(NEWARK, NJ) -- The New Jersey Symphony is accepting applications for the ninth annual Edward T. Cone Composition Institute. This multifaceted, tuition-free program offers four emerging composers the opportunity to have their music rehearsed and performed by the New Jersey Symphony and participate in sessions with industry leaders. The application deadline is Friday, February 24, 2023.
The Institute will take place July 9–15 in Princeton, NJ, culminating in a New Jersey Symphony public performance of the participants’ works on Saturday, July 15 at 8:00pm.
Celebrated composer Steven Mackey, a music professor and director of graduate studies in composition at Princeton University, is the Institute Director. World-renowned Case Scaglione, the Chief Conductor of the Württembergisches Kammerorchester Heilbronn in Germany and Music Director of Orchestre national d’Île de France, joins as the Institute’s guest conductor. Previously, Scaglione served as Associate Conductor of the New York Philharmonic and Music Director of the Young Musicians Foundation Debut Orchestra of Los Angeles.
Institute composers will hear their works in rehearsal and performance, participate in coaching sessions with Mackey and Scaglione, and receive musical feedback from New Jersey Symphony musicians. Career-development opportunities with industry leaders will provide the composers with insights into getting their music funded, published and performed.
The Institute is open to university composition students and composers in the early stages of their professional careers. The application form, program details and eligibility requirements are available at njsymphony.org/institute
“The Cone Institute is unique,” Mackey says. “I think what separates the Cone Institute from many of its peer opportunities is its holistic vision of the composer and how we can help composers build their reputation as orchestral composers. In addition to the discussions of compositional technique and esthetics there are sessions with industry leaders, publishers and radio stations that will also be important for a composer’s career development.”
Designed to promote contemporary orchestral music by enhancing the careers of emerging composers, the New Jersey Symphony Edward T. Cone Composition Institute grew out of biennial reading sessions the Symphony has held with Princeton University graduate students. The Institute celebrates its namesake Edward T. Cone’s legacy as both a composer and a Princeton University professor.
Composers will receive housing and meals in Princeton and the New Jersey Symphony will reimburse participants up to $250 towards travel costs.
The Symphony presents the institute in collaboration with Princeton University Department of Music.
For more information, contact Alexandra Kapilian, New Jersey Symphony Artistic Coordinator, at [email protected]
The New Jersey Symphony celebrates the cultural vibrancy of our communities and builds meaningful relationships that elevate and strengthen them. We are committed to diversity and equal opportunity in our recruitment of composers. Qualified candidates of all backgrounds are welcome and encouraged to apply for the New Jersey Symphony Edward T. Cone Composition Institute.
Major underwriting support for the New Jersey Symphony Edward T. Cone Composition Institute is generously provided by the Edward T. Cone Foundation and Princeton University.
The Emmy and Grammy Award-winning New Jersey Symphony, celebrating its Centennial Season in 2022–23, is redefining what it means to be a nationally leading, relevant orchestra in the 21st century. We are renewing our deeply rooted commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion by championing new, and often local, artists; engaging audiences for whom the inspiring depth and breadth of classical music will be new; and incorporating the broadest possible representation in all aspects of our organization—all to better reflect and serve our vibrant communities. Since 2021, Music Director Xian Zhang has worked together with composer, violinist, educator and social-justice advocate Daniel Bernard Roumain, the orchestra’s resident artistic catalyst, to offer programming that connects with diverse communities in Newark and throughout New Jersey.
Internationally renowned Chinese-American conductor Xian Zhang began her tenure as the New Jersey Symphony’s current Music Director in 2016. Since her arrival at the New Jersey Symphony, Zhang has revitalized programming with an industry-leading commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in mainstage concerts. The centennial season opened in October with concerts featuring Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto with soloist Yefim Bronfman; Jessie Montgomery’s Banner; Nimbus Dance performing original choreography to Copland’s Appalachian Spring Suite; Strauss’ Burleske for Piano and Orchestra with soloist Michelle Cann; Brahms’ Fourth Symphony; and Dorothy Chang’s Northern Star. The centennial season will conclude in June 2023 with Zhang leading the orchestra and violinist Joshua Bell in Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1, Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring and a commissioned world premiere by Daniel Bernard Roumain.
