Ars Nova Uncharted 2014

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This year, Ars Nova expanded its Uncharted program, which has provided a forum for burgeoning musical theater writers to showcase original work since 2003. The program, initially co-conceived with Ars Nova’s first Composer-in-Residence Andrew Lippa, has grown to include two-year residencies in a writers group designed to support the development of first drafts of new musicals.  The Uncharted writers group brings together four writing teams for monthly meetings, curated by Kent Nicholson, providing them with peer support and artistic support as they work on their new pieces. Near the end of the first year of their residency, members of the group will also receive public concerts produced by Ars Nova offering the writers the chance to debut their new material in front of a live audience. During the second year of their residency, the writers will participate in weeklong workshops of their musicals with top-notch directors and performers, culminating in a full public reading.

We are excited to announce that we are now accepting open submissions for Uncharted 2014.

Selection Criteria:

All emerging writers and musicians are eligible to apply.  Unique and unusual approaches to the idea of musical theater are welcome.  We encourage applications from women, writers of color, writing teams who haven’t worked together before, and playwrights and musicians who haven’t worked in musical theater before.  Please note that applications must include a complete writing team.

In selecting new members, we will take into account the strength of the submitted project idea, what the writers stand to gain from membership at this point in their careers, and the overall balance of voices and styles within the group.

All music for the proposed project must be original.  Applications for the development of new musicals including previously published music will not be considered.

How to Apply:

Please click here to apply online.

Applications require the following supporting materials: a work sample for each team member (this could be a full-length play or book of a musical, recordings of five songs, or sample lyrics) a resume for each team member, and a one-page artistic statement describing the musical your team plans to write and explaining why you feel membership in the group will help you to do so.  Word docs of all text documents are preferred, but PDFs are acceptable.

Please attach an artistic statement (please save as PROJECT TITLE, STATEMENT) along with a resume (please save as LAST NAME, FIRST NAME RESUME) and work samples (please save as LAST NAME, FIRST NAME WORK SAMPLE) for each team member to your completed online application form and submit it by October 1, 2013. 

All applications will be reviewed and finalists will be notified by December 16, 2013.

For any questions regarding applications, please email artistic@arsnovanyc.com.