One year of commissions, premieres, mentorship, and integration into a global musical community.
Composers need what the market rarely provides: commissions to write new work, ensembles to premiere it, mentorship from established voices, and time to develop without the pressure that forces compromise. Prizes provide recognition; residencies provide integration. We offer a residency.
As Composer in Residence, you'll receive commissions for Conservatory ensembles and events, work with performers throughout the composition process, attend premieres of your work, and develop relationships with conductors, performers, and fellow composers. You're not receiving an award to frame—you're joining a community invested in your music.
We select composers whose voices are distinctive and whose work we want to champion. This is not a competition for the most technically accomplished or the most fashionably contemporary; it's a search for artistic vision we believe in and want to support. We've selected fellows working in styles from tonal to experimental—voice matters more than idiom.
You've studied, you've written, you've developed a voice. Now you need opportunities to write for real ensembles with real premieres and real audiences—not academic exercises graded by professors.
Composition is isolating work. You spend hours alone with your ideas, and the feedback loop from page to performance is agonizingly slow. This fellowship embeds you in a community of performers, conductors, and fellow composers invested in your development.
Tonal, atonal, minimalist, maximalist, acoustic, electronic, genre-bending—we seek distinctive voices, not particular styles. Your music should sound like you, not like what you think we want to hear.
If you write primarily for competitions, academic credit, or to build a catalog no one plays, this may not be the right fit. We want composers who hunger to hear their music live.
This is not a prize you receive and disappear. Residency requires ongoing involvement: attending performances, engaging with the community, being present. If you can't commit to that, apply for grants instead.
Dedicated time and resources allowing full focus on composition. The fellowship is structured so that your primary obligation is to create—real support designed to remove obstacles and let you concentrate on your work.
Minimum 3 commissions for Conservatory ensembles, events, or special projects. You'll write for real groups preparing real premieres. Instrumentation and scope discussed collaboratively based on your interests and ensemble availability.
Guaranteed premiere performances of commissioned works. Your music will be heard by audiences, not just read by judges. Professional-quality performances with adequate rehearsal time—not sight-reading sessions.
Regular sessions with established composer(s) on faculty. Not lessons—conversations between colleagues at different career stages. Score review, career guidance, artistic development through sustained dialogue.
Participation in Conservatory events, composer forums, rehearsals, and community activities. You're joining a community, not receiving a check. Interaction with performers, conductors, and fellow composers enriches your work.
Guidance on score preparation, publishing options, and licensing. We help you build the infrastructure to manage your catalog professionally. Copyright registration, engraving standards, and submission strategies.
3-5 scores with recordings. Live, synthesized, or mixed is fine—we need to hear the music.
500-750 words on your voice, intent, and what you are trying to do as a composer.
Training, premieres, commissions, awards, and experience—we evaluate readiness as well as talent.
From composers, conductors, or performers who know your work well.
What would you write if selected? Not binding, but it shows how you think.
Credential note: We do not require degrees or formal training. We evaluate the work. Some of our finest fellows have been self-taught or trained outside traditional conservatory paths. What matters is what you write, not where you learned to write it.
Fellows write for a range of ensembles and occasions. Specific assignments depend on your interests, ensemble availability, and artistic fit.
String quartet, wind quintet, piano trio, mixed chamber—small ensemble writing is the bread and butter of most composition careers. Write music that performers want to keep playing.
Orchestra, wind ensemble, choir—depending on availability and your experience. Large ensemble commissions require proven orchestration skill and practical scoring awareness.
Recital pieces for faculty and student performers. Solo commissions build your catalog and create relationships with individual performers who champion your work.
Commencement, festivals, collaborative projects—occasion pieces that reach audiences beyond the typical concert-going community. Functional music is still art.
Works for Global Youth Ensembles (Big Band, Wind Ensemble, Choir, etc.)—writing for young performers requires specific skill and produces lasting impact.
Collaborations with other Conservatory programs—dance, theater, media arts. Interdisciplinary work expands your creative vocabulary and your audience.
While we don't guarantee specific outcomes, past fellows have achieved:
Publication with major and independent publishers, building catalogs that generate ongoing royalties and performance opportunities worldwide.
Commissions from performers met during fellowship—relationships that continue producing work for years after the residency ends.
Festival performances of fellowship works, expanding the reach and impact of music written during the residency year.
Teaching positions at universities and conservatories, where fellowship experience strengthens applications and demonstrates professional engagement.
Ongoing compositional careers with regular premieres, supported by the network and catalog built during the fellowship year.
Many fellows maintain ongoing relationships with the Conservatory—returning for events, collaborating with performers, receiving future commissions.
Composition support comes in many forms. Here's how our residency model compares.
Grants provide recognition. Awards provide prestige. Both are valuable—but neither provides community. A plaque doesn't introduce you to performers. An envelope doesn't get your music rehearsed. Our fellowship provides artistic support AND community integration.
University residencies provide institutional support but often come with teaching obligations that consume creative energy. Our fellowship has no teaching requirement—your job is to compose. Academic contexts also tend toward specific aesthetic expectations; we don't.
Artist colonies provide isolation and time—valuable for concentrated work. But they don't provide performers, premieres, or community integration. Our model is the opposite: immersion in a performing community, not retreat from one.
Artistic support (mentorship) + practical output (commissions and premieres) + career infrastructure (publication guidance) + community (performer relationships). The complete package, designed for career launch.
Mentorship is not lessons. It's not masterclasses. It's an ongoing professional relationship between you and an established composer who understands your artistic goals and invests in your development. Here's what to expect:
Mentors are established composers with active careers, demonstrated teaching ability, and commitment to new music development. We match fellows with mentors based on artistic compatibility, career goals, and interpersonal fit. If a match isn't working, we adjust—the relationship must be productive for both parties.
Fellows receive commissions for Conservatory ensembles, guaranteed premiere performances, ongoing mentorship from established composers, publication guidance, and full integration into the Conservatory community. The fellowship is designed to provide everything an emerging composer needs to focus on creating new work.
Limited outside work is permitted if it doesn't conflict with fellowship obligations (which include attending performances, working with performers, and being present in the community). Full-time employment elsewhere is generally incompatible with the residency model. Teaching one or two courses is typically fine; a full-time teaching load is not.
We seek distinctive voices, not particular styles. Your music should sound like you. We've selected fellows working in idioms from neo-romantic to avant-garde to electronic to genre-defying. Don't try to guess what we want—show us who you are.
"Emerging" refers to career stage, not age. We've selected fellows in their early 20s and fellows in their 50s. What matters is where you are in your development and what you need to advance. If you're at a point where commissions, premieres, and mentorship would meaningfully accelerate your career, you're a candidate.
Many fellows maintain ongoing relationships with the Conservatory community—returning for events, collaborating with performers they met, receiving future commissions. The residency ends; the relationships continue. We consider our fellows part of an extended community permanently.
The fellowship is primarily virtual with periodic in-person components (premieres, residencies, events). You don't need to relocate, but you must be available for key events and responsive to the community. Pure absenteeism is not compatible with residency.
Typically 1-2 Composers in Residence per year. We prefer deep investment in fewer fellows over superficial support for many. Each fellow receives substantial resources and attention.
Yes, with flexibility. We balance fellow interests with ensemble availability and Conservatory needs. You'll have input into what you write, but specific assignments are collaborative decisions. Most fellows find that the commissions they receive align well with their artistic interests.
We reschedule. Commissions are guaranteed—if one performance opportunity dissolves, we find another. The commitment is to your music being heard. Logistical setbacks happen; our commitment to your premieres does not waver.
Yes. You retain copyright on all works. The Conservatory may request limited performance rights for educational use, but you own your music and control its future. This is non-negotiable.
Yes, if you're at an advanced level where professional commissions and premieres would be meaningful. Late-stage doctoral students and advanced master's students may be appropriate. Early undergraduate students should typically develop further before applying. We evaluate readiness, not degree status.
Questions about the fellowship? Ready to apply? Contact us and we'll respond within 48 hours.
Commissions, premieres, mentorship, and community. The Composer in Residence Fellowship provides what emerging composers need most—opportunity and integration.