Announcing our 2012 Rapido! Semi-Finals Concert

Well folks, it's that time again -- Rapido! 2012 is upon us, and Fifth House Ensemble is proud to be the Midwest region's partner ensemble!  For the past few months, 5HE staff members have been working closely with Rapido! staff members in Atlanta preparing for the third round of Rapido! A 14 Day Composition Contest.  The Midwest region semi-finals concert is on Sunday, October 21, 2012. Here's what we've been up to in preparation for Rapdio! 2012. In the spring, registration was open to composers across the country, and they registered in the region in which they currently live or have a permanent address.  Each region can only accept 100 composers, and we had a record number register here in the Midwest!

At 9:00am on June 11, registrants were emailed instructions for the piece that they had 14 days to compose:

• a new, original work that is 4-6 minutes in length
• must be composed from June 11-25, 2012
• instrumentation:  oboe, violin, cello, and piano, with no playing inside the piano allowed
• the piece will be a dance -- it must incorporate 2 or more dances, and there are no restrictions on period, culture, or style of dance
• the piece can be a single or multiple movement work.

Composers furiously composed over the 14 days, and each person submitted their scores, parts, and recordings online.  The online  registration and submission were new to Rapido! this year, and they made the entire process much easier!

Once the pieces were submitted, we rated each piece and then had a reading of the top 8-10 pieces.  After the reading, members of 5HE selected the top three, and we had the Midwest region semi-finalists!  Semi-finalists were then notified, and we collected their bios and headshots, as well as their notes on their pieces.  Rehearsals were scheduled, and that brings us to the present!

Now, we are preparing for our 2012 Rapido! Semi-Finals concert.  Members of 5HE are currently rehearsing our three semi-final pieces, as well as 112a, b & c, a new piece by John Elmquist, the national winner of Rapido! Take Two and a Chicago composer, which will be featured at this concert as well.

On Sunday, October 21, 2012, at 3:00pm, all of the hard work of the Rapdio! organizers, four composers, and Fifth House musicians will come together in Preston Bradley Hall at the Chicago Cultural Center.  We have three extremely talented judges lined up to choose the finalist from the Midwest region.  Our finalist will advance to compete his or her piece in the national competition in Atlanta on January 20, 2012.  The national winner will be commissioned to expand his or her work to be performed by each region's participating ensemble and will be commissioned by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra for a new work to be premiered by the ASO in 2014!

Here at Fifth House Ensemble, we are delighted to continue being the Midwest region partner ensemble, we're extremely excited to hear our three semi-finalists' pieces on 10/21, and we can't wait to find out who the national winner is!  We hope you can join us on Sunday, October 21, 2012 at 3:00pm at the Chicago Cultural Center's Preston Bradley Hall to celebrate our three semi-finalists and Chicago's very own & Rapido! Take Two's national winner John Elmquist!