McKnight Visiting Composer Residencies

The American Composers Forum is pleased to administer the McKnight Visiting Composers Program. This program is made possible by the generous support of The McKnight Foundation. The McKnight Foundation also funds artist fellowship programs in ceramic arts, choreography, dance, literature, music performance, photography, playwriting and theater arts, screenwriting and filmmaking, and visual arts, administered respectively by the Northern Clay Center, Northrop Auditorium, The Loft, MacPhail Center for Music, mnartists.org, Playwrights’ Center, Independent Feature Project/North, and Minneapolis College of Art and Design.  

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

The American Composers Forum will select up to two composers to design and produce their own residencies.
Visiting composers should expect to spend approximately 60 days in Minnesota, working on projects with a Minnesota community—or communities—of their choosing (although preferably not a musical community).
Visiting composers are expected to complete their projects within 18 months of receiving the award.
This is not a commissioning program, although new work may be part of the residency. In keeping with the Forum’s commitment to promoting awareness and understanding of living composers, this program encourages interaction with a variety of venues where new music is rarely heard, such as rural areas, schools, community centers, and with participants who may not have worked with a composer before.

SELECTION CRITERIA

Panelists will assess the:

Creative potential, imagination, and effectiveness of the proposed project.
Consistent high quality of applicant’s previous work.
Anticipated value of the residency project for the designated community.
Significance of this program to the composer’s career.

AWARDS

Up to two fellowships of $15,000 will be awarded.

ELIGIBILITY

Only composers living outside Minnesota are eligible.
Composers working in any style are encouraged to apply.
Full-time students are not eligible.
Recipients of 2012, 2013 and 2014 McKnight Visiting Composer Fellowships and/or McKnight Fellowships in any discipline are not eligible.
Artists may apply to only one of the twelve McKnight fellowship programs in a given year.
Composers do not have to be members of the American Composers Forum to apply.
Fellowship staff from any McKnight Artist Fellowship program are not eligible.
Fellowship staff and board of the American Composers Forum and immediate family are not eligible.
Staff and board of The McKnight Foundation are not eligible, as well as immediate family members of foundation arts program staff.

SELECTION PROCESS

A panel of three composers from outside Minnesota chosen for their familiarity with diverse genres of new music will review applications and select residency recipients.

NOTIFICATION

The panel’s decision will be announced in late May, 2015. Results will be posted on ACF’s website and applicants will be notified by letter.