Five composers—Jack Frerer, SiHyun Uhm, Brian Raphael Nabors, Niloufar Nourbakhsh, and Jared Miller—will take part in the Nashville Symphony’s third Composer Lab & Workshop (September 3-5), led by Symphony Music Director Giancarlo Guerrero and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Aaron Jay Kernis. During their three-day visit to Nashville, each composer will hear their music performed by the Nashville Symphony, receive mentoring and feedback from orchestra professionals, and potentially earn a performance of their work on a future Nashville Symphony program.
“If we want classical music to remain relevant to current and future audiences, we have a duty to open up opportunities for the next generation of musicians and composers,” Guerrero said. “This conviction is at the heart of the Nashville Symphony’s mission and vision, and the Composer Lab & Workshop is a direct outgrowth of that commitment. The five composers who will be visiting Nashville represent the diverse voices and experiences of our country and our world today. We are thrilled not only to provide them with opportunities for growth, but also to learn from them about how together we can shape the future of our art form.”
The Symphony issued a nationwide call for submissions earlier this year for the third edition of the program, which is open to American-based composers between the ages of 18 and 35, and more than 200 scores were submitted. The five finalists were selected by a panel consisting of Guerrero, Kernis (who serves as the Composer Lab’s workshop director), Nashville Symphony musicians and staff and members of the Belmont University faculty.
Learn more and listen to work by each composer here.