Composers Workshop, Charlotte New Music Festival

The Composers Workshop is a unique two-week event that allows a select group of about thirty student and emerging composers to work closely with world-class performers and distinguished faculty in the creation of new works for performance at the Charlotte New Music Festival. Participants will hone their craft, build their professional networks, listen to a lot of exciting new music, receive valuable and pragmatic career advice from musicians with a wide range of experiences, and much more.

Participation in the Composers Workshop includes:

• Two professional performances of your music:
  • A commissioned work written for the festival.
  • A speedwriting assignment, a short work to be written during the festival and performed on our speedwriting concert.
• Option to perform an additional piece of your own (or recruit musicians to perform) on a New Music Open Mic Night at a local piano bar. (This is a great place to try out new ideas or to show another side of your musical personality!)
• High-quality audio and video recording of the performances.
• Opportunity to work with guest musicians in rehearsing your music.
• Lectures by eminent guest composers and musicians.
• Two private lessons with guest composers.
• Admission to all festival concerts.
• Making new friends and being part of a supportive artistic community.

Dance Co-Lab:

Interested composers may choose to participate in the Dance Co-lab. This one-of-a-kind program pairs composers with choreographers with the aim of developing interdisciplinary collaboration skills. Each composer-choreographer team will work together in the creation of a new work in which the music and choreography are organically linked. Composers will learn a lot about dance. They will gain a deeper understanding of how choreographers think, see how new choreography is developed, watch how dancers rehearse, and ultimately learn what is required to write effective music for dance. Please note that only a small number of slots are available for the Dance Co-lab. Be sure to indicate your interest in this opportunity on the application.

Guest composers:

• John Allemeier
• Joel Hoffman
• Charles Nichols
• Paula Matthusen
• Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon
• Clint Needham
• Alejandro Rutty

Additional faculty:

• Elizabeth Kowalski
• Adam Scott Neal
• David Schneider

Guest ensembles:

• Beo String Quartet (Pittsburgh)
• Bent Frequency (Atlanta)
• Iktus Percussion (New York)