Site Search


Other Resources
News Archive






Mostly Modern Festival (MMF) Institute

 Mostly Modern Festival (MMF) Institute
Summary:Composition Programme
Deadline: 01 March 2018
Date Posted: 05 October 2017
Details: The Mostly Modern Festival (MMF) Institute is the educational component of the Mostly Modern Festival, offering a combination of intensive one-on-one instruction and professional performance experience. The institute has over 100 students & over 20 faculty members. There will be an orchestra, a choir, 4 chamber ensembles, masterclasses, lectures, and private lessons. The Institute is open to musicians 18 and older, and welcomes people in all stages of their career. APPLY HERE: Early-Bird Deadlines Dec. 1 and Jan. 1st.

MMF takes place at Skidmore College at the Arthur Zankel Music Center. Skidmore College is ideally located in Saratoga Springs, New York, three hours by car from NYC, Boston, Philadelphia and Montreal. All public performances take place at the stunning Helen Filene Ladd Concert Hall, a 600-seat acoustically tuned space.

Instrumentalists (up to 70 instrumentalists accepted)

• Perform in the American Modern Orchestra.
• Participants perform alongside the faculty with different conductors each week, Maestros Christopher Rountree, TBD, and Kent Tritle.
• Receive private lessons from performance faculty.
• Access to all masterclasses, and a pass to everything at the festival.
• Check this page for American Modern Orchestra instrumentation.

Singers (up to 60 vocalists accepted)

• Perform in the American Modern Choir.
• Work under the baton of Maestro Kent Tritle and Nicol Matt.
• 4 rehearsals/coachings per week, dress rehearsals and 2 performances.
• Access to all masterclasses, and a pass to everything at the festival.
• Visit this page for details on the American Modern Choir.

Composers (up to 30 composers accepted)

• Receive a fully-professional, live performance from: American Modern Ensemble, one of the three Guest Ensembles, or the American Modern Choir. (ensemble determined during the acceptance process).
• Composers can also apply for an orchestral reading with the American Modern Orchestra.
• Two composers will be chosen to a have their work performed by the American Modern Orchestra.
• Receive top-of-the-line 4 camera-shot video (video posted on the MMF YouTube page) and audio WAV file of your performance.
• Professional ensembles work intimately with composers in rehearsals, the dress and the performance.
• Receive meetings/lessons with the Composition Faculty.
• Access to all masterclasses, and a pass to everything at the festival.

Conductors (up to 8 conductors accepted)

• Conduct the American Modern Ensemble or the American Modern Choir.
• Conduct the readings with the American Modern Orchestra. Readings will be mentored by the Faculty Conductors and Composition Faculty.
• 2 conductors conduct a piece for the American Modern Orchestra, one each week.
• Group seminar with all conductor faculty members.
• Receive top-of-the-line 4 camera-shot video (link to video posted on the MMF YouTube page) of your performance(s) at the festival.
• Access to all masterclasses, and a pass to everything at the festival.

All performances are recorded and fully edited for participants: both audio and video. Composers and conductors receive audio WAV files and links to polished videos of their performances (shot with 4 cameras) posted on MMF's YouTube channel. Composers who take part in the orchestral readings receive un-edited audio recordings of their readings (editing available for an additional fee).

There will be two "ad hoc" concerts that will provide an opportunity for participants and faculty to showcase modern repertoire of their choice. Performers will be given guidelines and may submit proposals for pieces they'd like to play. Works will be chosen on a first-come first-serve basis, based on time and programming considerations.
Web Site:mostlymodernfestival.org/about-institute/