SongFest-Sorel Composer Mentorship Program
June 7-15, 2023
Check-in is June 7 from 2-4 p.m. Departure is June 16 before 11 a.m.
Martha Guth, Artistic Administrator, Composer Mentorship Program
Libby Larsen and Lydia Brown, Artistic Advisors
Information: martha.songfest@gmail.com, songfestus@gmail.com
Program Description
The 2023 SongFest-Sorel Composer Mentorship program is a focused 9-day program of study for 6 early career composers of any age. The program is nestled into the greater SongFest program for voice and piano participants. Composers will be chosen through an application process, and they will work with our celebrated senior composition faculty in an intensive and open environment. As ‘Sorel Composition Fellows’ all 6 composers will receive full tuition, and three (3) of our composition fellows will be selected to receive full fellowships which include tuition, housing, and meals. Classes will comprise of masterclasses, workshops, individual lessons, lectures, discussions on poetry and text setting, and opportunities to engage with other SongFest faculty and participants. Performances will take place on one of two recitals dedicated to new American music alongside the works of our composition faculty, and our 2023 Sorel composer, Cecilia Livingston. For 2023, our composition faculty are John Harbison, Jake Heggie, Libby Larsen, and John Musto. Opportunities to work and interact with all senior composition faculty will be available, and each accepted composer will be paired with at least one faculty composer for private lessons. SongFest performance faculty will coach the brand new works that the fellows have written for premiere performances during the program. Selected performance faculty include Lydia Brown, Lucy Fitz Gibbon, and Martha Guth. The composer mentorship program is directed by Martha Guth, with artistic advisors Libby Larsen and Lydia Brown.
Cecilia Livingston
2023 Sorel Composer
Senior Composition faculty include John Harbison, Jake Heggie, Libby Larsen, and John Musto with poet Tsitsi Ella Jaji. SongFest singer/piano duo will workshop and premiere the new works alongside the composers, coaching with faculty pianist Lydia Brown and singers Lucy Fitz Gibbon and Katherine Jolly.
VENUE
We are excited that in 2023 SongFest will have a new home on the beautiful campus of Vanderbilt University Blair School of Music. The selected composers will be able to use their incredible state-of-the-art music facilities, including the stunning concert and recital halls.
TIMELINE
The Application deadline is Monday, February 27, 2023, and the registration fee is $40. Students will be notified Friday, March 17, 2023, and composers will need to accept by Friday, March 24, 2023. Between March 24-May 1, 2023, our selected composers will compose first drafts of approximately 4-8 minutes of music which will be assigned and learned by our performance duos. Those drafts will be taken with them to SongFest where they will be revised, edited, and workshopped. These pieces must be in draft form by May 1 to send to the student duos. Each emerging composer will be represented in a public concert.
IMPORTANT DATES
• Application due: February 27, 2023
• Notification of acceptance: March 17, 2023
• Composer accepts: March 24, 2023
• Compose drafts: March 24- May 1, 2023
SONGFEST SINGER/PIANIST DUOS
A full fellowship will be awarded to a singer/pianist duo who has a strong interest and level of achievement in the area of new music. The duo will not only take part in the Composer Mentorship Program but all the SongFest classes, events, and concerts June 2-23, 2023. To apply: both parties must complete the application on:
For further questions, please email: Lydia Brown at lbrown@juilliard.edu
The Sorel Organization
This program is made possible in part by a generous grant from the Sorel Organization, whose mission is ‘to expand opportunities and stretch the boundaries for women musicians in the fields of conducting, composition, film scoring, performance, arts leadership, education, and scholarship’. In partnership with The Sorel Organization, SongFest has made a substantial contribution to the art song repertoire through its commissioning program that has produced new works for voice and piano by such distinguished composers as Juhi Bansal, William Bolcom, Dorothy Chang, Tom Cipullo, Reena Esmail, Gabriela Lena Frank, John Harbison, Jennifer Higdon, Richard Hundley, Sally Lamb, Anne Le Baron, Lori Laitman, Libby Larsen, Erica Muhl, James Primosch, Shulamit Ran, Sheila Silver, Alan Louis Smith and Anna Weesner. along with many other distinguished musicians who have become part of our SongFest family of composers. We look forward to expanding this list with the re-invention of our 2004 composer/mentorship program, which will help to both cultivate and promote the talent of six emerging composers.
Salli Oak and Reena Esmail, Sorel Composer.
Joan Morris, Laura Karpman and William Bolcom.
Michael Leach, Libby Larsen and Julia Johnson.
Application for the SongFest-Sorel Composer Mentorship
Three emerging composers will receive full fellowships to attend (tuition/housing/meals).
Three emerging composers will receive full tuition to attend. Housing/Meals/linens for 9 nights.
A total of $1035 will be the responsibility of the three emerging composers on tuition scholarships, due in full by April 1, 2023.
Recommendations
Please provide the names and contact information (email preferred) of three people who can best speak to your work.
Email: martha.songfest@gmail.com
Material requested
One page Resume
A 250 word bio
Statement of purpose: This statement should indicate why you are interested in song composition in particular, and how you might benefit from this program. (Suggested length between 200-250 words)
Score submission: Applicants are requested to show a documented interest in art song composition and are requested to submit PDF’s of two (2) contrasting art songs scores, for voice and piano, each no longer than 5 minutes.
Audio/Video links: If available, please provide audio/video links to a live performance of your two submitted scores in a PDF document: Acceptable formats include a listed or unlisted Youtube link, or a private or public Soundcloud page link. No direct downloads. If audio or video files are not available, links to midi files will be acceptable.
Submit $40 registration fee below.
*Please note that applications are not considered complete unless the application fee is submitted.
Payment by Credit or Debit Card
To pay by credit or debit card, please use the button below.
Please fill in the Description as “SongFest-Sorel Composer Mentorship Application” and the Price per item as “$40” - Thank you.
For more information about SongFest: songfestus@gmail.com
At SongFest we believe in a world where equal opportunity is possible for all. We are committed to establishing inclusive and equitable practices that draw on varied experiences and perspectives, equipping the next generation to claim their future place in the music world. For 2023, our composer mentorship program will return, by inviting six early career composers. All genders, including members of historically underrepresented groups, are encouraged to apply.
“John Harbison’s music is the result of a thinking man and musician whose product is the sum total of everything he is. As long as there are composers like him, the younger generation has something serious and deep to follow.”
“Words make you think a thought.
Music makes you feel a feeling.
A song makes you feel a thought.
And that is the great advantage.”
“The vocal recital – is a quiet endeavor, this intimate communion between composer and poem, singer, and pianist, and all the above with the audience. And I believe there will always be a place for it. So long as there are thoughts to be felt, there will be songs.”
Don't Miss our New CD!
New American Song@SongFest
SongFest was the 2014 recipient of the Sorel Recording Grant featuring over 17 Eva & Marc Stern Fellowship alumni performing commissions and world premieres during SongFest's 20-year history. The CD is available on AMAZON.