Versipel New Music is pleased to announce
a Call For Scores for Batture Contemporary 2026.

Versipel New Music is accepting submissions from Louisiana-based composers of any age, nationality, or career stage for inclusion in Batture Contemporary 2026. Composers may submit works in any of the categories of acoustic, fixed media, or electroacoustic.

Selected composers will be given a $100 travel honorarium for their inclusion in the festival.

One composer will be awarded a $1000 commissioning contract with Versipel New Music to compose a new work for Batture Contemporary 2027.

Batture Contemporary will take place September 18-20, 2026. Attendance for selected composers is required.

Apply Here at Zealous from April 1st to April 30th

Eligibility:

Inclusion in the festival:

• Open to:
  • residents of the state of Louisiana or
  • students studying and living in the state of Louisiana as of September 2025 or
  • students who studied in the state of Louisiana during the 2025/26 academic calendar year
• NOT open to:
  • Versipel New Music performers, staff, or board members
  • family members of Versipel New Music performers, staff, or board members

Commissioning Contract:

• Open to:
  • Selected Batture Contemporary 2026 composers who have not been awarded a commission in the past three festivals

Versipel New Music strongly encourages applications from all individuals regardless of age, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, career stage, or traditional classical music upbringing.

Application Guidelines:

Applicants may submit up to three works (first two for free, third for $20) for consideration. There is no duration limit for these submissions. Applicants may submit under any of the following categories:

Acoustic:

Acoustic works may be for 1-6 players from the following (one player per except where indicated):

• mezzo-soprano
• piccolo/flute/alto flute
• clarinet/bass clarinet
• alto/tenor/baritone saxophone
• violin (2 players)
• viola
• cello
• piano/synthesizer
• guitar (electric, classical)
• double bass/electric bass
• percussion (contact us with instrumentation questions)

The composer may also elect to provide their own Louisiana-based performers and/or perform their own work as either a soloist or a member of a larger ensemble.

Fixed Media:

Fixed media works may be audio (up to 8 channel) and/or video.

Electroacoustic:

Electroacoustic works may be for 1-6 players from the above acoustic insturmentation (or the composer may elect to provide their own Louisiana-based performers and/or perform their own work) and either fixed or interactive electronic media. If selected for the festival, the composer is responsible for working with the Technical Director for logistics around the selected work(s).

Fees:

Fees for all submissions regardless of categories are:

• First two submissions: $0
• Third submission: $20

Dates and Deadlines:

• April 1, 2026: Call for Scores Application Portal opens
• May 1, 2026: Call for Scores Application Portal closes
• June 1, 2026: Winners Announced
• September 18-20, 2026: Batture Contemporary 2026

Application:

The primary substance of the application must include:

• One of the following:
  • PDF of the Full Score
  • Written performer directions for works that have no score
• Representative sample audio and/or video of the work. MIDI realizations of acoustic works are acceptable if no live recording is available. Video is only required for works that utilize video in performance

Both audio and video samples should be hosted on a streaming (YouTube, Vimeo, Soundcloud, etc.) or cloud (Dropbox Google Drive, Box, etc.) service and not uploaded directly into the application portal.

Incomplete applications will render the application ineligible.

Selection Process:

All applications will go through a multi-step selection process:

Step One: Manual Review – a panel-based evaluation that measures the suitability for each submission’s advancement to Step Two with no utilization of ranking or narrowing the pool of submissions deemed suitable. Adjudicators are asked to listen to a minimum of three minutes of a work for the purpose of evaluation

Step Two: Controlled Lottery – a lottery-based selection process that will select final works from the pool of submissions that advanced

Step Three: Invitation – selected composers are invited to participate

More details and reasoning behind the selection process can be found on our Detailed Selection Process Page.

At the conclusion of the festival, one of the participating composers will be randomly selected and awarded a $1000 commissioning contract with Versipel New Music to write a new and original work for the Versipel Collective to be performed at Batture Contemporary 2027.

Questions? Contact us.

Apply Here at Zealous from April 1st to April 30th