Original Invitation
To All Bahá’í Musicians and Song Writers
RE: Music for Devotions – Our Second Original Music CD Collaborative Project
Dearest Bahá’í Friends and Artists,
We are thrilled to invite you to this collaborative project and beseech the Blessed Beauty to guide our steps in carrying out our creative work in His Name. As in all Bahá’í activities, unity and growth through combined service are our ultimate goals. The Workshop for the Arts hereby solicits your musical submissions to be considered for inclusion in a new compact disc, preliminarily entitled: Music for Devotions, to compliment devotional gatherings.
Many of the people involved in our recording projects up to this point have not had experience in the recording industry, so we’d like to ensure that everyone understands that there are a number of steps involved in the process that will require us all to assume “a learning mode”. We have resources to help you produce your very best music.
Decisions about how the CD will be produced and which music will be included will need to be made through a Review Committee. The committee will base its final selections for the project on several criteria. These will include effective use of quotes from the Holy Scriptures in a musical setting, and diversity of musical style. Submissions do not need to be professionally performed or recorded, in the initial phase we are looking for well-written music, not final performances. Professional facilities will be used for the recording phase of the project, and there will be opportunities for talented musicians to contribute to the recordings at that time. We welcome submissions from anyone, whether professionally experienced or as yet unknown. For this project, there is no restriction as to which quotes will be favored, the main criteria is that the music and melody effectively combine with the Sacred Word to enhance the devotional experience. Finance, marketing and distribution will be taken on by The Workshop for the Arts, as it was for our first very successful CD, Unrestrained as the Wind. We will then combine our resources to ensure a professional quality production. Together we can accomplish this, and serve this wondrous Cause with our passion for spiritually powerful music.
Further, the CD will need to pass review from the National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States, as always.
We wish to reflect a wide range of styles and cultures. This rich diversity enhanced the appeal and marketability of our first CD. We’re planning for a full CD, but due to practical limitations, we may not be able to include every piece of music submitted. We would like to ensure that everyone understands from the beginning that they are part of a team, and what our ultimate goal is – the service of our beloved Faith. If it happens that a submission you might make cannot be included, you still have the opportunity to be a part of the mix on some of the other submissions.
Recording quality and related issues will be under the direction of professional recording engineers, and the CD will be professionally mastered.
Production costs are to be recovered from the sale of the CD. The Workshop for the Arts will need to feel that these costs will be recoverable before the CD goes into production, so our sponsors will necessarily have an important place in the consultation.
Any revenues that accrue above the production costs will be used by The Workshop for the Arts in line with its mission statement to, Promote the Unity of Mankind Through the Arts and Media.
The Workshop for the Arts is a non-profit charitable Texas corporation functioning as a Bahá’í social and economic development project under IRS 501(c)(3) determination.
We all consider ourselves part of a privileged team, every individual member of which having unique skills and capacities, working together in a spirit of unconditional love and acceptance.
With warmest love and appreciation for your dedicated service to Baha’u’llah,
Kim Bowers, Workshop For The Arts.
1301 Coryell, League City, TX 77573 281 557 8529 http://www.workshopforthearts.com
