EarShot
About
Now encompassing all of the American Composers Orchestra’s composer advancement initiatives, EarShot is the first ongoing, systematic program for developing relationships between composers and orchestras on the national level. Through EarShot Readings, CoLABoratory Residencies, commissions, and professional development, EarShot ensures a vibrant musical future by investing in creativity today.
About
Now encompassing all of the American Composers Orchestra’s composer advancement initiatives, EarShot is the first ongoing, systematic program for developing relationships between composers and orchestras on the national level. Through EarShot Readings, CoLABoratory fellowships, consortium commissions, and professional development, EarShot ensures a vibrant musical future by investing in creativity today.
Readings
EarShot Readings, operated in partnership with the American Composers Forum, New Music USA, and the League of American Orchestras, provide composers with professional working experiences with orchestras from every region of the country. ACO hosts EarShot Readings with its own orchestra in New York City each season, in addition to designing EarShot Readings with partner orchestras across the United States and around the world. Selected by open call with no fee or age limit, participant composers:
- Workshop a new score with a professional orchestra
- Build relationships and receive feedback from mentor composers, conductors, and performers throughout the process
- Receive an archival audio recording of their work, a resource which is often cost-prohibitive without the program, that can be used for future study and limited promotion (less than 3 minutes)
- Join in sequenced professional development prior to the readings including workshops covering score preparation, publishing, copyright, agreements, and more
- Receive training in public speaking to enhance teaching skills and participate in ACO’s NYC-based K-12 educational programs, building an essential skill set towards successful future residencies with orchestras and the communities they serve.
Over the last 35 years, EarShot Readings have advanced the careers of more than 360 composers. Alumni include some of the most visible artists in the field: Jessie Montgomery, Carlos Simon, Courtney Bryan, Jennifer Higdon, and more. Over half of EarShot composers report that they have received a commission or performance as a direct result of EarShot Readings. Orchestras around the globe have commissioned and performed hundreds of works by ACO alumni. To learn more about applying to EarShot as a composer or partnering with the program to host a reading, use the links below.
Residencies
CoLABoratory Fellowships advance the work of composers whose work is experimental and/or rooted in musical traditions underrepresented in the orchestral repertoire. CoLABoratory addresses systemic barriers within orchestral commissioning, providing a gateway to the field and a generative environment for composers from any and all musical backgrounds to create definition-expanding works for orchestra. Instead of providing a written score, composers submit an idea that is developed in partnership with the orchestra through an artist-led process. Fellowships include:
- Collaborative sessions with performers to workshop musical ideas and foster co-learning over 12 months;
- Readings and public performances of the resulting work;
- Opportunities for the composer to engage in artistic curation, educational programming and community-focused program design;
- and Recruitment of partner orchestras to drive future performances and consortium commissions
CoLABoratory Fellows 2022 - 2023
inti figgis-vizueta
- A new work for chamber orchestra (35 players)
- the Attacca Quartet to be premiered by ACO on October 20, 2022 at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall.
Yvette Janine Jackson
- Taking its title from the George Lefferts story, Jackson’s work is written for orchestra and electronics,
- will premiere on October 20, 2022 at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall.
Trevor New
- A new work for orchestra and augmented reality system “The Hub,” a custom-built, server-based system that can support in-person and virtual interactivity.
Mendi + Keith Obadike
- A meditative piece inspired by the mythology of the train in African American music and visual art featuring ACO musicians and 3 actors.
- To premiere in June 11, 2023 with ACO.
Marcus Gilmore
Gilmore’s first large-scale composition. Written for drums, chamber ensemble and spoken word, it is inspired by the African American history of resilience, as well as the necessity for healing and awakening post trauma.
Publishing
The goal of EarShot: Advancing Equity through Publishing & Repertoire Development is to measurably increase the percentage of Black and Latine composers with ongoing sustainable careers in the American orchestral field. American Composers Orchestra creates multifaceted strategies that amplify the work of Black/Latine composers by publishing works featured through ACO's EarShot Readings and CoLABoratory Fellowships, leveraging ACO’s national orchestral network to facilitate repeat performances of those works, commissioning new works for youth/school orchestras, and creating education modules that place composer teaching artists within youth/school orchestras for one semester in connection to those composer’s ACO commissions. From 2023-2025, American Composers Orchestra will publish the works of 16 composers, commissioning 8 new works for youth/school orchestras, and creating 16 education modules that place Black/Latine composer teaching artists within youth/school orchestras for one semester. EarShot: Advancing Equity through Publishing & Repertoire Development is made possible by a generous grant from Sphinx through the Sphinx Venture Fund.
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