Performance Opportunities

Premieres Concert Series

There are a wide range of performance opportunities available to composers in the program, including the Premieres Concert series (3-5 concerts per year) featuring new music by student composers performed by student performers. Student composers also frequently perform or conduct. 

Improvisation

There is an increasingly vibrant community centered on improvisation in the composition program. Students and faculty alike often come together to improvise both in public performances and in experimental workshops. The faculty have recently performed with silent film in the Broad Underground Film Series and students have performed on the Premieres concerts and at various venues off campus.

Venues

MSU student composers utilize many venues on and around campus and in the Greater Lansing area. The College of Music's Fairchild Theatre, Cook Recital Hall, and the Wharton Center's Cobb Great Hall and Pasant Theatre are several of the more traditional concert venues on campus. Some have performed at the incredible Broad Museum of Art, while others have brought their music to less formal concert venues like the nearby brewpub Beggar's Banquet and Red Haven, a local farm-to-table restaurant, through the Consuming Arts Project which combines music and food.

Rehearsals 

There are thousands of rehearsals in the College of Music each year, and we highly encourage composition students to take advantage of the opportunity to observe the process of bringing a piece to life. The composition area has a great relationship with the conducting studios, and conductors generally welcome student composers into their rehearsals for observation and score study.  

Visit our Student Ensembles section to learn about performance opportunities and audition information.

Visit the Composition Studio Website for information about readings by visiting artists and ensembles, workshops and competitions.