Hearing in Color Young Composer Residency

A partnership between La Caccina and Hearing in Color.

About the Residency

The Hearing in Color Young Composer Residency is an immersive residency with Hearing in Color and La Caccina focused on empowering emerging composers of various backgrounds to write choral music for advanced treble voices.

The 2024-2025 Young Composer will work closely and collaboratively with the artists of La Caccina and its Artistic Director, Carling FitzSimmons, to compose an original piece of music for La Caccina's Fall 2024 program. Over a period of months, the Young Composer-in-Residence will meet with La Caccina's artists, observe rehearsals, learn from the Artistic Director about the benefits and challenges of writing for treble ensemble, write and workshop their piece with the singers, participate in networking events and interviews designed to introduce industry professionals to their music, and hear their work premiered in concert. Additionally, our Composer-in-Residence will have the opportunity to create a commissioned piece for The Music Institute of Chicago’s annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration.

This year, we are proud to offer an Encouragement Award to the composer(s) whose work demonstrates significant promise. The Encouragement Award winner(s) will receive an hour-long private mentorship session with Carling FitzSimmons, as well as a small stipend.

The residency will include extensive mentoring from both Hearing in Color and La Caccina artists, workshops of the piece with La Caccina, and both written and video interviews to help promote the composer and their work.

Applications for the 2024-2025 Residency are currently being reviewed.

To Apply

Eligibility Requirements

• High school and college-aged composers are encouraged to apply. (As this is an educational residency, most successful applicants will fall within this age range. However, we recognize that learning isn’t an age-specific activity, and composers outside of this age range are encouraged to apply if this residency will be particularly helpful to them in developing their craft.)

• Interest in collaborating with and writing for advanced treble ensemble.

• Hearing in Color and La Caccina maintain our commitment to de-centering whiteness and dismantling systems of power in musical spaces. Applicants who don’t see themselves, their stories, or their communities reflected in the classical canon will be prioritized.

• Availability for the duration of the 2024-2025 season. (Collaborative commissions take time to perfect. Young Composers will be asked to meet with leadership from both La Caccina and Hearing in Color throughout the composition process, and to meet strict draft and workshop deadlines. Applicants should ensure that they have the time to commit to this intensive residency before applying.)

• Young Composers need not be local to Chicago to apply.

Residency Benefits

• Mentorship with Hearing in Color and La Caccina artists

• One-on-one sessions with a professional composer, chosen specifically for the Young Composer, who will act as a mentor for the duration of the residency

• Salon-style performance of the work at a special Composer’s Forum event designed to promote the Young Composer and their work and introduce them to industry professionals

• Final live performance and recording of the piece by the professional singers of La Caccina

• Written and video documentation of the process to help promote the composer and their work

• $500 base-stipend; additional paid commissioning opportunities through Hearing in Color, as available.

Thank you to all who applied for the 2024-2025 Residency. Our panel is currently reviewing submissions.