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Andrea Guterres
Artist
2022
This year's Hildegard Commission at National Sawdust seeks to create a multi-sensory, immersive experience by exploring the work of Hildegard von Bingen, who used beautiful miniature drawings in her prophetic books to make her complex mystical experiences more accessible than Latin words alone. Deadline for submissions is Sunday, May 1st at 11:59pm ET.
Under the guidance of leading composers such as Du Yun and Angélica Negrón, who will serve as judges and mentors, the commissioned winners will compose a new work inspired specifically by a distinct miniature illustration. These static images will then be brought to life by a visual designer through projections and/or dynamic animation, transforming them into an immersive environment that interacts with the music.
The ultimate goal is for the spectator to be fully immersed in the depth of Hildegard’s visions, evoking the sense of awe one feels when standing before a masterpiece or gazing at a starlit night. By synthesizing music and visual design, this experience will enhance the spiritual and transcendental meaning of her drawings. Given Hildegard’s enduring appeal across a wide range of fields such as music, medicine, natural sciences, and philosophy, this year’s Hildegard commission will explore a wide range of ideas which will ask the audience questions which will challenge our own sense of humanity, spirituality and our relationship with the world we share.
The Hildegard Commission is generously supported by the Toulmin Foundation, Endeavor Foundation and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs Cultural Development Fund.
In addition to receiving a $5,000 cash prize, a commission for Pierrot-plus ensemble, a professional performance, and a live recording, the five winning composers will receive one-on-one mentorship with established figures in the field who also serve as judges for the competition, led by Paola Prestini, Composer, Co-Founder and Artistic Director at National Sawdust, winners will work with renowned film composers Laura Karpman and Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum, amongst others yet to be announced. The commissions will be performed and recorded by Trinity Choir and the National Sawdust Ensemble, with music direction by Jeffrey Zeigler, at National Sawdust in November 2026 (Exact Date TBA).
Past mentors have included Pulitzer winning composer Du Yun, composer and multi-instrumentalist Angélica Negrón, composer and electronic artist Gavilán Rayna Russom, composer, sound artist and Associate Professor at Columbia Miya Masaoka, composer, pianist, and pioneer in electronic and art music Lena Platanos, cellist and former Kronos Quartet member Jeffrey Zeigler, composer, vocalist sound artists and Music Faculty at NYU Joan La Barbara, Pulitizer winning composer Tania León.
National Sawdust Ensemble (NSE), led by cellist Jeffrey Zeigler, is the in-house band of National Sawdust. Made up of highly acclaimed artists who are or have been members of the Da Capo Chamber Players, New York New Music Ensemble, the Internationally Contemporary Ensemble, Imani Winds, Flutronix, and the Kronos Quartet, this instrumentally flexible group is an integral part of National Sawdust Mentorship Initiatives, playing, teaching and collaborating with emerging and professional composers from the Blueprint Bridge Fellowship with The Juilliard School, as well as the internationally renowned Hildegard Commission Concert for composers who are women and other marginalized genders. The mission of the ensemble is to give composers and artists access to the high caliber of musicianship that is native to National Sawdust. The NSE has also supported projects such as Liederabend, Senses with Beth Morrison Projects.