The Virtual Workshop & Performance
A 3-day, new music reading laboratory and concert webinar
hosting daily reading sessions, masterclasses, (such as writing for the string quartet, extended string techniques, etc…) and Q&A’s with industry leading musicians.
ABOUT
A THREE DAY NEW MUSIC READING VIRTUAL WORKSHOP + VIRTUAL CONCERT
Composers of any age and nationality are invited to submit a new or previously composed work up to 10 minutes in length. The work may be a movement or excerpt of a larger work and may have previously been performed. EMERGE will accept up to 10 composers and will provide detailed insight by exploring and performing the work of each participant.
At the conclusion of the workshop, the featured artists will host a virtual concert of all selected works. The concert and workshops will be professionally recorded. Each reading session and performance will be separated by composer and sent to each participant for their own personal use (i.e. website exposure, applications, festivals, SoundCloud or similar-free platforms). Finals recordings of the workshop readings and culminating performance by our featured artists are not allowed for commercial use/sale.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
The following submissions are required to be considered for the Virtual New Music Workshop & Performance.
One score and parts composed for duet, trio, or string quartet (2 violins, viola, cello) submitted digitally in PDF format
Work must not exceed 10 minutes in length
Recording of the work is preferred, but not required (MIDI is acceptable)
A CV or resume (PDF format only)
Short Biography not to exceed 250 words (PDF Format only)
Works that have been previously published, performed or commercially recorded are welcome
At this time, we are not able to support works with electronics for the upcoming season
WORKSHOP DETAILS
During the 3-day workshop composers will receive:
Group workshops, incorporating 20-minute reading session and critique for each composer per day for three days
Seminars/masterclasses from the participating artists Jesus J. Martinez
Access to EMERGE’s digital chamber concert archive
Recordings of all three workshop days and the EMERGE New Music Concert. The digital workshop and concert will be professionally recorded and sent to each participant
Possible future performances of the composer’s work on a future season of EMERGE’s OFF the Beaten Path Performance Series
IF SELECTED, PARTICIPANTS:
are required to attend all three workshop days and the evening concert
Participants will be asked to prepare a short introduction prior to the first reading and at the culminating virtual concert.
DATES AND FEES
STAY TUNED FOR MORE DETAILS REGARDING THE 2025 VIRTUAL WORKSHOP AND PERFORMANCE!
PAST ARTISTS
Nicholas Cords, violist
Brooklyn Rider | Silk Road Ensemble
For more than two decades, omnivorous violist Nicholas Cords has been on the front line of a growing constellation of projects as performer, educator, and cultural advocate. As former Co-Artistic director of Silkroad, viola and chamber music faculty member at New England Conservatory, violist of Brooklyn Rider, he is deeply committed to music from a broad variety of traditions and epochs, with a particular passion for the cross-section between the long tradition of classical music and the wide range of music of today.
Steven Mackey, Composer
Today, Steven Mackey is a GRAMMY-winning composer of works for chamber ensemble, orchestra, dance, and opera—commissioned by the greatest orchestras around the world, and winner of several awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a Kennedy Center Friedheim Award. Bright in coloring, ecstatic in inventiveness, lively and profound, Mackey’s music spins the tendrils of his improvisatory riffs into large-scale works of grooving, dramatic coherence.
The Julius Quartet - Artists in Residence
Characterized as “the captivating young string quartet” (The Bennington Banner), the Julius Quartet has cultivated a distinguished voice since its formation in 2012. As passionate chamber musicians, the quartet strives to spread the values of chamber music to diverse communities in addition to presenting their diacritic expression within the music
Jesus J. Martinez - Resident Composer & Executive Director
Jesus J. Martinez is a 2011 graduate from the University of Texas at Arlington in Music Education. He went on to complete his master’s in music composition at Southern Methodist University. In August 2013, he was selected as the SMU Student Composer-in-Residence for the Irving Symphony Orchestra in Irving, TX.
TESTIMONIALS
What people are saying…
“The EMERGE workshop was an incredibly useful experience in terms of the opportunity it gave me to receive feedback on and a performance of my own work, but it also offered the additional benefit of exposing me to other contemporary composers and their unique and interesting styles. Having been such a boon for composers of works for string quartet, this kind of program should be offered in conjunction with other ensembles like wind quartets, piano trios, and the like.”
- Alex Staten | Inaugural EMERGE Virtual Workshop & Performance Participant
“I appreciated how the quartet was really willing to engage with the music and seek the intent behind it. They gave good notational/musical suggestions!”
- Andrew Faulkenberry | Inaugural EMERGE Virtual Workshop & Performance Participant
“It really warms my heart to see such love and care for new music, and that you all are doing your very best to help kick start some young composer development—it was truly an honour and pleasure to work with you all!”
- Michael Selvaggi | EMERGE Winter Virtual Workshop & Performance
“It was amazing to hear my piece come to life. This is definitely an experience that I will remember for a long time to come. And the things I learned from the workshops I will definitely use later in my composing career.”
- Djuan' Moreland | EMERGE Winter Virtual Workshop & Performance
SUPPORT
Thank you …
The EMERGE Virtual Workshops & Performances could not be possible without the generous support of our participating sponsors including Artstillery, West Plano Presbyterian Church and the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University. Support for previous workshops also includes grants from organizations such as the BMI Foundation.
Learn more about how you can become a participating sponsor for the EMERGE Virtual Workshop & Performance