Composers + Musicians Collaborative Residency
I-Park will not be hosting this program in 2023
I-Park’s Composers + Musicians Collaborative Music Residency seeks to identify an international group of composers who will appreciate, or are open to being persuaded of, the value of establishing an immersive, collegial relationship with the musicians who will be performing their pieces at their world premieres. These composers, especially when in the final phase of developing their works, realize that they stand to benefit from the fresh perspectives, receptivity and enthusiasm of the ensemble at this critical juncture in the creative process – and are prepared to collaborate in the final refinements to, if not, in fact, the transformation of, their works as a result of this effort.
From the start, the ensemble plays a key role in the composer selection process, and throughout the two-week onsite residency, invests itself in multiple readings of the new works – with ample time allotted for exchanges of ideas on technical and aesthetic grounds. By this point, the ensemble’s commitment to the composers and to the success of their projects is fully established. Needless to say, the extraordinary exertions of the combined team will result in works that have achieved an exquisite level of concert-readiness.
The Composers + Musicians Collaborative Residency was designed to address what was perceived to be a market failure in the field of contemporary classical (concert) music. Especially for young and other emerging composers, especially those outside of academia, it was difficult for them to gain adequate public exposure to advance their careers without access to a performing ensemble to rehearse and perform their new works. Furthermore, they needed quality recordings of these compositions so they could submit them for the extremely competitive opportunities available in the field.
The program culminates in two to three premiere concerts, one of which is presented in NYC. The deeper, long term goal of the residency is for there to be a sharing of ideas and trust among the composers and musicians such that the composers and musicians become champions of one an others’ works – and share a motivation to give these works a strong launch and long term presence in the culture!
The program was hosted in 2015, 2016 and 2018. It was planned for 2020 as well but had to be shelved because of the public health crisis. We plan to resume this program in 2024 and host it on a biennial basis going forward.
Congratulations to the Five Composers Selected for I-Park’s 2018 Composers + Musicians Collaborative Residency
This summer, composers Theo Chandler, Natalie Draper, Michael Gilbertson, Niloufar Nourbakhsh and Octavio Vazquez will spend two weeks at I-Park in an intensely collaborative exchange with the Akropolis Reed Quintet, rehearsing and refining new concert works for a pair of all-premiere performances in Connecticut and New York City.
The composers hail from the U.S., Spain and Iran, and have won numerous awards among them. Their works have been performed at venues around the world, including Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center and Tanglewood, and have been featured in numerous recordings and on film.
Our thanks, too, to all the composers who applied for this highly competitive special residency.
We hope to see you all at the concerts! The early August dates and locations will be announced soon.
Special thanks to the NEA for awarding us a grant of $20,000 in support of the 2018 Composers + Musicians Collaborative Residency. Thanks too to the Cricket Foundation and the Maximillian & Marion O. Hoffman Foundation, Inc. for additional essential support. Kudos to our loyal donors and friends – your generosity helps bring composers and musicians together.
Introducing Akropolis
I-Park is proud to announce that the Akropolis Reed Quintet will be the ensemble-in-residence for this year’s program. Akropolis brings to the table a stellar level of musicianship, high energy and a quite unique, and wonderful, instrumentation: B♭/A clarinet, oboe (doubles English horn), alto saxophone (doubles soprano saxophone), bass clarinet and bassoon.
Akropolis looks forward to learning from, and hanging out with, the composers – and helping them realize the highest aspirations for their new works.
Select Akropolis Performances
Oboe
Bass Clarinet
Bassoon
Saxophone
Clarinet