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Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts

Composition Workshop

March 25-March 28, 2024

The RED NOTE New Music Festival Composition Workshop will help composers widen their creative perspectives and hone their craft through open rehearsals with guest performers HYPERCUBE and Ensemble Dal Niente, and seminars with distinguished guest faculty composers Han Lash and Ted Hearne, as well as resident faculty composers Martha Horst, Roy Magnuson, Carl Schimmel, and Alex Stephenson. Invited participants will each compose a 5 to 10-minute piece for one of the guest ensembles. Each composition will be carefully rehearsed during the festival and will be premiered at a formal concert. Each composer will receive a recording of his or her piece. Participants will discuss their compositional ideas, techniques, and aesthetics with the faculty and other fellows. In addition, each student composer will have the opportunity to meet with the faculty composers individually or as part of group lessons or masterclasses. Each day of the festival culminates in an evening concert featuring contemporary music performed by the guest ensembles or members of the School of Music faculty.

Dining and Housing

Dinners will be organized and paid for by the RED NOTE New Music Festival. Workshop participants will be responsible for their other meals, and for their own lodging. Normal, Illinois is a university town with many dining options within walking distance. RED NOTE will assist workshop participants in finding appropriate lodging; options range from staying with one of our student composers at no extra cost, to a room at the Marriott hotel for a discounted rate (within a short walking distance from campus). We will facilitate room shares and transportation to reduce lodging costs.

Tuition

$350 (due by October 31, 2023)

Refund Policy

We do not offer refunds for our workshop. All fees are non-refundable.

Eligibility

Applicants must be enrolled as graduate or undergraduate students in spring 2024.

How to Apply

    • Submit an ANONYMOUS PDF AND audio file (mp3 or MIDI) of your best work for chamber ensemble.
    • The submitted PDF and audio files must be free of names and identifying marks.
    • No application fee is required. However, please note that if you would like to submit your work in the Composition Competition you must submit it again separately via the Composition Competition link on the RED NOTE homepage.
    • SUBMISSION DEADLINE: October 10, 2023. 
    • 6-8 selected applicants will be notified by email by October 15, 2023.
    • The selected applicants must each compose a new work for HYPERCUBE or Ensemble Dal Niente (oboe, viola, harp).
    • Score and parts to the new composition must be received by Festival Co-Director Alex Stephenson no later than February 5, 2024. Alternatively, if the composition submitted with your application has not received a previous performance and is scored for a subset of the available instrumentation, you may request that this piece be rehearsed and premiered in lieu of a new composition.

Please contact Alex Stephenson with any questions.

Past Participants

  • 2023

Featured Composers

Featured Ensemble

Workshop Participants

  • Devin Cholodenko

  • Dayton Hare
  • Huijuan Ling
  • Wenbin Lyu
  • Kian Ravaei
  • Ethan Soledad
  • Siqi Wang
  • Yanchen Ye
  • 2022
  • 2021
  • 2020

Featured Composer

Featured Ensemble

Workshop Participants

  • 2019

Featured Composer

Featured Ensemble

Workshop Participants

  • 2018

Featured Composer

William Bolcom

Featured Ensemble

Ensemble Dal Niente

Workshop Participants

  • 2017

Featured Composer

Sydney Hodkinson

Featured Ensemble

Workshop Participants

  • 2016

Featured Composer

Stephen Hartke

Featured Ensemble

ENSEMBLE MISE-EN

Workshop Participants

  • 2015

Featured Composer

Steven Stucky

Featured Ensemble

Workshop Participants

  • 2014

Featured Composer

Lee Hyla

Featured Ensemble

Ensemble Dal Niente

Workshop Participants