Waitin' On The World To Change

Something you never knew you always wanted to do:
New York Polyphony's Gregorian Chant Remix Opportunity

It's a contest (deadline June 20, 2011), and there are some pretty major prizes (including $500 and a release on Sony's Classical Music Online label Ariama). Not to mention the everlasting glory.

The best part about all this, though, is that there are already more than 600 entries - many of which you can hear on the contest's website here, here, and here. Some of these entries are clearly by professionals, and some are (clearly) not. Some are heavy on the synthesizers and drum kits, and some are simple a capella arrangements of the stem chant. In sum: there's a huge variety of work being submitted, and much of it is tagged with encouraging comments from other entrants. [Gregorian chant: bringing us together since Pippin the Short?]

"We like to have something of an urban vibe to the way we’re bringing this really ancient music to modern audiences,” Geoffrey Williams, New York Polyphony’s countertenor, said in a WQXR interview. These remixes may not be conducive to strict performance practice, but I think the excitement this contest has generated - and the community it has (even temporarily) created - is well worth the lapse.


(via WQXR)