Dear Soil: An Open Call for Music Commissions
Dear Soil
Dear Soil: An Open Call for Music Commissions
Dear Soil is an archive of love letters written to the ground beneath our feet, to the soil. The letters are tender, playful, worried, grateful, and bring together hundreds of voices addressing the earth. The love letters to soil are presented as an interactive artwork, installed as a moss-crowned filing cabinet at Light the Blue Festival, Music Hall Aberdeen. The archive grows throughout the festival and transforms bureaucracy into something intimate and alive.
We are now seeking 2 composers or musicians to create new works in direct response to this archive. Each commissioned artist will spend time with the letters: reading, listening, sitting with what they find and creating a new piece of music that grows from that encounter. A performance will weave this new composition into a set of complementary pieces of the artists’ choosing.
“Soil is a world. Not a backdrop, not a resource. A living community that is the condition of most terrestrial life as we know it.”
— Maria Puig de la Bellacasa, Matters of Care
What are we offering?
Each of the 2 commissioned artists will receive:
- £2,000 commission fee
- Access to the Dear Soil archive at Light the Blue Festival during development
- Technical support for the performance and rehearsal from the APA team
- Performance on October 1st during North East Climate Week at Big Sky Studio at the Music Hall in Aberdeen
- Credit and documentation of the work
The Commission
The Dear Soil archive is a living, growing collection of letters. Some are a sentence long; others fill several pages. Some are elegies; some are instructions; some are memories of bare feet on wet grass. Together they form an unusual chorus, many voices, all directed downward, into the earth.
As a commissioned artist, you will:
- Spend dedicated time with the Dear Soil archive, reading and drawing from its letters
- Compose a new piece of music inspired by your encounter with the archive
- Perform the new work as part of a public performance. You may combine it with existing original work material if you choose
- The form, duration, instrumentation, and genre of the work is entirely open: acoustic, electronic, vocal, durational, intimate, expansive or whatever the archive calls from you
Eligibility
This open call is open to composers and musicians who:
- Are based in Scotland
- Work in music, sound art, or music performance
- Are able to attend the Dear Soil installation at Light the Blue Festival (2–13 June 2026, Music Hall Aberdeen) for at least one visit during the development period
- Are available to perform on October 1st 2026 during North East Climate Week at Big Sky Studio, Music Hall Aberdeen
- Applicant’s age must be 18+
About the Dear Soil Archive
The Dear Soil installation centres on a filing cabinet painted to reveal the layers beneath our feet: the topsoil, subsoil, weathered rock, bedrock. The filing cabinet’s top is covered in living moss. The drawers hold an ever-growing collection of love letters to the ground, some written by visitors to the festival and many received through online submission.
The letters explore:
- What people have noticed about the soil beneath their feet
- Gratitude for what soil quietly gives
- Memories tied to earth (e.g., digging, planting, walking barefoot)
- Worries about the ground, and hopes for it
- What future generations should understand about a shared Earth
Commissioned artists will be given dedicated access to the archive and may of course also write their own letters.
Application Process & Support
We want the application to feel as open as the archive itself. Please submit in whatever format works best for you: written text, audio recording, or video. We will evaluate the content of your application, not its production quality.
If you would like to talk through your application or have questions, please get in touch before the deadline.
The Questions
-
Tell us about your music practice.
- What are you drawn to, musically and artistically? What questions or ideas drive your work?
- No need to list your performance history or recite your CV. Tell us, in your own words, what your practice is and what you’re currently exploring.
- 400 words / 2-minute recording
-
How does the Dear Soil archive speak to you, and what do you imagine making in response?
- To apply for this commission it’s important to experience the soil letter installation at the Music Hall in Aberdeen
- What does the archive open up for you? What draws you to it?
- How does the Dear Soil letter archive connect with your creative work?
- Tell us something about the work you imagine composing . You don’t need a finished plan, but we want to understand how you might approach it and what form the composition may take, whether you’ll perform with other musicians, involve any visual elements, etc. All ideas welcome!
- 400 words / 2-minute recording
-
How would this commission support your practice right now?
- What does this commission offer you that you couldn’t access elsewhere?
- Tell us about where you are in your practice and why this is the right moment for this work.
- Be as specific as you can. We want to understand your particular needs and circumstances.
- 300 words / 1.5-minute recording
-
Examples of existing work
- Share up to 3 examples of your music or sound recordings
- We are keen to hear specific tracks or pieces rather than full albums, please select pieces of which you are particularly proud or which best showcase your work
- Please share your website or social media
Important Dates
Open Call live: Friday 29 May 2026
Dear Soil archive opens: 2–13 June 2026 · Music Hall Aberdeen · Light the Blue Festival
Deadline for applications: Friday 19 June 2026, 5pm
Applicants notified by: 3 July 2026
Commissions develop: July – September 2026
Public Performance: 1 October 2026 · North East Climate Week · Big Sky Studio, Music Hall Aberdeen
Selection Process
Applications will be reviewed by three APA staff members. We will be looking for:
- A clear and genuine connection between the artist’s practice and the themes of the archive
- A compelling sense of what the artist might make even if unresolved or exploratory
- Articulation of why this commission matters for the artist’s practice right now
- Evidence that the artist has engaged with the Dear Soil project and what it offers
All applicants will be notified of the outcome. Feedback will be offered to shortlisted artists.
How do you apply?
Submit your application by email to: maramarxtlewis@aberdeenperformingarts.com
Please use the subject line: Dear Soil Commission Application – [Your Name]
You may submit as a written document, audio recording, video, or any combination. We have no preference, only the content matters.
If you have any questions, access requirements, or would like to talk through your application before submitting, please get in touch at maramarxtlewis@aberdeenperformingarts.com We’d love to hear from you.
Deadline: Friday 19 June 2026 at 5pm
Dear Soil is on display 2–13 June 2026 · Music Hall Aberdeen · Light the Blue Festival · 9.30am–6pm
