Composing in the Wilderness

On behalf of the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival (Alaska, USA) I’m delighted to announce the 2018 offering of “Composing in the Wilderness”. Now in its seventh year, this one-of-a-kind creative adventure for composers is presented in collaboration with Alaska Geographic and the National Park Service of the USA. It is led by adventurer-composer Stephen Lias.
July 10-24, 2018 – Composing in the Wilderness: Denali Adventure
July 27 – August 9, 2018 – Composing in the Wilderness: Arctic Adventure
Working with experienced guides, naturalists, and scientists, we take experienced composers into the backcountry of Alaska’s wilderness and provide them with an intense and immersive adventure. With this as their inspiration, the composers then have the opportunity to compose original chamber music that is premiered by top-notch contemporary music performers on staff at the Fairbanks Summer Arts Festival.
This year we’ll be offering two field courses, both of which feature an immersive back-country experience in Alaska’s national parks, and a premiere of a new chamber piece you write. Our long-standing program in Denali National Park and Yukon-Charly Rivers National Preserve will be available once again; but we’re also adding a second, more immersive field course that will take participants above the Arctic Circle on a week-long river trip through the second-largest national park in the USA and culminate with a premiere performance in New York City! This high-end option is ideal for more experienced composers, faculty members, and professionals.
We seek creative, adventurous contemporary composers with a love for the outdoors, and an interest in creating new musical works inspired by their time in the wilderness of Alaska.
Participants should be prepared to live in rustic conditions and be physically fit enough for strenuous hiking. They must also be trained composers (professionals, university faculty members, or students currently enrolled in a university composition program) with experience preparing their own manuscripts and writing chamber or electroacoustic music for various instruments. This is not a “class” or “workshop” in that there is no musical instruction included (although we all learn from each other), but we spend much of our time with scientists, naturalists, and experienced wilderness guides.
Since “Composing in the Wilderness” filled up last year in 48 hours, we’re instituting an easy new application process, and the window for applying begins this weekend.
Please visit our website for complete details: https://www.composinginthewilderness.com/
Applications will be accepted throughout the month of October, and selected composers will be notified by November 15. Past participants have come from Australia, Sweden, New Zealand, Cuba, Canada, and the USA. Please spread the word and consider joining us for this life-changing adventure.