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I wonder if anyone here has suggestions for, or has attempted, writing & sending out pitch letters for commissioned works. This seems to be done in the classical (orchestral) "art music" genre. This pitching seems to be a sensitive topic with classical composers maybe because the winnings are scarce or nonexistent, competition tough, and musicians don't enjoy talking about money matters. The pitch is like writing a grant proposal to a non-profit organization or a funding patron or institution, with a quote for composer's fee, a performers' fee (depending on size of ensemble), timeframe of delivery, length of piece, etc.

I'm working on a draft proposal now to send to a regional arts council to suggest a 5 minute piece would benefit their .... artsy-ness.

Taxi probably isn't the right forum for this sort of question - You might have more success finding like minded folk over over at VI-Control forums.

Good call though biz is not commonly discussed there.

In a way it seems to be the reverse model of library pitching where the odds favor repeated attempts at many and frequent opportunities.

Probably I will hire a grant writer for consultation.

It cannot be said unequivocally. A lot depends on who will help you with the implementation of your idea, to what extent the performer will be imbued with your idea.

For written scores, the players play the notes on the page, that's what they're signed up to do. Irrespective of pay. Finding out how commissions operate is mysterious. Example from a recent modern classical commissioned work:

"This work was supported by a grant from the xxxx xxxx Award (xxx), by xxx University (xxx). Support was also provided by the xxx Artistic Development Initiative, a program of the Arts Council of xxx (city)."

Decyphering that, it seems a university kicked in funds ($500-$1000?) and the local city council kicked in funds ($500-$1000?) and the result was a score for a trio and a public performance.

Another example:

"Commissioned by xxx Trio and xxx at UC xxx, with assistance from xxx Magazine and xxx Private Donor"

So seemingly in this case, the players themselves fronted some money (or played for free In lieu of pay?), and a university kicked in funds, and a music magazine kicked in funds (maybe for rights to publish it?) and a private rich person kicked in funds.


With all this kicking going on, it is fair to bring up the real kicker, that the film majors down the hall in University learn how to ask for $500,000 or $1M from donors so they can "make an art film" which won't ever be profitable or recoupable. In comparison this thread I've been wondering about how to request $1000 for a score & rehearsal & live performance. What a chasm.

The one mentor phrase which keeps repeating over and over is "its about relationships" ... "develop relationships"