<p>As promised (or threatened) here are my opinions on summer programs for composers.</p>
<p>First, as I mentioned before, these programs are almost a neccesity. They will teach you craft. You will meet other students with many of the same (musical) interests. You will be able to stay up late discussing your favorite composers. Can you do that where you live??? Probably not.</p>
<p>Second, you can (or should) work your way up. Start out with the less selective programs and use them as a springboard.</p>
<p>OK, so what are the various programs I know of?</p>
<p>1). CIM: short, 1 week program. Intense, but a great introduction. Many students repeat. Good starting point.</p>
<p>2). Interlochen: 6 weeks. Supposedly the food is terrible. And there are uniforms... A good starting point.</p>
<p>3). Atlantic Music Festival (Colby college): 4 weeks. Various instructors.</p>
<p>4). BUTI (Tanglewood): 6 weeks. Food is pretty bad. Dorms are in horrendous condition (and the practice rooms aren't much better; Pianos suffer with humidity...) But intense with lots of opportunities for listening to great performances.</p>
<p>5). Yellow Barn: about 2 weeks. Very intense, restricted to string and piano compositions.</p>
<p>Oberlin has a 1 week summer composition camp taught by Oberlin faculty. My son hated the food, liked the faculty, loved the freedom (it is not one of those camps where you can’t sneeze without a camp counselor present.)</p>
<p>My son only once attended a summer program - California Summer Music - but he did attend for a few years a year-round composition program in Berkeley: The John Adams Young Composers Program which also offers a summer non-residential program. He’d considered attending the summer non-residential program at the SF Conservatory. But, in the end, he wanted to spend his summers playing baseball.</p>
<p>So I don’t think it’s essential - although it would be useful indeed if your composition student does not live in an area that provides year round opportunities.</p>
<p>Many of the summer programs are actually oriented more towards graduate students, with some openings for undergraduates. So there are lots of chances to attend a summer program later on, if your student doesn’t want to go during the high school years.</p>
<p>My son attended the Eastman Music Horizons program as a composer the summer before his senior year. I’m not sure how competitive it is to get in. There were 3 composers for the session, one of whom had graduated high school and was on his way to Oberlin. The benefits were:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>He was surrounded by serious high school musicians for 3 weeks in a fairly intense environment.</p></li>
<li><p>He composed a piece while there, selected the musicians to perform it, attended rehearsals, and then had it recorded at the concert. One of the scores he submitted with his application to the program was also performed and recorded. He used these recordings as part of his college applications.</p></li>
<li><p>Numerous trips to Java’s Cafe.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>This past summer (after high school graduation) he attended ISAM (International Summer Academy of Music) in Germany. He absolutely enjoyed the entire experience at this program. He was one of the youngest participants as most were already in college and a few were in grad school. He enjoyed the whole cultural experience, the feel of the program was very collaborative, and he felt he grew a lot as a musician.</p>
<p>Son never attended a year-round program as there is nothing like that where we live. So, these programs were very helpful to him.</p>
<p>Oberlin has a one week program which as mentioned involves Oberlin composition faculty. Another reason in support of summer programs not mentioned by the op is that in case of the programs which actually involve the faculty of the school, it is a good chance for the student to know the faculty and the faculty to know the student. This helps the student get to know the school and whether it is right for them, and could help in admissions for the school since the faculty will know the student. Northwestern also has several week summer program for composition.</p>
<p>I always chime in for the Walden School in Dublin, NH.</p>
<p>One good reason for summer programs, toward the end of high school, is to get a piece played by decent musicians and therefore have a recording for a portfolio. Although one summer my daughter hired musicians for a fraction of the cost of a program!</p>
<p>I would personally recommend the composition program at California Summer Music ([California</a> Summer Music at Sonoma State University](<a href=“http://csmusic.org/]California”>http://csmusic.org/)). It’s a small but strong program that attracts a variety of composers of different backgrounds. The man who runs the program, David Tcimpidis, is an excellent and helpful teacher.</p>
<p>UCincinnati’s Accent ([Accent</a>, University of Cincinnati](<a href=“http://ccm.uc.edu/accent.html]Accent”>http://ccm.uc.edu/accent.html)) is shorter but also decent. A small chamber group is assigned to perform a work of yours and the week is dedicated to the preparation of your piece, coached by CCM faculty and the ensemble in residence (this season it was NYC’s Momenta Quartet). The composition professor is a visitor and changes every year; this year it was IU’s Claude Baker, and the year previous it was Yale’s Christopher Theofanidis.</p>
<p>I’ve also done AMF. If anyone is considering the program, I strongly ask that someone message me before they consider sending in an application.</p>
<p>My son did BUTI in high school, and it was excellent. The food really was terrible, though.</p>
<p>He went to Brevard during college, and liked it very much. They only had a couple of high schoolers in the program. He made very good connections with instrumentalists there.</p>