Composer workshops & professional development
The Albany Symphony is committed not only to showcasing the work of living American composers, but to providing opportunities for composers to receive mentorship, training, and professional development from established field leaders.
“Orchestrating for the 21st Century”
Composer Workshop & reading session
with Christopher Theofanidis
June 4-9, 2024
APPLICATIONs DUE by march 8, 2024
An intensive six-day workshop held during the Albany Symphony's 2024 American Music Festival, “Orchestrating for the 21st Century” is focused on how to write for the modern orchestra. Curated and led by Grammy-winning composer Christopher Theofanidis, the workshop will take place in the context of over 7 concerts of new American works during the Festival week. It will focus on helping emerging composers move beyond instrumentation to refine techniques of distinctive orchestration. Participants will become fully immersed in the Festival’s new music activities and events, interacting closely with resident composers, as well as with Albany Symphony musicians, visiting performers, and Albany Symphony Music Director, David Alan Miller.
Each day will include one major session of score study and orchestration, and observation of rehearsals and concerts. Over the course of the workshop, participants will also receive lessons in masterclass format with Christopher Theofanidis: each participant will have the opportunity to present to the full group and receive feedback. Score study of works by John Adams, Thomas Ades, Jacob Druckman, Henri Dutilleux, Helmut Lachenmann, Andrew Norman, Tristan Murail, and others will complement a series of discussions centered around the use of technology in the orchestra, rehearsal protocol and strategies, and where to look for opportunities to write for orchestra. The sessions will also feature special guest talks with resident Festival composers and artists. In addition, participants will meet with the Symphony’s Executive Director, Music Director, and music librarian, experts in music publishing, and new media specialists to learn more about trends and challenges for composers in the orchestral field.
All accepted composers will have the opportunity to write a new work for a conducted ensemble of Albany Symphony musicians, to be read in a public workshop during the 2024 American Music Festival. The First Draughts Reading session is an AMF concert event on June 8, 2024. Submissions for the reading sessions are due April 8, 2024. Please be sure to indicate your intention to submit by March 15, 2024.
Twelve composers will be selected by Christopher Theofanidis and David Alan Miller based on work samples and professor recommendations. The program is open to graduate composition students, advanced undergraduate students, and recent graduates.
Eligibility & Fees
Applicant must be either a US citizen or non-citizen lawfully residing, or studying full-time, in the United States. Proof of citizenship or residency status may be requested at any time.
There are no age restrictions; however, applicants should be current graduate composition students, advanced undergraduate composition students, or recent graduates at the early stages of their careers.
Winning composers will be expected to join the orchestra for a series of professional development sessions during the orchestra’s American Music Festival from June 2 through 9, 2024.
The $600 workshop fee includes sessions, lessons, two group meals, and the option to participate in a public reading session of a new work. Travel expenses and additional meals are not included.
Required Application Materials
A current resume including educational background, major teachers, awards, and professional affiliations.
A list of works, including title, year composed, instrumentation, duration, and performance history.
Two 4 to 5 minute audio excerpts with score PDFs. (MIDI or live ensemble are both acceptable.)
Three professional references with contact information. References should be established composers or other music professionals who have worked closely with the applicant.
Optional Application Materials
Cover letter describing how the workshop would provide professional and personal benefits.
Program notes for any submitted works.
Letters of recommendation from listed references attesting to the applicant’s accomplishments and potential as an orchestral composer.
Applications due by march 8, 2024
Submission Guidelines
Application materials must be submitted electronically as PDFs to Adrian Rogers, Workshop Coordinator, at opscoordinator@albanysymphony.com.
About Christopher Theofanidis
Christopher Theofanidis has had performances by many leading orchestras from around the world, including the London Symphony, the New York Philharmonic, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony, the Moscow Soloists, the National, Baltimore, St. Louis, and Detroit Symphonies, among many others. He has also served as Composer of the Year for the Pittsburgh Symphony during their 2006-7 season, for which he wrote a violin concerto for Sarah Chang.
Mr. Theofanidis holds degrees from Yale, the Eastman School of Music, and the University of Houston, and has been the recipient of the International Masterprize, the Rome Prize, a Guggenheim fellowship, a Fulbright fellowship to France to study with Tristan Mural at IRCAM, a Tanglewood fellowship, and two fellowships from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In 2007 he was nominated for a Grammy award for best composition for his chorus and orchestra work, The Here and Now, based on the poetry of Rumi, and in 2017 for his bassoon concerto. His orchestral work, Rainbow Body, has been one of the most performed new orchestral works of the new millennium, having been performed by over 150 orchestras internationally.
Mr. Theofanidis’ has written a ballet for the American Ballet Theatre, a work for the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra as part of their ‘New Brandenburg’ series, and two operas for the San Francisco and Houston Grand Opera companies. Thomas Hampson sang the lead role in the San Francisco opera. His work for Houston, The Refuge, featurs six sets of international non-Western musicians alongside the opera musicians. He has a long-standing relationship with the Atlanta Symphony and Maestro Robert Spano, and has just four recordings with them, including his concert length oratorio, Creation/Creator, which was featured at the SHIFT festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. this year with the ASO, chorus, and soloists. His work, Dreamtime Ancestors, for the orchestral consortium, New Music for America, has been played by over fifty orchestras over the past two seasons. He has served as a delegate to the US-Japan Foundation’s Leadership Program, and he is a former faculty member of the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University as well as the Juilliard School. Mr. Theofanidis is currently a professor at Yale University, and composer-in-residence and co-director of the composition program at the Aspen Music Festival.