Call for Applications: Classical Music Residencies

In partnership with the Philarmonie de Paris, Villa Albertine is launching a call for applications for research and exploratory residencies throughout the United States in the field of classical music, both instrumental and vocal, ranging from medieval to contemporary music. This program is made possible thanks to the support of French bank Société Générale, a major sponsor of these residencies.

From January to December 2025, three residents will have the opportunity to participate in an immersive residency that will enable them to renew their reflection on their practice, draw inspiration from the American territory of their choice, highlight their work, and create connections.

Applicants must be one of the following:

• a classical music composer, singer, or player;
• a professional from the field of classical music (excluding composers, singers, or instrumentalists);
• a female orchestra conductor.

Application deadline: February 1, 2024, 11:59pm (French time).

This announcement is for candidates matching the above criteria. All others, including musicians who do not fit the above criteria, are nonetheless invited to submit their applications to the general, multi-disciplinary category of residency applications at Villa Albertine, which is launching at the same time.

• Crafts and Design
• Classical Music

Requested profiles and projects

The call is open to all classical composers, singers, and players, as well as to classical music professionals (excluding composers, singers and players) and conductors with an original research project requiring an immersive stay in the United States.

Villa Albertine’s exploratory residencies are not intended to be conducted behind closed doors but rather act as probing field work that inspires and forges new bonds.

The project can either be a new proposal conceived for Villa Albertine or a continuation of research that the applicant has conducted before arriving in the US. In both cases, the raison d’être of the project is its relation to the location of the residency. Meetings, events, and visits should contribute to the work carried out.

Each applicant should situate their residency in an area which corresponds to the themes or ideas they wish to explore. The residency shall be located in the city or territory of the candidate’s choice and will be supported by Villa Albertine’s team in one of the ten cities where they are located.

The cities where the Villa Albertine has a permanent presence are Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, San Francisco and Washington, DC. For example, a residency in Seattle would be assigned to Villa Albertine in San Francisco.

This call is not limited to French or French-speaking applicants, but is open to any classical musician, non-musician classical music professional, composer, or conductor who meets the eligibility criteria set out below, in particular the support of a French partner.

Support from Villa Albertine   

Villa Albertine provides personalized support for each resident, as well as a multitude of possible residency locations. 

The program is implemented through Villa Albertine’s 80 person staff spread across ten cities, as well as networks of partnerships with multiple American institutions, so that each resident can be introduced into an ecosystem, which will facilitate encounters, discoveries, self-examination, and reflections.

Each Villa team will offer the resident its expert awareness of the cultural and artistic scene and the chosen area’s network and partners. Depending on each resident’s plans and axes of exploration, preparatory work will be done well in advance to identify the most relevant interlocutors in the region and surrounding communities.

A schedule of meetings and visits will be prepared for each resident, relevant to their project and needs. Villa Albertine will assist the resident in an analysis of their material and logistical needs for the successful execution of their project. 

Villa Albertine will cover transportation and living costs related to the residency, as per the following terms:

• a residency allowance which will cover daily costs (e.g. meals and local transportation). Example: in New York City, this allowance is currently $110/ day;
• international and possibly domestic travel costs;
• housing;
• car rental (in spread-out cities which require a car and/or if the project itself requires it);
• health insurance coverage, civil liability insurance, and repatriation to France, as needed.

 Please be advised that Villa Albertine cannot cover any other costs except for the transportation and local costs mentioned above. If the applicant identifies other specific needs (technical equipment, work or studio space, etc.), they should present solutions which demonstrate their essential nature and contribution to the viability of their project (e.g. partnerships, sponsorships, or complementary financial support).

This offer is only made to individuals, duo or group applications are not accepted for this call.

Villa Albertine’s framework is organized to support individual residences (not including family members or other close relatives who would not be part of the project). In the case where this accompaniment would be necessary (a parent with dependent child(ren)), such a situation could be considered in the organization of the residency by searching for adapted housing.

French partnerships

Each applicant is asked to have their residency project supported by a French partner. Depending on the case, this support can take one of three forms: 

• conception of the residency project: assistance in writing the residency presentation, finding resources and contacts that could help the applicant, etc.  
• promotion of the residency: communication on social media, or content creation about the residency (articles, podcasts, videos, etc.);
• post-residency follow-up: phase in France spent presenting the work carried out in the United States (conference, meet-up with professionals, etc.), or help in developing an artistic or intellectual project.

These partners are not asked to contribute financially to the residency. 

For candidates who are not eligible for French social security benefits and for non-French applicants who live in countries that are not part of the US Visa Waiver Program, the French partner must sign an agreement with Villa Albertine to ensure that administration regarding the residency is properly managed and that the procedures required for the candidate to enter the US have been followed. 

Any public or private entity under French law, based in France, may be a partner. 

Applicants, who are artists, cannot use an organization they manage or created to support their application. They should have the support of a distinct partner. 

For applicants, who are researchers or culture professionals, this structure cannot be an organization that the candidate heads or has created but they may use the institution where they are employed as their partner.

In addition to the main French partner, applicants may also use other French partners and US entities that could help develop the project (networking, provision of a workspace, etc.) as support for their application. 

Selection criteria

Regarding eligibility requirements, applicants should justify that they: 

• have professional experience in their field of artistic or intellectual creation, demonstrated through a CV or dossier (less than ten pages long) that presents their career and their work; 
• speak fluent English, proven by sending a short, three-minute (max) introductory video of their career and project. The video is not expected to be edited but rather should be a simple video shot in front of the camera in which the candidate does not read from a text;
• have the support of a French partner associated with the residency project, which can be any public or private French entity (a cultural institution, an organization, a publishing house, a firm in a creative and cultural industry, etc.). The chosen organization should inform Villa Albertine of their interest in supporting the applicant in a letter addressed to Judith Roze, Deputy Director of Villa Albertine.

The candidate must be at least 21 years old before the planned date of departure for their residency.

The selection criteria are as follows:

• quality of the applicant’s career: the manner in which the applicant carries out their artistic or intellectual practice professionally; they are recognized by their peers; their project for Villa Albertine is a logical continuation of their work;
• quality of the project: the project is clearly articulated and the artistic, cultural, and intellectual axes it develops are relevant and have a strong link with the local ecosystem;
• relevance of the project in relation to the residency location: the project is strongly tied to local dynamics and challenges and requires the applicant to travel to the United States;
• feasibility of the project: Villa Albertine reserves the right to not host projects it cannot properly support.

The candidate should be able to adapt to any regional restrictions where they plan on spending their residency. For example, it is strongly recommended that they have a driver’s license if they plan to work in sprawling cities, such as Los Angeles. 

The candidate should be able to adapt to any regional restrictions where they plan on spending their residency. For example, it is strongly recommended that they have a driver’s license if they plan to work in sprawling cities, such as Los Angeles. 

Application process

Applications should be submitted by February 1, 2024, at 11:59pm French time (UTC+1), by completing the application form via this link:

Apply here

It is strongly recommended not to wait until this date, in order to avoid possible congestion on the platform.

An applicant may only submit one application per season.

Applications can be revised at any time before the closing date of the call for applications. Once submitted, the application cannot be further edited.

For applications that justify the participation of several people, only one application must be submitted. Each participant must present themselves in the same form.

Since the applications are also examined by English-speaking experts, the candidate must answer any questions in English that require a written response. 

The candidate should mention the territory and the desired duration of the residency (one, two or three months). The Villa reserves the right to propose a shorter residency period than that initially indicated by the candidate, or even to adapt the itinerary to make the project more feasible.  

Any incomplete or noncompliant application will be deemed inadmissible. Any intentionally false declaration will automatically render the application void.

Applications will be examined in three phases: first, by experts in the concerned field; second, by a committee that will assess the project’s relevance to their city and the region concerned; and third, in a final selection phase overseen by a panel of judges. This panel shall be chosen by a jury of qualified French and US experts. 

The panel of judges is sovereign; it does not have to justify its decisions to applicants. 

The successful applicants will be announced at the end of May 2024. 

Calendar 

February 1, 2024, 11:59pm (French time): Application deadline 

March – April 2024: Evaluations and selection by the jury

June 12th 2024: Announcement of the chosen applicants

For any additional question, please contact candidatures@villa-albertine.org.