I've been on quite a few juries, and it seems to me that we don't talk enough about how to apply for competitions/residences/whatever.

These tips come from my own experience both applying and judging, so don't take the following post as “the truth” but simply as a possibility. To all my colleagues, please feel free to add your thoughts!

NB: this post is meant to be (hopefully) helpful. I know that calls, competitions, institutions, juries are problematic, but I decided not touch that topic here.

1) How many scores should you send?
I think not more than 2 (chamber music + ensemble/orchestra). You can send more scores, if you want to, but then you should really rank them, so that the jury knows where to start. (For example, you can name the files in this way: 1-surname_piece-title, 2-surname_piece-title, so that in the folder, they'll appear in the right order.) The jury won't have time to go through the catalogue of every composer, so it is important that you send the most representative pieces.

2) Recordings
This is a tricky topic. Juries can read scores, so it is not that problematic if you want to send a piece but you don't have the recording yet. Nevertheless, there are some scores that are very difficult to imagine. (I put myself in this category of composers. I worked with experienced conductors and musicians and noticed that many have difficulties imagining the sound of the piece only by looking at the score.) For those scores, having a recording is extremely useful!

3) Recordings (continued)
I would recommend putting a 2 or 3-minute recording excerpt of your pieces in the application folder. Please, specify that it is an excerpt (from measure x to measure y) and tell the jury where to find the full recording (could be a link, or another file). Why is this helpful? Depending on the number of the applicants, juries sometimes don't have time to listen to a 20-minute recording, especially at the beginning of the selection process, when there are still many scores to be checked. I would say, choose the 2–3 minutes of the piece that you like the most, and let the jury hear that right away, so that they have an idea of what to expect. If they're interested, they will probably then listen to the whole piece.

4) Online Submission
If you are required to send your scores online and you decide to share them on Google Drive (or Dropbox or wherever else), make sure that the folder is available for as long as the selection process lasts! Also, make the folder available for everyone who has the link, without requiring the jury send an email in order to get access. Waiting for your permission to open the link slows down the process.

Obviously, these are general remarks, and you should always follow the guidelines specified in the call for applications. There is much more that could be said, but I think that these are the most important points. Sorry for the long post, and I hope this was helpful!