spark Festival of Electronic
Music and Art at the University of Minnesota - Minneapolis, MN, USA.
The 30 September deadline is approaching very quickly, so get your paper and
music submissions in!

If you have questions about the conference or submission procedures, please send
them to sparkfst at umn.edu instead of replying to the list or to me.

I hope to meet many of you at the conference this winter.

Michael Berkowski
Adjunct Instructor for Electronic and Computer Music
University of Minnesota School of Music
Spark Festival Staff
http://spark.cla.umn.edu/

berk0081_at_umn.edu
michael_at_berkowski.net
http://www.berkowski.net/

-------------------------------------------------------

University of Minnesota School of Music, Noel Zahler, Director Announces
2006 Spark Festival of Electronic Music and Art Douglas Geers, Director West
Bank Arts Quarter, University of Minnesota Twin Cities Campus February 22-26

CALL FOR COMPOSERS, ARTISTS, and PRESENTERS Submission Deadline: September 30,
2005 (postmark)

The University of Minnesota School of Music is proud to present the
2006 Spark Festival of Electronic Music and Art, February 22-26. The festival
will be held on the Minneapolis campus of the University of Minnesota (USA) and
at the Walker Center for Art, Minneapolis. Now in its fourth 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 Philippe
Manoury and DJ Spooky. 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 2,000
people.

Spark invites submissions of 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 technical and aesthetic
subjects 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://spark.cla.umn.edu/archive.html for a PDF copy of the Spark 2005
proceedings and program.

MUSIC SUBMISSIONS
Music submissions will be accepted in four categories:
1. Concert works: 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. Note that Spark 2006 will feature guest performers Maja
Cerar (violin) and Brian Sacawa (saxophone).  Works written for solo violin and
solo saxophone with digital music and/or images are especially welcome.  Other
instruments will be available, and details on available performing forces will
be posted on the Spark website with the submission forms.

2. "Club" works: 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]

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. Radio:  Spark Radio is a new addition for the 2006 festival, initiated and
curated by Abinadi Meza, a Minneapolis-based artist.
Submissions for Spark Radio may include sound art, samplism, field recordings,
turntablism, pirate radio, sonic deconstructions, and other transmissions. 
Please submit on CD or CD-ROM.

3. 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 or VHS (NTSC).

4. 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 intermedia composition, performance, human-computer interaction,
software/hardware development, aesthetics, and history.
Paper and lecture/demonstration submissions will be accepted in two
categories:
Standard length: Twenty-minute presentation, allowing for five minutes of Q/A.
Short length: A feature unique to the Spark festival is Symposium Fast Forward,
a presentation of five to ten-minute presentations followed by five to ten
minutes of Q/A.  The idea of Symposium Fast Forward is to create a venue where
ideas and projects may be presented succinctly with time following for
discussion and brainstorming. Both students and professionals are encouraged to
submit presentations of this type.

Standard submissions should consist of a two-page abstract with bibliography.
Short length submissions should submit a 1-2 paragraph abstract with
bibliography.  Camera-ready papers will be due on November 1, 2005.

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 2006 website when the online
submission procedure has been activated. All accepted papers will be published
as part of the Spark proceedings.

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 July. More details about the submission process
will be available on the Spark 2006 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, although applicants are welcome to provide
their own performers if desired. More information about available performers
will be posted on http:// spark.cla.umn.edu 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://spark.cla.umn.edu by the same date.

Submission deadline is September 30 (postmark).  More information and the online
submissions procedure will be posted soon on the Spark
2006 website at http://spark.cla.umn.edu. Questions can be directed to the Spark
hosts at sparkfst at umn.edu.