Pasadena Chorale Looking for Student Composers

The Chorale is looking to accept six Pasadena area high school students from 9th through 12th grade to enroll in its Listening to the Future program that will begin in January 2023 and run through June 2023.

By News Desk

The five-month composition program will culminate with the Pasadena Chorale performing the student composers’ new work at its Listening to the Future concert on June 17, 2023. Students can apply right now at PasadenaChorale.org/listening-to-the-future. A teacher recommendation is required, and applications must be submitted by December 31, 2022.

​“Listening to the Future is an arts education program that is very special to me. Created and supported by Pasadena Chorale, Listening to the Future began in 2016 to give young composers a chance to hear their music performed in concert. There wasn’t a program like it in Pasadena,” said Pasadena Chorale Founding Artistic & Executive Director Jeffrey Bernstein. “This year we’re thrilled that L.A.-based Amy Gordon will return as our composer mentor. Amy was the composer mentor in 2019-20. She’s a terrific composer and a superb educator.”

The high school students chosen to participate in the Pasadena Chorale’s Listening to the Future program will be selected based on their music experience, level of readiness, and teacher recommendation. Students will meet with professional composer Amy Gordon every two weeks, alternating in-person and Zoom meetings. Gordon will provide feedback on their work and help them revise it. Students will produce one piece of original music for the Chorale and one arrangement of an existing tune.

In March 2023, all six student composers will meet together as a class with Amy Gordon. The student composers will have the opportunity to listen to their music performed by the 70-member Pasadena Chorale live and in-person. Gordon will continue to help the students fine tune their work in preparation for the Listening to the Future concert that will begin in 2023. The final pieces will be performed at the Chorale’s June 17 concert. Students will receive video and audio recordings of their finished work that they can include in their portfolios and in their college applications.

The Pasadena Chorale’s Listening to the Future is a highly-selective program that is mostly ideal for high school juniors and seniors. In the six years since the program began, the Pasadena Chorale has had six professional working composers mentor 24 student composers, and 62 compositions have been produced by students of the program. Alumni of the program have gone on to study at Stanford, Columbia, Yale, Chapman University, University of Michigan and more.