Composer Institute
Osmo Vänskä and the Minnesota Orchestra rehearse with composer Gregg Wramage.
MPR/The Current host Steve Seel discusses the music with composer Missy Mazzoli at the first-ever Future Classics! Concert.
Nine participants, Osmo Vänskä and Aaron Kernis answer audience questions after the December 1, 2006 Future Classics! concert.
About the Composer Institute
The Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute, presented each season by the Minnesota Orchestra and American Composers Forum in cooperation with the American Music Center, provides the opportunity for up to nine composers from across the nation to participate in an intensive immersion into the world of a major American symphony orchestra.
The Composer Institute, which is unique in the nation, features orchestral rehearsals, a public performance, and numerous targeted workshops with leading music industry professionals on musical, career, business and professional development issues. The Institute nurtures the participants’ musical acumen and broadens their career management skills, assisting in their growth as artists and community leaders. Many participants have said that the Composer Institute was the single most important experience of their musical educations. Seminar topics include many not offered elsewhere, including advanced instrumental and orchestral writing, copyrights, commissioning, licensing, publishing, promotion, music preparation, public speaking, working with conductors and union orchestras, community residencies, CD and media production, and working in educational settings, among others.
The Institute is directed by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Aaron Jay Kernis. Prior to and following the rehearsals and performance, composers receive feedback from Kernis, Minnesota Orchestra members, and Music Director Osmo Vänskä. There is no fee to the participating composers and many area composers who are members of the American Composers Forum audit the seminars free of charge.
New Video about the Program
Below is a short 7-minute video about the Composer Institute, shot during the 2007-08 program, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the many elements of the program and featuring musical excerpts and interviews with participants. Film project made possible by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
