Learning Lab
Each season, ACO presents a series of digital professional development sessions led by composer mentors and industry leaders. An evolving resource for composers at all stages of their careers, sessions have covered topics including orchestration, networking, publishing, copyright, orchestra unions, media rights, fundraising, public speaking, educational program design, and more.
Self-Publishing Webinar: Pens, Printer Ink, and the Post Office
Featuring Speakers: Valerie Coleman and Jonathan Page
Valerie Coleman has quickly become one of America’s leading living composers, and couldn’t have done it without the help of her music publisher, Jonathan Page! He joins ACO in this webinar to offer insights on self-publishing as well as the ins and outs of the publishing process. Through his experiences as the co-president and manager of Valerie Coleman’s publishing company, VColeman Music, Jonathan Page will share an in-depth view into self-publishing and what it takes to launch and create a vehicle that provides sustainable distribution and revenue. Watch this webinar to learn how to get started in publishing your own music.
About Jonathan Page
Jonathan Page is Co-President and manager of VColeman Music, the publishing company that houses the sheet music, licensing, and rental catalog of composer Valerie Coleman. His former work in both Fortune 500 corporate finance, and music production informed his efforts in structuring a business model for the company, as it engages hundreds of presenting arts organizations yearly. Based in New York City, Jonathan is also a classically trained percussionist who received a degree in music industry from James Madison University, and for over two decades, he has explored the mediums of sound engineering, created a documentary on the life of Othello Wilson, and continues his work in mentoring emerging composers.
Additional Resources
Self-Publishing Overview + Additional Resources
Presentation Slides – Self Publishing Webinar
MOLA Guidelines for Music Preparation
Orchestra Unions 101
Featuring Speakers: Joseph H. Kluger, Melissa Ngan, and Elena Dubinets
Arts consultant Joseph H. Kluger, ACO President Melissa Ngan, and Artistic Director of the London Philharmonic Elena Dubinets present the basics of orchestra unions and answer attendee questions about common aspects of the union relating to orchestral composers.
Joseph H. Kluger, a Principal of WolfBrown, has over 30 years of experience as an arts and culture executive and consultant in strategic planning, organizational collaboration, facilities development, governance, executive coaching, executive compensation and succession planning projects for nonprofit museums, theaters, opera companies, symphony orchestras, performing arts centers, and arts education institutions.
A high-profile artistic leader and music scholar, Elena Dubinets was appointed Artistic Director of the London Philharmonic Orchestra from September 2021, having previously held top artistic planning positions at the Atlanta and Seattle symphony orchestras. In 2018 she was named one of Musical America’s Professionals of the Year. Serving the wider music community, she has held appointments on the Recording Academy Board of Directors and as Chair of the City of Seattle Music Commission.
Additional Resources
Orchestra Etiquette
Featuring Speaker: Aaron Jay Kernis
Composer Aaron Jay Kernis presents the basics of etiquette as a composer working with an orchestra, discusses the general form of rehearsals with orchestras, and answers questions from the attendees.
Pulitzer Prize and Grammy-Award winning composer Aaron Jay Kernis draws artistic inspiration from a vast and often surprising palette of sources, among them the limitless color spectrum and immense emotional tangle of the orchestra, cantorial music in its beauty and dark intensity, the roiling drama of world events, and the energy and drive of jazz and popular music. All are woven into the tapestry of a musical language of rich lyric splendor, vivid poetic imagery, and fierce instrumental brilliance, and he has been praised for his “fearless originality [and] powerful voice” (The New York Times).
Additional Resources
MOLA Guidelines for Music Preparation
Tricks of the Trade
Featuring Speaker: Derek Bermel
ACO Artistic Director Derek Bermel explores the basics of orchestration through the lens of composer Steven R. Gerber’s NewMusicBox article “Orchestration: Composers Reveal Tricks of the Trade.” Useful for composers new and old to orchestration, Bermel explores the staples of orchestration with various score examples.
Twice Grammy-nominated composer and clarinetist Derek Bermel has become recognized as a dynamic and unconventional curator of concert series, via ACO’s concert season, SONiC Festival, Earshot Readings, and Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute. His honors include the Rome Prize, Guggenheim and Fulbright Fellowships, Herb Alpert Award, and an Academy Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Fundraising for Ensembles
Featuring Speakers: Yolanda F. Johnson and Melissa Ngan
Soprano and philanthropy expert Yolanda F. Johnson joins ACO President Melissa Ngan to give advice and tactics to bolster fundraising for small-to-medium ensembles.
Yolanda F. Johnson has had an outstanding career as a performing artist and philanthropist; as a composer, as an educator, and as a supporter of the arts and women’s equity. In addition to her life as an artist, she is also a current International Advisory Board member of and the former Representative for the Foundation for Post-Conflict Development to the United Nations, a member of the board of directors of the Hudson River Museum, Special Advisor to the American Composers Orchestra, board of directors of PowHer NY, board of directors of the Lehman College Art Gallery and is the first African American President of Women In Development, New York. Johnson is also the Founder and President of YFJ Consulting, LLC and Founder of Women of Color in Fundraising and Philanthropy (WOC)® and Allies in Action Membership Network™.