Tanglewood Music Center

2025 Composition Program

The Tanglewood Music Center's Composition Program, led by the esteemed composers Marcos Balter, Nick DiBerardino, and Nina C. Young, both nurtures the next generation of composers and advances the art form through commissioning new works. Composition Fellows are integral to the festival; their work is performed multiple times throughout the summer, and they have the opportunity to foster lasting collaborations with performers and immerse themselves in the tradition of new music that has defined Tanglewood since 1940.

Fromm Workshop

New to the composition program this year, each Composition Fellow composes an approximately 6 to 8 minute work for three to five musicians to be workshopped actively during the summer and performed by the Fromm Players, the TMC’s elite group of musicians focused on the performance of new music, and TMC Fellows during the summer season. Fellows can write for a selection of two violins, viola, cello, flute, clarinet, piano and voice. Composers will collaborate closely with the performers in both rehearsals and workshops, having at least two opportunities to refine their pieces through hands-on feedback with players and faculty, fostering a dynamic process of creative development leading up to the final concert performance.  

Chamber Music Performances

Every Composition Fellow has a piece of chamber music performed publicly on a TMC program during the season. Works are performed by Fellows and coached by faculty members, allowing Fellows a chance to work with both their Instrumental Fellow colleagues and the world-class instrumental faculty of the TMC. Pieces are selected for performance in collaboration with faculty and staff after Fellows are admitted. 

Selected works are approximately 10 minutes in length and for no more than six players, drawn from a standard orchestral instrumentation: woodwinds, brass, percussion, harp, piano, and strings. This excludes saxophone and guitar. Fixed media and live electronics are acceptable, but the TMC can provide only amplifications. All other software and hardware must be supplied by the composer. 

Silent Film Project

Silent Film Night, where Composition Fellows write music to accompany silent film from the early 19th century, has become a mainstay of every Tanglewood season, attracting sell-out crowds for four consecutive years. These pieces are premiered at Tanglewood by the Fromm Players. 

Classes and Lessons

Fellows attend regular classes with resident faculty and visiting composers, who speak with Composition Fellows about their own music, critique and analyze Fellows’ works, and engage in discussions regarding professional issues. In addition to group classes each Fellow also has individual lesson times with faculty. 

Commissions

 Each Composition Fellow will receive a commission for a new work to be performed at Tanglewood in 2026. Commissions include a $3,000 honorarium, plus transportation and accommodations during their stay at Tanglewood for the world premiere of their work. 

Instrument Writing Workshops

TMC Composition Fellows will participate in a series of workshops with composition faculty and Boston Symphony Orchestra faculty, designed to deepen your understanding of idiomatic writing for a particular instrument. These sessions offer invaluable insight into the inner workings of instrumental writing, from technical possibilities to tonal characteristics, exploring best practices and subtle nuances of composing for each instrument. 

Festival of Contemporary Music

Composition Fellows enjoy unparalleled opportunity to meet a plethora of visiting composers and observe rehearsals during the world-renowned Festival of Contemporary Music. In 2025 the Festival of Contemporary Music will be curated by luminary composer Gabriela Ortiz and the TMC will be joined by Mexican contemporary classical percussion group Tambuco for an extended residency during FCM. 

Electives

In addition to the above activities in which every Fellow participates, Fellows may elect to engage in either or both of the following: 

Orchestral Reading 

Each Composition Fellow has the opportunity to have an orchestral selection up to 6 minutes long read and recorded by the world-class Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra. Selections must be approved by faculty and staff before the summer and should be as close to standard instrumentation as possible (2 2 2 2 – 4 3 3 1 – 2 perc – pn hp – str). Standard doublings (piccolo, English horn, Eb and bass clarinet, contrabassoon) are allowable. Slightly different instrumentations may be possible but should be requested early. 

Work for Electronics 

 New to the program in 2025, Fellows also have the option of composing a work for either fixed or interactive electronics. This new work, to be composed at Tanglewood over the summer, may be a solo electronic work to be performed in Studio E and the Linde Center for Music and Learning or may be conceived as a site specific work to be performed elsewhere on the Tanglewood campus.