On 20 October 2015, the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage launched the 6th edition of the “Composing Commissions” programme (2017-2018). The programme is implemented by the Institute of Music and Dance.

The Composing Commissions regulations are available on the website of the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage under the Ministry Programs 2017 bookmark and on the websites of the Institute of Music and Dance (www.composingcommissions.pl and www.imit.org.pl).

The 6th edition of the Composing Commissions regulations upholds the amendments introduced in the 4th and 5th edition of the programme at the request of musical circles. These include:

1) Two variants of dissemination of a commissioned work in the form of publication of orchestral materials online (to be selected by the Applicant depending on whether the composer creates them on their own or supplies them via their publisher or duly authorised third parties).
In the first variant (A), the division of funds remains unchanged. In the second variant (B), the proportions according to which funds are divided has been changed from 60:40% (composer: remaining costs) to 50:50% and from 50:50% to 40:60% (compositions for more than 45 performers). Variant B has also been supplied with the possibility to rent parts from publishers or composers for a fee which constitutes a qualified cost;

2) The support includes the subsidisation of one or two repeat performances of a commissioned work (optionally) on condition that it is performed by the same artists in different cities.
The change provisions more repeat performances of newly commissioned works and the establishment of new relations between festivals and ensembles. As a result of the extension of the number of performances of a commissioned work as part of the subsidy, the maximum sum total which a given applicant may request is PLN 152,000.00 (for the commission, world premiere and two repeat performances of a work from categories A-F, and up to PLN 224,000.00 the commission, world premiere and two repeat performances of a work from category G). This extension refers solely to the additional performance-related costs and will not result in the increase of composers’ fees.

Applications for the Composing Commissions priority may be submitted by state- and local government-run cultural institutions, non-governmental organisations, churches and religious organizations, state colleges of arts and private schools of arts, as well as business entities.

The budget for the priority in 2017-2018 has been set at PLN 2,300,000.

The deadline for the submission of application is 30 November 2016.

The goal of the programme is to support contemporary music by commissioning new piece and creating conditions conducive to their permanent presence in public space. The five editions of the programme so far have featured 450 commissions with 250 composers.

For detailed information on the programme, the database of all compositions commissioned to date, as well as composer bios, visit www.composingcommissions.pl.