Note: This site has been designed to be best viewed in a browser that supports web standards, the content is however still accessible to any browser. Please review our Browser Tips.

We have provided the following access keys:
Skip to search
Skip to main navigation
Skip to secondary navigation
Skip to discipline navigation
Skip to content

Commissioning of Canadian Compositions

Deadlines

15 September or 15 January

If either of these dates falls on a weekend or statutory holiday, the deadline moves to the next business day. Your completed application and all support material must be postmarked on or before the deadline date.

Top of Page

Program Description

This program encourages the creation of new works by Canadian composers, through commissions. The Commissioning of Canadian Compositions program addresses the needs of both the classical contemporary/new music and non-classical music traditions. It fosters partnerships and collaborations among professional arts organizations, performers and Canadian creators, while offering Canadian and foreign audiences greater access to Canadian works.

Through this program, the Canada Council provides grants to commissioners, to pay composers’ fees.

This Canada Council for the Arts program is accessible to Aboriginal artists or arts organizations and artists or arts organizations from diverse cultural and regional communities of Canada.

Top of Page

Eligibility

Eligibility of Applicants

  • Individual artists, groups of artists and professional arts organizations that wish to commission Canadian works are eligible. The commissioner does not have to be Canadian.
  • Non-professional performing ensembles and arts organizations are not eligible. They are eligible only if the applicant demonstrates that the project will potentially have a significant national impact. Applicants should call the program officer to inquire before submitting.
  • Managers and agents can not apply on behalf of artists.
  • Organizations that receive funding from the Residencies for Composers and Conductors program may not apply to this program to commission works from the composer-in-residence.
  • The commissioner may apply for a maximum of three applications in the same competition, and a maximum of six applications per year (any 12-month period). The commissioner can receive only one grant for the same composer per year.

Eligibility of Composers

  • The composer must be a Canadian citizen or permanent resident of Canada, as defined by Citizenship and Immigration Canada. For opera/music theatre commissions, support to librettists and (or) playwrights is available to Canadian citizens or permanent residents only.
  • Composers are not eligible to apply for support of their own creations. Artistic directors or band leaders writing for their own ensemble or group should consult the Canada Council Grants to Professional Musicians program for possible funding.
  • Composers can have no more than three commissioning proposals submitted on their behalf to the same competition, and may not be awarded more than three commissions per year.

Project Eligibility

  • A project qualifies as a commission when an artist, group of artists or a professional arts organization requests a composer to write a piece of music. To be eligible for support from this program, the applicant must commit to a premiere performance of the new composition or to the workshop development and (or) production development of the new opera/music theatre work. (For this program, music theatre compositions are defined as those involving important scenic components, including a predominant use of the singing voice along with other means of dramatic expression.) Consequently, applicants must indicate in their application the proposed date and location of the new piece’s premiere performance or of the opera/music theatre commission’s production development and (or) workshop.
  • Commissions for functional music by dance companies, independent choreographers, theatre companies and multidisciplinary groups are also eligible. However, functional music projects are considered only when they propose an innovative use of music in a live performance in a public venue.
  • The Canada Council for the Arts looks for originality and creativity in the forms of music written by the composers. This program does not support projects that can receive assistance from mainstream commercial sources or that are inherently academic in nature.
  • Due to the high number of applications to this program, priority will be given to commissioning projects of very high professional quality.
  • The following are not eligible: works already completed, film scores, sound recordings, arrangements and orchestrations, expansions of existing compositions and works with a premiere date that comes before the closing date of the competition.
Top of Page

Grant Amount

Applicants may apply for a grant of up to $20,000 for this program.

For non-classical music, the composer’s fee is negotiated and based on the duration of the work, its complexity and the number of musicians required. The Canadian League of Composers’ schedule of fees for various durations and instrumental combinations can be used as a guideline for maximum payments under this program. Consult the Canadian League of Composers’ website at www.clc-lcc.ca.

For classical, contemporary and new music concert works, the Canadian League of Composers’ schedule of fees for various durations and instrumental combinations must be used as a guideline for maximum payments under this program.

For classical opera/music theatre compositions, up to $20,000 is available for the professional fees of the composer and the librettist (including the librettist’s fee).

The Canada Council also contributes toward certain copying costs and, in the case of electro-acoustic music, some production expenses. A “Copying and Studio Costs Guidelines” sheet, detailing eligible expenses and reimbursement procedures, will be sent to grant recipients. The commissioners and composers are responsible for making appropriate and mutually agreed upon arrangements with copyists before any work begins. Costs not covered in the Canada Council’s guidelines will be the complete responsibility of the commissioner and composer.

Top of Page

Application Form

Commissioning (pdf, 193 KB)
This form can only be printed and cannot be filled out on-line.

Top of Page

Further Information

Aimé Dontiogny, Program Officer
Music Section
Canada Council for the Arts
350 Albert Street, P.O. Box 1047
Ottawa ON  K1P 5V8

Telephone: 1-800-263-5588 (toll-free) or 613-566-4414, ext 5111

TTY: 1-866-585-5559

Fax: 613-566-4409

July 2009