Please read the Artist Fellowships Overview for general eligibility criteria and a description of program goals and requirements.
Printable Version
Eligibility
This category is open to:
- Composers of chamber, electronic, experimental, jazz & symphonic music
- Songwriters of Christian/gospel, contemporary acoustic/folk, country, hip-hop, pop/adult contemporary, R&B and rock/alternative genres
Collaborators should submit only one application (see Overview for more information). Artists may submit only one application per year as either the primary applicant or a collaborator.
Please note: Compositions can be for one or more instruments, but all will be judged in one review process. All work must be original.
How to Apply
You will submit your application electronically using ARTS Grants Online (AGO), a comprehensive electronic application. The system will accept all of your application materials, including work samples. No hard copy is required. Online submissions are due by 5 p.m. on Thursday, November 1, 2012.
AGO works best if you use Mozilla Firefox as your browser, though other browsers, including Internet Explorer, are also functional. If you don’t have a computer at home, all public libraries have computers available for public use. Click here for the statewide library directory.
A complete fellowship application will generally have five components:
- Applicant profile
- Narrative
- Résumé
- Work samples and work sample descriptions
- Support materials
Support materials are limited to scores, lead sheets and lyric sheets, as appropriate to your musical form. See below for additional information.
Applicant Profile
This page provides us with your basic information, such as your name and ways to contact you during and at the conclusion of the process.
If you are new to our online application system, you will need to create a profile. Make sure to check “Individual” when creating your profile. In the Primary Contact Information fields, enter your name the way you would like to be listed on our database and in our application records. If you go by your middle name, you may enter it in the field for middle initial.
If you applied previously using the AGO online system, please review your profile and update information as needed. Should any of your contact information change during the course of the review, please correct your profile in AGO and let us know so we can update your records on our database.
At the bottom of the profile, enter your own website address, if you have one, on the Web Address line. Otherwise, leave it blank.
Once your profile is complete, go to Current Programs and Applications and click on Start Application below the heading for N.C. Artist Fellowship 2013–14.
Narrative
Before you answer the narrative questions, you must answer several further identifying questions to ensure that your name is listed correctly and that your work will be reviewed by the appropriate panel.
- Please make sure the name you enter here corresponds to the name you entered in the Primary Contact Information fields in the profile.
- The discipline you select will determine the panel that reviews your application.
- The genre/medium should describe the work samples you submitted.
Your narrative will address the following questions:
- How do you plan to use the fellowship?
- How will receiving a fellowship affect your artistic development?
- Why is it important that you receive a fellowship at this point in your artistic career?
You will answer each question in a separate text box, with a specified character limit. The total space available to respond to all three questions is roughly one typed page. A budget page is not requested with your narrative.
The narrative is an essential part of your fellowship application. In responding to the questions, consider what a panelist, who has seen the work samples you submitted, will want to know about the direction and ambitions you have for your work.
Résumé
Attach a PDF of your artist résumé emphasizing music-related activities. Include pertinent biographical details as education, employment and accomplishments, publications, residencies and honors, as well as articles and publications written about your work. We recommend that you limit the length of your résumé to no more than five pages.
Work Samples and Work Sample Descriptions
Work samples are the most important part of your fellowship application. Fellowships are awarded primarily on artistic merit and your work samples are the only means panelists have to assess it. Samples should represent the best of your creative ability and be of the highest possible audio quality. You must have created the work in the past three years. We encourage more recent work.
You will upload audio files of your recent work to the Audio Bank by following the instructions on the Work Sample Selection page on the AGO site. Once you have uploaded the files, you will need to select the files from the Audio Bank by returning to the Work Sample Selection page in your application and following the prompts for choosing files from your Audio Bank.
- Up to five audio files of original music, which are
- In MP3 format only
- A maximum of 15 MB for each file
- Include at least one complete work among the five files. If your complete work does not fit within the allowable file size (10 MB), it is recommended that you save the work in segments and label them accordingly.
For example:
- Work Sample One (partial) = 5 MB
- Work Sample Two (partial) = 7 MB
- Work Sample Three (complete, part 1) =10 MB
- Work Sample Three (complete, part 2) =10 MB
- Work Sample Three (complete, part 3) = 3 MB
- A work sample description for each piece of music that you upload to the AGO system.
When you upload your audio files to the Audio Bank, you will have the opportunity to describe the work or work segment in some detail. Generally, the more description you can provide the better. Much of the information requested is self-explanatory, but please contact the staff if you should have questions.
Support Materials
To supplement the recordings you submit online, we also require the following support materials.
- For chamber, electronic, experimental, symphonic, or other instrumental music, please provide the score (in PDF format) for each recorded work you submit.
- For jazz compositions, please provide a lead sheet (in PDF format) for each recorded work you submit.
- For songwriting submissions, please provide the lyrics (in PDF format) for each uploaded song.
Upload these documents to the Written Documents Bank on the Work Sample Selection page as instructed. No other support materials will be accepted or reviewed. The Written Documents Bank is located below the Audio Bank. Once you have uploaded the files, you will need to select the files from the Written Document Bank by returning to the Work Sample Selection page in your application and following the prompts for choosing files from your Written Document Bank.
Submitting Your Application Packet
Submit your complete application electronically online on the AGO site by 5 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 1, 2012. No hard copy is required.
What Happens Next
You will receive an automatic email confirming the electronic receipt of your online application. After we've had an opportunity to make a first review of all of the submissions, we'll send you another notice, usually by early December, acknowledging that both the electronic application and your work samples have been received. Please do not call or email the Arts Council to verify receipt, as that only delays the processing of applications.
Arts Council staff reviews all of the applications for eligibility and completeness and prepares them for panel review, a process that can take several months, depending on the number of submissions.
Discipline-based panels are assembled to review the applications and recommend the artists they consider most deserving of a fellowship. We then submit the panels' recommendations to the Secretary of Cultural Resources for approval.
We send letters to all of the applicants as soon as possible after approval is given, no later than mid-summer of 2013, after the General Assembly passes a budget for the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources, and the N.C. Arts Council.
Helpful Links
Artist Fellowship Overview
Artist Fellowship Application
