Applications Are Now Open For The 2025 Edward T. Cone Composition Institute

New Jersey Symphony is now accepting applications for the 11th annual  Edward T. Cone Composition Institute in partnership with American Composers  Orchestra’s EarShot program. This tuition-free Institute is an opportunity designed to  promote contemporary orchestral music by enhancing the careers of four emerging  composers. 

Winning composers will have their music performed by the New Jersey Symphony and  will participate in in-depth career development sessions with industry leaders. The  Institute will take place July 14–19 in Princeton, NJ, and culminate in a New Jersey  Symphony performance of the participants’ works on Saturday, July 19 at 8 pm. 

Composer Steven Mackey, a music professor and director of graduate studies in  composition at Princeton University, is the institute director. Christopher Rountree, a  conductor and composer who is deeply embedded in the new music scene, returns as  the Institute’s guest conductor.  

Institute composers will hear their works in rehearsal and performance, participate in  coaching sessions with Mackey and Rountree 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, composition requirements,  program details and eligibility requirements are available at njsymphony.org/institute. 

The New Jersey Symphony Edward T. Cone Composition Institute grew out of  bi-annual reading sessions the Symphony held with Princeton University graduate  students, beginning in 2000, and celebrates its namesake, Edward T. Cone for his  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. 

• Application deadline: February 16, 2025 

• 2025 Cone Institute: July 14–19, 2025 in Princeton, NJ 

For questions or more information, contact coneinstitute@njsymphony.org.