June 22 - August 5, 2012

The composition program offers special opportunities for a select group of young composers. Enrollment is limited.

Brevard's composition faculty provides instruction through weekly private lessons and a daily seminar.

While in residence, students produce new works which are performed in a series of public concerts. Students collaborate closely with Brevard's new music ensemble, itch, comprised of instrumentalists in the College Division who have demonstrated ability and interest in the performance of new music.

The annual "New Songs" program has proved popular. All student composers set the same text, and singers from Brevard's opera company perform the new songs on a public concert.

During the last week of the season, the Transylvania Symphony Orchestra devotes a session to reading and recording new student works.

Composition students spend most of their time in the composition lab, a pair of adjoining rooms housing MIDI keyboards, printers, and audio equipment. Students bring their own computers, so may use whatever notation software they elect.

In 2011 Brevard's composers in residence were Robert Aldridge and David Dzubay. In previous seasons the Brevard Music Center Orchestra has performed world premieres of works by both composers. Composers in residence for 2012 will be announced soon.

Each year composition students perform as members of the BMC Chorus. Past seasons have included performances of Mahler's Symphony No. 3, Orff's Carmina Burana, Holst's The Planets, and a concert of Bach cantatas.

Students in the High School division will encounter older students at concerts, in studio and master classes, and in the cafeteria. High school students have their own residences, their own campus life system, and their own social activities.