Begin Anywhere

Musical experiences can have any starting point. Whether born of complex ideas, emotional impulses, or spontaneous inspiration, every music maker begins wherever they are—which is exactly where they need to be.

Join the Longy community in a shared artistic opportunity as we launch into the new year: submit a 30-second musical response to one or more of the three animations below for a chance to hear it featured at Longy concerts and events throughout the 2022–2023 season.

This is not a call for polished compositions but rather an invitation to create, share, experience, and illuminate different sound worlds and the artistic process itself. Let your inner creator shine out. Submit your contribution by filling out the form linked below by September 18, 2022.

How to participate? View the three videos below and choose one or more of your favorites and simply set it with sound! Each video is approximately 30–33 seconds long. It is up to you to respond to the animation during that time.

Your response can be completely electronic, experimental, fully notated, self-recorded found sounds, improvised, and everything else you can think of. All sonic ideas are encouraged and equally wanted.

How to do this? You can record it yourself, on a smartphone. To keep the process fair and equitable, all recordings should be done using the Voice Memo app on your phone. Please make sure “uncheck” the Enhance Recording options on your settings in the app, as this will compress and compromise the quality of your recording.

Your musical reaction can be only yourself or your friends or colleagues or classmates performing or improvising something you put together. It can be personal or universal—it can be sung, clapped, crashed—loud, soft, funny, or serious and anything in-between.

When you’re done? Fill out this form and upload your audio file in the link provided in the form by September 18. Questions? Email [email protected].

[You may submit up to 3 separate musical responses to the same or different animations; if submitting more than one, the form must be submitted for each one. While submission doesn’t guarantee publication, we will make every effort to feature as many submissions as possible.]

Submit Composition Now!