California Symphony Now Accepting Applications For Young American Composer-in-Residence Program 2020-2023

California Symphony and Music Director Donato Cabrera are now accepting composer applications for the orchestra's highly respected and competitive Young American Composer-in-Residence program, for the period from August 1, 2020 through July 31, 2023. Described by the Mercury News as "a model for residency programs across the country," the Young American Composer-In-Residence program was launched in 1991 and gives outstanding, emerging, young American composers a unique opportunity to write orchestral music while working with a professional orchestra and conductor over a three-year period.

The Young American Composer-in-Residence program, which has produced over 35 new symphonic works, features key differences compared with all other programs of its type. The selection process includes two initial blind review rounds, meaning that works submitted by applicants are considered anonymously, designed to reduce or eliminate unconscious bias. Composers from underrepresented backgrounds are encouraged to apply. The successful candidate participates in reading rehearsals and receives study recordings of their work during the composition process. Over the course of the three-year residency, the composer, conductor, and orchestra become partners in the creation of the work and share their experience and insights as the compositions develop.

"We hope that we can provide a platform of dreaming, without restriction, for the composer, in terms of what to write next," California Symphony Music Director Donato Cabrera explains.

"The California Symphony has one of the most outstanding composer-in-residence programs in the country. They have this orchestra-as-laboratory idea, and they let the composer work in ways that almost never happen anywhere else," says 2007-2010 Young American Composer-in-Residence Mason Bates.

According to Katherine Balch, current Young American Composer-in-Residence, "So often when you work with an orchestra as a composer, it's just one or two rehearsals, then the show, and you're done interacting with that organization. But what the California Symphony does, is it gives a chance to a young artist to invest in and be invested in by a community." She adds, "It's wonderful, not only because I know I get to write three pieces for this incredible ensemble, but also because I have time to establish an actual human connection with the people in it."

The Young American Composer-in-Residence receives a commission fee of $10,000 for each work; three world premiere performances (one for each new work) in Walnut Creek in the spring of 2021, 2022 and 2023, and a recorded rehearsal reading of each piece before it premieres. The orchestra also provides accommodations and airfare for two residency weeks each year for on-site reading rehearsal and premiere weeks.

Working and talking with Music Director Donato Cabrera and the California Symphony musicians, the Symphony's Board of Directors and staff, gives the composer an opportunity to develop their music in a collaborative and creative atmosphere that offers professional growth opportunities. The selected composer will also visit local schools to inspire young people about the art of composing; participate in pre-concert talks, receptions and events, and will be involved in the search for the residency's next young composer.

Since the residency was established in 1991, nine talented composers have participated in the program: Kamran Ince (1991-1992), Rome Prize winner; Christopher Theofanidis (1994-96), Rome Prize winner; Kevin Puts (1996-99), winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Music and the Rome Prize; Pierre Jalbert (1999-2002), Rome Prize winner; Kevin Beavers (2002-05); Mason Bates (2007-10), Grammy award winner for Best Opera 2019; D. J. Sparr (2011-14), and Dan Visconti (2014-2017), Rome Prize and Berlin Prize winner. Katherine Balch's current residence ends in 2020. Past selection panel participants for the program include composers John Adams, Nathaniel Stookey, and Mason Bates.

Called "breathtakingly beautiful" (San Francisco Chronicle) and "a shimmering sonic blanket quilted from microswaths of richly colored acoustic fabrics," (Oregon ArtsWatch) the music of current resident composer Katherine Balch seeks to create intimate sonic environments driven by attention to detail and playful investigation of sounds. Two of Balch's three commissioned works, like a broken clock (2018) and Artifacts (2019), have been premiered by Cabrera and the California Symphony, and a third, Illuminations (2020), for three voices and orchestra, will premiere in March 2020. Her work has been performed by such ensembles as the Tokyo, Minnesota, Albany, and Oregon Symphony Orchestras, l'Orchestra Philharmonique de Radio France, Argus, JACK, and Aizuri string quartets, and Ensemble Intercontemporain. Recent recognitions include awards from ASCAP, BMI, the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and Chamber Music USA. She pursues her D.M.A. at Columbia University and is managed by Young Concert Artists Inc, where she was the 2017-2019 composer-in-residence. Her chamber works are published by Schott PSNY.

To apply for the residency, please visit californiasymphony.org/composerapplication. Applicants will need to submit a resume, composition list, and award recognition list; three professional references; at least three scores from within the last three years that represent a cross section of work, plus audio recordings of up to three original compositions; proof of U.S. citizenship, and a $75 non-refundable application fee. The application deadline is October 31, 2019. A selection will be made on or before February 1, 2020.

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