For Young Composers
Under the guidance of Composer Derrick Skye, Sounds Promising composition students write a world premiere for Salastina. Pieces are workshopped prior to being professionally recorded. Composers are free to use the finished audio/video recording as they wish.
Because all aspects of this program — from lessons to workshopping and recording — can take place virtually, Salastina is pleased to continue providing the program to students ages 18-30 living anywhere.
Reflecting our commitment to our Sounds Promising participants as young colleagues (rather than “students”):
the program is completely free.
There is no application fee and no tuition.
Putting our actual money where our mouth is, we commit to formally commissioning one of each year’s participants to compose a work to be featured on the subsequent concert season.
Lessons with Derrick Skye, June and Simon Li Composer Mentor
From February through May, young composer participants in Sounds Promising receive 5 private lessons from Derrick Skye.
Derrick Skye is a composer, conductor, and musician who integrates musical practices from different cultural traditions with Western classical music. The Los Angeles Times has described his music as “something to savor” and “enormous
fun to listen to.”
During his studies at the University of California, Los Angeles and the California Institute of the Arts, music across many cultures became an integral part of his musical vocabulary. Derrick studied classical music (with Ian Krouse, Alex Shapiro, Paul Chihara, Randy Gloss, and David Rosenboom) alongside West African music and dance (with Kobla Ladzekpo, Beatrice Lawluvi, and Yeko Ladzekpo-Cole), Persian music theory (with Pirayeh Pourafar and Houman Pourmehdi), Balkan
music theory (with Tzvetanka Varimezova), and Hindustani classical tala (with Swapan Chaudhuri and Aashish Khan).
Derrick’s music has been commissioned and/or performed by ensembles including Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, London Philharmonic, Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra (Canada), Chicago Sinfonietta, Albany Symphony, Rochester Philharmonic, Los Angeles Master Chorale, Conspirare, The Juilliard School, Sphinx Virtuosi, Lincoln Center, Salastina, Lyris Quartet, Super Devoiche (Bulgarian Women’s Choir), and Lian Ensemble (Persian Ensemble).
Derrick received the New Music USA Award in 2010 and 2011 and was awarded a composer residency with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra through New Music USA’s “Music Alive” program for the 2015-2016 season. In 2021, he was awarded the Prince Grace Honoraria in the Theatre category for his work
“Mother of Bravery” and “Best New Composition” in the San Francisco Classical Voice Audience Choice Awards for his work “Mind the Rhythm” for violin and electronics.
Derrick has given pre-concert talks and workshops about the use of non-Western music in his compositions at universities and institutions including UCLA, USC, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and the Skirball Cultural Center. He served as a composer panelist for the 2022 and 2019 League of American
Orchestras Conference, and previously spoke at the 2016 conference on the topic of how classical music orchestras can forge stronger relationships with their diverse communities.
Derrick serves as Artistic Director of the new music collective and arts organization Bridge to Everywhere, Director of Instrumental Ensembles at Mount Saint Mary’s University, and Artistic Advisor for Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.
Derrick is an American with Ghanaian, Nigerian, British, Irish, and Native American ancestry. His ancestry and identity have led him to claim and develop an “American” aesthetic that incorporates many cultural influences into his work, reflecting his own diverse communities and others. He passionately believes in music as a doorway into understanding other cultures and different ways of living. Through learning the music of other cultures, the opportunity for dialogue between strangers is opened, minimizing the potential for conflict. He is deeply invested in fostering creative and effective collaboration between artists of different disciplines and traditions.
Derrick’s role as Salastina’s Sounds Promising Composer Mentor is made possible through the generosity of June and Simon Li.
Preparing your music for a polished result
What do you say to musicians to get them to play the music that's in your head? Sounds Promising gives student composers hands-on experience interacting with performers. Each young composer receives three opportunities to workshop their piece with the professionals performing it.
Given the production realities brought on by COVID-19, Derrick’s mentorship now includes guidance with practical skills necessary for any composer in the 21st century, including:
building a click track
working with recording software
editing and mixing your recording
using engraving and notation software
Public Performance and Professional Recording
Want to share our virtual stage with composers like Adam Schoenberg, Reena Esmail, Derrick, Caroline Shaw, and many more?
Once your piece has been written, workshopped, and recorded, it will be premiered with you as our featured guest during one of our weekly Happy Hours.
You’ll receive the finished recording for your personal use — from school, scholarship, or award applications to promotional material.
Building Relationships
We look at Sounds Promising as both a new music incubator and an expansion of our artistic community. Salastina itself is a small, close-knit community of artists. All of us interact regularly with our young artists and composers, offering mentorship, guidance, and opportunities well outside of what’s described above. Our monthly Family Meetings is where a lot of this happens. Topics of discussion have ranged from “is this playable on your instrument?” to “I’m feeling artistically restless where I live currently, should I move?”
Sounds Promising alumni remain part of Salastina’s extended family beyond the year of their active participation in the program. By way of an example of this, we were both proud and honored to formally commission Sounds Promising alumna Sakari Dixon Vanderveer for the 2019/2020 season (pictured above). As stated earlier, we formally commission a participant each year.
Sounds Promising’s Impact
“If I haven't told you already, Family Photos is continuing to help me gain opportunities as a composer. I have a commission for a 20-minute string quartet from Chamber Music Northwest, Seattle Chamber Music Society, and Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival this summer, and I just won the New York Youth Symphony Chamber Music Commission Award with Family Photos as my submission… I can't thank you enough for helping to bring Family Photos to life, and encouraging me through the Sounds Promising program.” - Kian Ravaei, 2020 - 2021 Participant
“A life-changing program.” - Oliviana Marie, 2021 - 2022 participant
”Sounds Promising has made such a profound impact on my personal and professional development.” - Jazreel Low, 2022 - 2023 participant“The most wonderful surprise of the past year. You really did something with my music… made it come alive.” - Sophie Kuba, 2020 - 2021 participant
Past Sounds Promising Young Composer cohorts and their work
Get inspired by what our Young Composers have written in the program in recent years.
2022 - 2023 Young Composers
2021 - 2022 Young Composers
2020 - 2021 Young Composers
Learn more about past participants below.
2019 - 2020 Young Composers
2018 - 2019 Young Composers
2017 - 2018 Young Composers
2016-2017 Young Composers
Tuition
There is no tuition to participate, and no fee to apply. Sounds Promising is zero-cost to all.
All Young Composers receive full scholarships generously funded by Salastina’s Membership program.
Application requirements
Age limit: 30
Submit our online application by December 15, 2023. The application form includes:
a brief (250 words or less) biography
contact information for two references; pleasure ensure they are prepared to speak about you if asked
3 links to media samples (i.e. digital mockups, YouTube video links, performance or studio recordings, etc) best reflecting your compositional skill and style
While scores are not necessary, you may share them as well
We will contact finalists for a brief, 15-minute interview via Zoom after January 15.
Program Timeline
December 15, 2023: Applications due
January 15, 2024: Finalists notified
February 15, 2024: Interviews with finalists completed
February 30, 2024: Applicants notified of acceptance
April 1, 2024: Lessons begin with Derrick Skye; monthly Family Meetings with Resident Artists begin
June 15, 2024: First drafts due; workshops with Resident Artists begin
End-of-June through mid-August, exact dates TBD: recordings take place
August 31, 2024: Audio/video recordings completed and delivered to participants
FAQ
Q: Can I reapply?
A: Of course! However, past participants are not eligible to reapply.
Q: What instrumentation can I write for?
A: Derrick makes this call. It will involve some combination of our Resident Artists, which include string quartet, piano, and flute. If you’d like to include something self-produced in your peice (like electronics, vocals, or visuals), you are welcome to do so. Keep in mind that we cannot fund the additional expenses that come with any such decisions.
Q: Is there a certain style of music you’re looking for?
A: While it’s no secret that our taste skews away from Ivory Tower academic atonality, you have carte blanche to express yourself as you see fit.
Q: Are the age limits firm?
A: Yes. This is a free program with no geographic limitation, and no experiential pre-requisites to participation. We have to draw the line somewhere!