<p>Hi everyone! I am currently a sophomore and looking at summer composition programs for summer 2015. Schools I am currently looking at (for college) are Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Lawrence, St. Olaf, Oberlin, and Cincinnati, but the camps definitely don't have to be limited to those schools :) I would like something shorter (preferably not a month or longer) and slightly less expensive. I would also like to stay relatively close to the midwest. I would consider east coast, but probably not west coast. So if anyone could suggest good programs that you've been to or heard about, that would be great. Thank you!</p>
<p>Here are some older threads to get you started. How advanced a composer are you at this point? If very advanced, I’d say the top program is Yellow Barn. </p>
<p><a href=“Reflections on summer programs for music composition - Music Major - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/1387802-reflections-on-summer-programs-for-music-composition.html</a>
<a href=“Camp for Future Composition Major - Music Major - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/1411055-camp-for-future-composition-major.html</a>
<a href=“Summer composition programs after sophomore yr in hs? - Music Major - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/1301970-summer-composition-programs-after-sophomore-yr-in-hs.html</a>
<a href=“Summer programs for composition? - Music Major - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/371572-summer-programs-for-composition.html</a>
<a href=“Summer Composition Programs--Non-Competitive? - Music Major - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/411038-summer-composition-programs-non-competitive.html</a></p>
<p>If you were willing to consider a longer program, I’ve heard nothing but good things about Walden. Check out BUTI, Oberlin’s summer workshops and CIM’s in the midwest. There are more and more composition workshops being offered for high school aged students. For instance here’s one at UMKC: <a href=“UMKC Composition Workshop | June 5-10, 2022”>http://info.umkc.edu/cmda-comp/</a> and at Mizzou (which has a very vibrant new music program): Missouri Summer Composition Institute (C.O.M.P. Camp) <a href=“http://music.missouri.edu/camps/”>http://music.missouri.edu/camps/</a></p>
<p>I googled your schools for summer programs in composition. Oberlin’s summer program is “sonic arts”, geared to electronic and computer music. Lawrence doesn’t appear to have a summer program for composition. Indiana has summer academies but not for composition. Michigan has summer institutes but not for composition. Cincinnati has film scoring and recording/sound production. Cleveland Institute has a composition summer program: <a href=“Young Composers Program”>http://www.cim.edu/preparatory/summer/youngcomposers</a>. St. Olaf has a music camp but it appears to be for instrumentalists. Illinois Summer Youth Music has composition in one session: <a href=“http://isym.music.illinois.edu/programs/senior-high/index.php”>404 - School of Music; U. of Illinois has a camp for composition/electronic music <a href=“Page Not Found, Illinois Undergraduate Admissions”>http://www.admissions.illinois.edu/early/explore/faa.html</a>.</p>
<p>I second Walden, BUTI and Yellow Barn. Brevard, California Summer Music (Sonoma State) and New York Summer Music Festival also come to mind. Boston Conservatory also has a program for high school composers.</p>
<p>Here is a list of summer programs provided by the Cleveland Youth Orchestra. It is pretty complete. Scroll down a bit from the top. <a href=“http://www.clevelandorchestrayouthorchestra.com/summer-music-camps.html”>http://www.clevelandorchestrayouthorchestra.com/summer-music-camps.html</a> This may be your best resource.</p>
<p>There are also programs in Europe but you may want to wait for those :)</p>
<p>One thing to think about. Do you want a “camp” where you compose short pieces or exercises while there? A program where you bring an already completed score to be rehearsed and played? (This can be good for future portfolio purposes). Walden is 6 weeks and you compose and refine a piece that is then played at the festival forum by world class musicians. Also, check out who plays your pieces: other students, or hired professionals? If you want an introductory sort of program that will be very different than what you might want if you have had a lot of experience and are thinking about portfolio for conservatory applications.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>I glanced through the Cleveland Orchestra list, and while it’s really inclusive, I noticed it’s still missing programs. For instance, The Atlantic Music Festival, which is a really good festival for composition - although I don’t know if they admit high school age participants: <a href=“Atlantic Music Festival | Composition Program - Summer Intensive for Composers”>https://www.atlanticmusicfestival.org/the-institute/programs/composition-program</a></p>
<p>I don’t think of certain festivals as being for high schoolers, though there is no stated age limit: Atlantic is one, Bowdoin is another, for example… more for “emerging and established” composers…Bowdoin is on the list though. Atlantic is only 4 years old so maybe the list has been around for a bit. I think it is a pretty good collection of programs and it does come out of Cleveland. I don’t know that much about opportunities in the Midwest! Hope it helps some.</p>
<p>Have any of you heard anything (good bad or otherwise) about the Illinois Wesleyan program?</p>
<p>One of my son’s best friends: co-founder with him of a New Music ensemble now based in NYC, a composer and sought after conductor for new music in NYC - is one of the alumni quoted on the website for Illinois Wesleyan which I would say is a ringing endorsement. My guess is the Illinois Wesleyan camp is a great early experience. I have no idea how advanced it is, or what level the participants are at - so a lot of it depends on what you’re looking for in a summer experience. Do you want a fertile place to explore and create; are you looking to network and make connections for applying to college (i.e. wanting to connect with possible college professors, or for letters of recommendation); do you want to come home with recordings for your portfolio; do you want to discover if majoring in music composition is something you’ll truly enjoy; do you want to be surrounded by other student composers at your own level, or perhaps more experienced; do you want to hear lots of music being performed by other participants or resident ensembles? Lots of questions to ask yourself - and the answers will help you find the best program.</p>
<p>The Illinois Wesleyan Program was discussed in a recent thread, if you want to do a search. For others, here is the link to the program site: <a href=“Summer Music Composition Institute/Camp | Illinois Wesleyan”>https://www.iwu.edu/music/k12/summermusiccompositioninstitute.html</a></p>
<p>Laura, the only prerequisite is an ability to read notation. You can get a piece played, meet other students and new teachers, and discuss college. My main question is whether you bring a piece with you or write a piece while there: I cannot really understand the value of a one week program unless the music is written beforehand, but then again, this program aims to teach students to compose, so that would seem to imply the music is written while there-?.</p>
<p>One of the more underrated programs is Eastman Music Horizons, which I attended last summer. I’m not terribly familiar with most of the music camps, but I think the program really helped me quite a bit. I made friends with a lot of instrumentalists, and was even challenged to write a piece for one of them in a day, which later blossomed into one of my portfolio pieces. Overall I’d say that even though it’s not discussed much it’s definitely worth a look. I can’t speak to its selectivity, although I can say that when I applied I was a much worse composer than I am now, and I still got in. I give it two thumbs up!</p>
<p>My son attending the MPulse program at UofMich one summer in their MPAT program. It was a great chance to learn more about programs and equipment used to create and record music and while not strictly a composition program, it did involve a fair amount of composing both as an individual and in a group. One of the teachers was a student in their doctoral comp program. It was a great chance to experience the school (and utilize their amazing facilities) and would be suitable for young composers looking to gain more experience, especially in electronic music.</p>
<p>Last summer, he attended the high school composition intensive at Boston Conservatory, and it was an amazing experience. Defiantly more advanced, they work at a fast and furious pace. In two weeks, they wrote and workshopped 4 pieces which were all performed and recorded by professional ensembles. The recordings were excellent and gave him a wonderful base for his portfolio for college apps, a perfect program for a rising senior. There were only 6 or 7 students, so they got a lot of one on one time with the faculty.</p>
<p>But how can you write 4 worthwhile pieces in two weeks? I would really like to know how such a program works.</p>
<p>The first piece was a short piano solo. Since my son is a pianist, he has many piano pieces already prepared, but I think his result was started fresh there. They wrote it the first day, got feedback, edited, briefly went over it with a phenomenal professional pianist, who performed and recorded it the second day. The next two pieces, they were given a theme to work with and specific instruments. For instance, I think one was marimba and clarinet. They went to an art museum and saw kinetic sculptures and wrote a piece inspired by that. They work shopped them with the professionals, one was recorded the first week, the next one the middle of the second week. The final one was a string quartet (maybe quintet?) recorded at the final performance. None of the pieces were very long, I think his ranged from 2-7 minutes, but that fit the guidelines perfectly for what schools asked him to submit. He also has a couple longer, more in depth choral and orchestral pieces he included with them in his portfolio. It is definitely a program for advanced high school composers who can notate quickly and accurately (it is not the time to learn how to use notation software) and who go into it with some solid ideas they can flesh out during the program amd are willing to work within the assigned parameters. When he got there and heard the schedule, he felt a little overwhelmed, and he slept very little during the two weeks, but the results are honestly better than I ever could have imagined they would be in such a short time. It was also very cool to hear how 6 students wrote pieces for the same instruments with the same basic theme, and ended up with 6 completely unique pieces. The professional musicians they brought in were all outstanding and it was a great experience to be able to work hand in hand with them.</p>
<p>I guess I should rephrase. I understand how students can write a number of pieces in that time, but a process that quick is not something I would want for young composers. I think, at that age, if they are ready for a college or conservatory program, they should be spending much longer on their works. </p>
<p>I imagine that composing that much, that fast could be liberating - like the visual art programs that have a 24 hour creation marathon. Whether or not one would end up with something portfolio worthy might not be the point - but there would certainly be no time for second thoughts and the student might end up somewhere creatively that they wouldn’t have been at the beginning of the journey.</p>
<p>That’s true. Fluency is important. But for a senior, not sure it would be the best way to go.</p>
<p>Does Yellow Barn have a composition program? I looked through its website and thought I saw a chamber music program only. My son got into BUTI last year (piano) though we didn’t let him go as we felt that he was too young to stay away from home. This year he will apply to BUTI again (undecided between piano and composition). </p>
<p>Yellow Barn’s Young Artist Program is the top program for composers 13-20. It is a very small and selective program. <a href=“Young Artists Program | YellowBarn”>http://www.yellowbarn.org/applicants/young-artists-program</a></p>
<p>Thanks SpiritManager. I will look into it. Still unsure how the composition track works but perhaps the administration there will be able to answer that.</p>
<p>It’s a short camp. The students write pieces which are performed by the performance students and recorded. There is a lot of freedom, but it;'s intense, and very strong friendships are formed. I’ve heard nothing but great things about it - but, as I mentioned, it’s very selective.</p>
<p>I completely understand the selectivity but what would be the point of applying to attend if it wasn’t? :-)</p>