Deadlines for Cultural Arts and Music Submissions Approaching

The Church is welcoming members’ submissions of uplifting music, poetry, and theatrical scripts from its members. Submissions for 2006 are due March 31 for music, and cultural arts submissions are due April 1.

The Church established the submissions program under the direction of the Music and Cultural Arts Division of the Priesthood Department as a means for members to develop and share their talents, for wards and stakes to be involved with wholesome and creative works, and for members to express their testimonies of the gospel with their creative abilities.

The arts have been an integral part of the Church throughout its history. In 1830, the Lord called Emma Smith to compile a collection of sacred hymns: “For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me” (D&C 25:12).

When the Saints gathered in Nauvoo, they built a Cultural Hall and often held evening concerts, plays, and dances. The Saints continued this tradition in the Salt Lake Valley and built three theaters within the first decade of their arrival: the Old Bowery, the Social Hall, and Bowring’s Theater.

President Brigham Young taught that recreational and cultural activities such as music, dance, and theater bless the Saints by providing opportunities to “be renewed and quickened and enlivened and animated” in social activities with one another (quoted in A. M. Merrill, “Dancing,” Improvement Era, October 1908, 950).

Music Submission

The First Presidency has encouraged Latter-day Saints to “fill their homes with the sound of worthy music” (Hymns, preface, p. x).

To encourage the composition of new music for worship and home use, the Church Music Submission program was created in 1975. The General Music Committee reviews submissions annually. Selected musical works are presented regularly in concerts at the Assembly Hall on Temple Square. The Relief Society Music Festival is held each October and honors the works by Relief Society sisters. The Church Music Festival is held every February to present other works in categories such as hymns, children’s songs, anthems, and instrumental arrangements.

Recognized entries are sent to the Church magazines for possible publication. In addition, some recognized submissions have been posted on the Church music Web site, and more will continue to be added. Guidelines for submitting music can be found by visiting www.lds.org/churchmusic.

Cultural Arts Submission

In 2004, the Church expanded its submissions program to include the Cultural Arts submission. Entering its third year, this program accepts Church members’ submissions of performance-oriented works, such as dramas, comedies, musicals, readers’ theater scripts, poetry, and oratorios—all intended for use in wards and stakes. Excerpts from recognized entries are presented annually in October or November. Some entries may be selected for further Church distribution.

Scripts should be suitable for ward/branch or stake/district use, be a minimum of one act long, teach gospel principles in uplifting ways, be doctrinally correct, and be Church-oriented and accurate if historically based. Submissions are welcome in all languages, although non-English entries may require evaluation from translation.

Submissions should include:

1. Two copies of the script and any applicable music on 8 1/2 x 11 inch (22 x 28 cm) paper.

2. A statement signed by all contributors that says, “The work submitted, entitled ________ , is my original work, is owned by me, and conforms to the submission rules.”

3. A cover letter with the piece’s title; author’s name, address, phone number, and e-mail address; central theme; synopsis; and cast requirements.

The names of all contributors should appear on the cover letter, script, and signed statement. Authors of productions accepted by the committee may be asked to grant the Church a nonexclusive, perpetual license for unlimited use.

Send submissions to: Church Theatrical Script Submission, 50 E. North Temple St. Rm. 2082, Salt Lake City, Utah, 84150-6070, USA. For more information, call 1-801-240-6492.

Actors representing members of a typical ward perform one of several theatrical works presented at the Assembly Hall on Temple Square. (Photograph by Christina Smith.)