WE REGRET TO REPORT THAT THE PRIZE WILL NOT BE AWARDED THIS YEAR. IN SPITE OF GREAT EFFORT, WIDE KNOWLEDGE OF THE AWARD WAS NOT ESTABLISHED. I AM COMMITTED TO REGROUPING FOR 2025. PLEASE CHECK BACK FOR DETAILS.
I am so pleased about the genesis of The Jewel Prize for African American Spirituals, in honor of my dear friend and colleague, Eboneé Jewel Davis. This award is designed to offer opportunities to yet unpublished African American composers. It may seem curious for a white person to create such an award; however, if you will allow me, I will explain how this detail is precisely the reason. As I wrote in a recent article, “…a thing of great strength, value, and beauty, fashioned in extreme heat and under unimaginable pressure, the ‘diamond’ of the African American Spiritual refracts the offenses of my not-so-distant forebears and my own privilege, as well as an abundance of grace from its creators and heirs.” I am interested in helping to birth more Spirituals arrangements, for each new composition is a teacher for me and for our country.
First, let me say that Spirituals are intrinsically valuable. These sanguine songs bring together profound and resourceful texts with compelling melodies. They are worth the time of any singer who aims to do them honor. Also, they are much more than songs to be “performed” (more on that word later). The hearing of a Spiritual gives each of us the opportunity to “remind,” “receive,” and “repair.”
remind
I have noticed how desensitized we’ve become when confronted with discussions of slavery; let us remind ourselves continually how bad it was. We routinely must trade our rote reactions with visceral ones. This can be accomplished by reading first-hand accounts from Enslaved Americans. These writings can be horrific, but avoiding them for our own comfort is not acceptable. We also should acknowledge reasons for which African Americans have been distrustful of whites, not the least of which is the misuse of Christianity, whose leaders encouraged the Enslaved to obey the enslaver.
receive
Once we have reminded ourselves of the trauma and indignity of slavery, it is time to receive it. This is not the time to deflect: “Their own people were enslavers, also”…. “That was a long time ago.” We must confront the truth that centuries of slavery have had a ripple effect through Reconstruction, Jim Crow, and to this very day. Another deflection is, “My ancestors never enslaved anyone.” However, let us not become too self-congratulatory; we very well might have descended from one of the itinerant preachers who admonished, “Slaves, obey your masters,” using the Pauline letters.
repair
Finally, how can we begin to repair? When discussing matters around Spirituals, I consult exclusively African Americans, knowing, of course, that it is not their responsibility to act as my consultants. For those of us who have made a thoughtful decision to program Spirituals, we must integrate them fully, contextualize them properly, and refrain from “performing” them; let us “offer” or “provide” them instead. Let’s refer to them as “meaningful,” not “entertaining.” When programming them, we might even implement a policy of donating to musical organizations that serve the heirs of these songs.
This admonition begins with me. My goal is to mindfully journey through the above three-step process when I program a Spiritual or hear one in concert. Again, I am enthusiastic about helping spark the inspiration for more of these beloved pieces.
C. Leonard Raybon
Founder and Artistic Director, Sacred Nine Project
The Composer:
is yet unpublished; that is, no work by the composer has been published at the time of submission.
must also be the submitter.
is African American.
is 18 years of age or older.
may only offer one arrangement.
must use as a source an African American Spiritual that complements the concert theme of “Heaven,” in some way.
The Composition:
must be “dead earnest.” (This is James Weldon Johnson’s designation for all Spirituals, regardless of subject matter.)
may be more traditional or avant-garde; reimagining the Spiritual is permissible if it feels authentic to the composer. Either way, the arrangement should add something fresh to the rich body of Spirituals in the repertoire.
must never have been performed live.
must never have been posted on-line in video, audio, or PDF form.
must be neither commercially published nor self-published.
must be a concert arrangement for a so-called “classical” choral ensemble; we are not a gospel choir, and we would do the piece dishonor to attempt that style.
can be any difficulty level.
must be an excellent arrangement; that is, the submission must offer a fresh look at the Spiritual, and must be well-written, especially regarding voice leading. If it is a cappella, the arrangement needs to “hold together” elegantly by the sheer craftsmanship of the musical structure.
can employ any voicing.
can be either a cappella or accompanied by a piano. No other instruments are permitted.
may include sections for soloist.
may contain dialect. While a majority of Sacred Nine Scholars are white, we will be in discussions with the distinguished composer about performance practice, and will navigate the dialect with the utmost care.
must contain musical source material that is completely in the public domain.
contains text in the public domain. Many Spirituals have variants in texts; the composer must ensure that the text is in the public domain and not a more modern rewrite.
should have a performance duration of not fewer than 3 minutes and not more than 6 minutes.
should try to avoid:
-Sopranos above A5.
-Altos below F3.
-Tenors above A4
-Basses below D2.
The Distinguished Composer:
will receive $1,000.
is permitted to use the premiere concert recording for a personal portfolio, website, etc.
Guidelines and Procedures
If no submission meets the above descriptors, a prize need not be awarded.
There is no application fee.
A review panel will be assembled, including Eboneé Jewel Davis, and C. Leonard Raybon, Founder of Sacred Nine Project. Davis and Raybon will screen the full body of scores and narrow them down to a manageable number. Then, these scores will be submitted to the entire review panel, who will choose the one distinguished composition.
The composer will complete the Composer Survey below; the survey will serve, in part, to pair the composer with the unidentifiable score once the review is complete.
Below the survey are the specific instructions on how to submit.
The piece will not be shared with anyone beside the review panel.
Applicants are asked to refrain from posting submission titles on social media or elsewhere; if one of the reviewers were unwittingly to see the name and/or title of the submission, the fairness of the prize might be in jeopardy.
Submissions are due by Friday, November 1, 2024..
The winner and all entrants will be informed of the results by Friday, November 29, 2024.
The premiere of the winning arrangement will be on Sunday, March 30, 2025, 3:00 PM, Rayne Memorial Methodist Church, 3900 St. Charles Avenue.
Please note that, while Sacred Nine Project celebrates American sacred music, we are not religious in nature; thus, while the distinguished Spiritual arrangement may be worshipful, it will not be premiered in a context of worship.
Jewel Prize Composer Survey
How to submit
The composer will send the Spiritual arrangement as a PDF attachment to sacred9project@gmail.com. The subject line should read: “Jewel Prize Submission”
The PDF must contain NO identifying information. If the composer’s name or details are on the PDF score, the arrangement will be disqualified.
On the PDF, after the title and before the score begins, the approximate performance duration should be marked.. For example, (c.3’30’’)
The PDF must be generated from an engraved score created in a computer program such as Finale or Sibelius; it may not be hand-written.
To reiterate, the above Composer Survey must be completed and submitted; if there is no survey on record, the composition will be disqualified.
The submission is due on or before Friday, January 12, 2024.