New Voices: Detroit is currently accepting songs from students in grades 8-12 for the New Voices Detroit: Summer Festival! To submit your play for a chance to work with a professional coach, have your work performed, and a chance to have a PAID mentorship. Follow the instructions below.
For a Song/Composition Here’s What to Do:
- Songs should reflect this session’s: Lost in Time
- You may only submit 1-work of art or idea.
- Songs may be sent as an audio recording, lyrics or standard sheet music.
- Songs must be entirely written by one young person who is in grades 7-12 at the time of submission.
- We accept submissions from youth who attend school in or live in Metro Detroit.
- Songwriters will be coached to allow for the song to be sung by a group 8+ teen voices.
- Covers of other composer’s work is not eligible.
Still have questions? E-mail them to: [email protected]
Submission Guidelines
- FIRST, save your composition as a MP3, MP4 or .WAV with the name of the composition as Song Title, Grade, Author Last Name.
- THEN fill out an Electronic Submission form by clicking HERE.
- Once you have uploaded your composition, you will receive a confirmation email. Please review your submission info to make sure you have entered everything correctly!
SUBMISSIONS NOT MEETING THESE CRITERIA WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED FOR FINALISTS SPOTS WHICH INCLUDE PROFESSIONAL COACHING, CASH PRIZES AND PRODUCTION OPPORTUNITIES.
F.A.Q
Want to submit your work of art (play, radio play or musical composition) for the New Voices: Detroit Summer Festival but need a bit more info? Here are a few frequently asked questions we get from young artists, teachers & parents?
Who is eligible to submit?
Youth in grades 8-12 that live or attend school in Detroit, Highland Park or Hamtramck.
How long does the play or composition need to be?
Plays should be no more than 12 pages or roughly 12 minutes long. You’ll want to make sure you tell the whole story in these pages so be thoughtful about which elements are important.
How many parts should my composition have?
The composition will be performed by a group of 8-12 singers. You have room to have between 3- 8-parts.
What kind of plays and compositions are you looking for?
You get to Choose! We only ask that you stick to the topic of being Lost in Time.
I haven't had training on this before and am worried that piece isn't good enough. Should I still submit it?
We would love to hear what you have to say through your art and we hope that you will give us a chance to experience it. We expect and encourage youth who have never done this before and have an interest in taking the journey to submit. We also encourage those who know that writing is “their thing” to submit. We look forward to pairing finalists with a coach to bring their idea to the stage that it’s ready for a Director and Cast to bring it to life.
What happens to my piece after I submit it?
After you submit your work of art, identifiers are removed and the work is catalogued and is shared with our NVD Committee. The NVD Committee is made up of theatre and music professionals. Your work of art will be read by at least two of our Committee member. They will send their evaluations to us, and we compile it into a summary. Your summary is then emailed to you over the summer.
How will I know if I am a finalist?
We will announce finalists via livestream.
Can I submit a piece I previously submitted?
Yes! If you previously submitted to New Voices: Detroit and were not selected as a finalist you may submit it again. Writing a play or composing a song is a process and if you’ve revised a previously submitted work, we’d love to see how it’s evolved.
I don't read music can I submit?
Please do! Our goal is to encourage and empower youth by giving them the tools and support they need to cultivate their creativity and share their ideas and gifts with the world. You can submit an audio recording of your piece. If selected as a finalist you’ll work with a coach to enhance your work and get some support to turn the audio into a traditional score.
What is the professional coach/mentoring aspect of New Voices: Detroit?
Mentor/Coaches are both local and national playwrights and composers who are currently working in the industry with experience working with young people. Once the finalists are selected, they will each be assigned a mentor/coach. For the next few weeks, the young artists and their coach will work to develop and make revisions to their piece. Communication will be by email, video conference and phone. While everyone has time constraints, it is assumed that coaches will spend a few hours per week over the coaching period working together with the young artists and that the young artists will spend additional time outside of the coaching sessions to revise their work. Once the revisions are completed, the revised pieces, labeled Final Draft- Name of the Piece-by Young Artist Name will be sent to [email protected] in preparation for rehearsals (by no later than July 27th at 5pm).
Note: Youth playwrights and composers are required to work with the mentor/coach and revise their work during this process. Not doing so will result in withdrawal from New Voices: Detroit and forfeiture of all awards and opportunities related to the New Voices: Detroit Summer Youth Playwright & Composer Festival.