We were astounded by the calibre of everyone's application and composition proposals. So many 'outside the box' ideas!
Sarah is in charge of making the final decision; she certainly has a tough task ahead but it's important that whilst we both have a stake in getting the right people to work with us, it's only one of us that has the casting vote.
Our applicants shared moments of their path to music, composition, freedom and self-awareness. They have also shown us that they already have an understanding of who we are as musicians (still evolving). Creating a new piece by working closely with the "builder" of the work, is immensely rewarding and eye-opening for us.
Both Sarah and I were brought-up to interpret dead composers' works. Don't get me wrong, I love Bach, Beethoven, Debussy, Ravel, Mussorgsky, Prokofiev you name it... but having a composer who is here, alive, opinionated, attached to their work and struggles over a single dynamic or articulation mark and wants to get it 'just right' for us, wants to be able to communicate their intentions with music, well, that's just magic!
We are working on a video that shows exactly the kind of work that goes on behind the scenes to create a new piece of music from an abstract idea or a simple word/notion.
Animo's commissions are about collaboration, discussion and growing organically through each phase of the process.. We want to make sure that the end result has some of our stamp but written through the eyes, ears and soul of the composer.
We are looking forward to sharing the next phase with you all when we announce the names of our Women and Men Composers' roster for 2021 (mid-February).
We are poised to start recording 'ANIMO two' (Jan-Feb 2021) and already look forward to 'ANIMO three' in 2022 which will feature this year's compositions.
'ANIMO one' is still available to buy either as a physical CD from us (£10) or online.
As always, we love hearing from you so feel free to write to us on social media or email if you have any questions.
Stay safe, listen to ANIMO's beautiful music and keep creative during this time of uncertainty.
