About Us
ABOUT US
Composers and Schools in Concert (CSIC) is a nationwide community arts provider that supports music education and the creation and performance of contemporary music. Composers & Schools engages teenage students in the philosophies, techniques, and skills underlying contemporary music composition through culturally-responsive composer commissions and workshops for youth ensembles. Composers & Schools occupies a unique space in the performing arts and music education communities by linking professional composers and youth music ensembles to create new repertoire for educational ensemble and to provide learning opportunities that align with the professional music-making industry.
VISION
Composers & Schools believes that innovative ideas are nurtured in an educational setting. We value the collaboration between artist and educator and educator and student. We support experiential learning opportunities for teenage music students, and we encourage the creation and discovery of contemporary music. Through the lens of culturally-responsive teaching, we place students’ voices and identity at the forefront of our work. We aim to empower students’ cultural identity and to leverage these identities to create new repertoire and curricula that reflect students’ passions. We are committed to keeping the arts strong and part of our communities, and we are committed to assisting the transformation of music education through the presentation of culturally-responsive teaching.
HISTORY
Incorporated in 2011, Composers & Schools has introduced the myriad styles of contemporary music-making to teenage music students throughout the United States. Through workshops and custom composer commissions for youth music programs and ensembles of all skill levels and types, Composers & Schools holds an active role in the national landscape of music education, having served more than 5,000 students in 95 schools and in 35 states to date. Composers & Schools has brought leading composers from a broad range of stylistic backgrounds into the classroom such as Frank Ticheli, Marcus Shelby, Alex Shapiro, Brian Balmages, Omar Thomas, Martha Mooke, Scott Watson, and Garrett Hope to mentor the next generation musicians, creators, and music advocates.
Since 2011
Students served: 5,264
Composers served: 48
Schools served: 95
States served: 35
Our Team
Thank you to the talented, dedicated, and creative volunteers who have helped to shape, lead, govern, and manage our programs, events, and productions from 2011 to the present.
Cheryl Moreland, Attorney
Dwayne Carter, Management Consultant
John Woodall, Composer, Music Consultant
Katy Luo, DMA, Musician, Educator
Nick Benavides, Composer, Educator
Michelle Gilkey, Marketing and Systems Strategist
Sierra Feldmann, Resource Analyst
Steve Horowitz, Composer, Musician, Producer, Educator
Vern Fernandez, Project Manager, Musician
Victor Salvo, Educator, Composer
Lisa Oman, Executive and Education Director
Composers and Schools in Concert is led by Founder, Lisa Oman.
Lisa Oman
Our Programs
Composers & Schools is incorporated in the state of California. The organization’s administrative functions are performed online, and our programs and services operate throughout the United States. We serve ensembles and youth music programs of all types and skill levels anywhere in the United States.
COMMISSIONS
In our Commissions in Concert program, we commission a professional composer to write a piece in collaboration with a youth ensemble (grades 8 – 12), and the student ensemble performs the world premiere. The composer spends one semester, a minimum of three class periods, creating and rehearsing with the students. The composer joins the ensemble at the performance of the world premiere, and all ticket-sale revenue goes back to the youth music program.
Through the creation of a piece written specifically for them, students perform their new work while being mentored in the techniques, skills, and myriad styles of contemporary music.
WORKSHOPS
For most young students, the composer may be the most remote figure in the musical process. By bringing composers into the classroom, Composers & Schools strives to deepen the student’s understanding of music, introduce composition as a possible career, and encourage students to create. Our composer workshops are designed to provide teenage music students–beginner level to advanced–an opportunity to study in a particular curricular area surrounding contemporary music composition such as scoring for film, the concert stage, or video games.
CONTEMPORARY SCORE LIBRARY
The Composers & Schools Score Library, in partnership with Sheet Music Plus, is an online catalog of contemporary music geared toward young performers. Our aim is to promote awareness of contemporary music and help educators easily locate contemporary pieces for their ensembles to perform.
Sponsoring Partners
Thank you to these esteemed foundations and organizations who believe in the work that we do and who generously support culturally-responsive music education and the creation and performance of contemporary music.
McGraw-Hill Education
Gordon Getty
Sheet Music Press
Fender Music
Salesforce Foundation
Google Foundation