ARE YOU A COMPOSER LOOKING TO TAKE THE NEXT STEP IN YOUR CAREER?

WE’RE LOOKING FOR FOUR UK-BASED COMPOSERS WHO DISPLAY EXCEPTIONAL ABILITY AND POTENTIAL TO JOIN NONCLASSICAL’S ASSOCIATE COMPOSERS SCHEME IN 2021/22.

Our Associate Composers Scheme supports the artistic development of unsigned and unpublished composers, who are creating exciting new contemporary classical, electronic and experimental music.

The scheme has been developed to give early career artists a 360-degree view of what it takes to be a composer in today’s musical landscape.

Previous Associate Composers have since received commissions from Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival (hcmf//), BalletBoyz, LA Philharmonic, London Philharmonic Orchestra and Philharmonia Orchestra; as well as being Royal Philharmonic Society prize winners, received fellowships and residencies at Tanglewood Music Center and Snape Maltings, and been part of the LPO Young Composers Scheme.

Find out more about our Associate Composers 2019–20 >>>

Find out more about our Associate Composers 2016–17 >>> 

THE ASSOCIATE COMPOSERS SCHEME 2021/22 OFFERS:

• A paid commission of £1,500 to write a 3-5 minute orchestral piece for Southbank Sinfonia, premiered as part of their 2022 programme

• A paid commission of £750 to write an open score piece for the Contemporary Music for All Festival in March 2022

• The opportunity to record a short piece for Nonclassical’s compilation series Outside the Lines in autumn 2021 for release in early 2022

• The opportunity to curate a live event for Nonclassical’s 2021–22 programme

• Professional mentoring, training and coaching sessions from established composers and industry figures and a qualified coach shaped around your interests, skills gaps and goals

WE ARE LOOKING FOR:

• Composers over 18

• UK-based composers

• Artists without a recording or publishing contract

• Composers who have never received a paid orchestral commission

• Artists displaying exceptional ability and potential from any genre and/or musical background who can work with notated music – this does not have to be traditional Western musical notation, and may include practices such as graphic notation or text instruction scores

• Candidates whose career and artistic development would significantly benefit from this opportunity

We particularly welcome applications from underrepresented and/or marginalised groups in music, including but not limited to women, Black, Asian or ethnically diverse, and/or disabled artists.

The programme requires an ongoing, part-time commitment over the course of 18 months (from July 2021 to December 2022). We understand participants are likely to want to balance their activities with other commitments.

Please note that this is not a salaried position, and composers will not receive a bursary for participation besides paid commission fees.

Nonclassical will also provide a budget of financial support to remove any barriers to participation; this includes travel, accommodation, childcare, assistance. Individual circumstances will be taken into consideration upon offer of a place on the scheme.