Composition Institute
One-week summer program
The MPulse Composition Institute is an all-encompassing program for high school composers. Participants will engage in approximately 35 sessions during this one-week program focusing on the creative process, contemporary concert music, instrumentation and orchestration, and much more. Classes will be led by University of Michigan Composition Faculty, SMTD applied faculty, and professional musicians.
Dates: TBD
Tuition (Including Room & Board): $1,830
Application Status: Opening October 2024
Non-Refundable Application Fee: $75
Priority Application Deadline: February 1, 2025*
Priority Admissions Notification: March 1, 2025
Email [email protected] if a waiver code is needed for the $75 application fee due to financial need.
*Applications will remain open until all spots are filled in the program. Please check the application status above to see if we are still accepting applications on a rolling basis. Rolling basis applications will be reviewed on a monthly basis following the priority application.
Faculty
Dr. Roshanne Etezady – Faculty Director
Assistant Professor of Composition, University of Michigan
The music of Roshanne Etezady (she/her) music has been described in Fanfare magazine as “fresh, effusive, and immediately likable,” and she has been hailed by the Detroit Free Press as “a promising and confident composer.” Her music combines lyricism with rhythmic intensity and engages performers and audiences alike.
Etezady’s works have been commissioned by the Detroit Symphony, Albany Symphony, eighth blackbird, Music at the Anthology, and the PRISM Saxophone Quartet. She has been a fellow at the Aspen Music Festival, the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival and at the Atlantic Center for the Arts. Performers and ensembles including New Music Detroit, the American Composers’ Orchestra, Rêlache, Ensemble De Ereprijs, and the Dogs of Desire have performed Etezady’s music throughout the world. Her music has earned recognition from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Korean Society of 21st Century Music, the Jacob K. Javits Foundation, Meet the Composer, and ASCAP. Her music appears on the Naxos, innova, Cedille, Blue Griffin, Equilibrium, Summit, and Albany labels.
An enthusiastic educator, Etezady has taught at Northwestern University, University of Arizona, the Crane School of Music, and Interlochen Arts Camp.
Griffin Candey – Faculty
Assistant Professor of Composition, Tennessee Tech University
Griffin Candey (he/him) is an American opera, song, and concert music composer whose work performers praise for its “prosody that showcases both the words and the singers,” its “intuitive rhythm,” and its “lyricism and emotional depth.” Candey’s energies are squarely aimed at the operatic stage and its changing place in the world of theater. His first opera, Sweets by Kate — described as “a piece with charming and elaborate complexity,” and “a meaningful and beautiful work of art” — was chosen for Fort Worth Opera’s 2017 Frontiers Festival and listed by Operawire as One of the Ten Must-See Operas of Summer 2017. Candey’s songs and chamber music have been premiered at Tanglewood, Source Song Festival, the Oh My Ears Festival, the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, the New Music for a New Year Festival, and more.
Program Sample Schedule
The MPulse Composition program is brand new to MPulse in 2025! View a 2024 sample program schedule. While schedules vary year-to-year, this will provide insight into the programming provided.
Audition Requirements
Applicants should submit two to four compositions that demonstrate their technical abilities and musical interests. Please submit mp3 recordings (live performances or digital realizations) and PDF scores of your compositions.
A résumé in PDF format that includes the following:
- Any instruments in which you are proficient,
- Number of years of instrumental study
- A list of compositions written and performed
- If applicable, a description of any previous formal training in composition. Previous instruction in composition is not required.
MPulse Scholarships
Merit Awards
A limited number of scholarships are available for extremely talented students based on Faculty discretion. Consideration for these scholarships is automatic for applications received by the priority application deadline.
Need-Based Awards
A limited number of need-based scholarships are available to families with an Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) of $120,000 or under in the previous calendar year, or with special circumstances due to the pandemic. To be considered you must upload your financial aid materials by the application deadline as part of your application. This includes:
- Monthly Expenses
- Previous Year’s Tax Return
- Statement of Need
Watson Scholarship (For Michigan Residents Only)
In the spirit of the life of a graduate of the University of Michigan Medical School (1942) and Michigan physician, the Watson A. Young Scholarship promotes academic excellence and college aspiration among students with financial need. These need-based scholarships support middle and high school students’ participation in summer opportunities at U-M that seek to develop students’ interests and abilities in academic disciplines and expose students to the experiences and possibilities provided by higher education.
- Information about the Watson Scholarship can be found at: ceo.umich.edu/youthhub
- The Watson Scholarship Application opens in February.
Resources
- Application Resources: Coming Soon!
- MPulse Policies: Refund Policy
Questions?
MPulse Summer Performing Arts Institutes
Office of Engagement & Outreach-Youth & Adult Programs
University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance
Stearns Building │ 2005 Baits Drive │ Ann Arbor, MI 48109
Phone: (734) 936-2660
Email: [email protected]