Learning Lab
Each season, ACO presents a series of digital professional development sessions led by composer mentors and industry leaders. An evolving resource for composers at all stages of their careers, sessions have covered topics including orchestration, networking, publishing, copyright, orchestra unions, media rights, fundraising, public speaking, educational program design, and more.
Orchestration Webinar: Tricks of the Trade with Melinda Wagner
Celebrated as an “…eloquent, poetic voice in contemporary music…” [American Record Guide], Melinda Wagner’s esteemed catalog of works embodies music of exceptional beauty, power, and intelligence. She joins ACO to take musical works from the “canon” and use them as a guide for emerging composers to understand some of the important things to know about orchestration, part writing, and more. This session is inspired by composer Steven R. Gerber’s NewMusicBox article “Orchestration: Composers Reveal Tricks of the Trade.”
Additional Resources
Media Rights & Unions Workshop: Fine Print
Named by Musical America as one of classical music’s Top 30 Influencers for 2015 and a Lorée oboe artist in 2019, Texas native, Alecia Lawyer, is the Founder, Artistic Director, and Principal Oboist of ROCO, a professional music ensemble that flexes from 1 to 40 musicians from around the US and Canada, including guest conductors from around the world. Corey Field is a professionally trained composer who is better known as a prominent entertainment, media, and copyright attorney at his Los Angeles based law firm Corey Field Law Group, P.C. They bring their multifaceted expertise to this webinar to highlight the importance of understanding and abiding by current regulations related to unions, media rights, and more.
Creating Relationships with Orchestra Webinar: Away from the Writing Desk and into the World
Composer, producer, and vocalist Lisa Bielawa is a Rome Prize winner in Musical Composition whose works have been described as “ruminative, pointillistic and harmonically slightly tart,” by The New York Times, and “fluid and arresting … at once dramatic and probing,” by the San Francisco Chronicle. She joins ACO to guide a conversation and offer insights on the importance of building relationships with orchestras, and how to begin to do so.
SphinxConnect 2023
Sphinx Organization shares 28 recorded sessions from 2023 Sphinx Connect, the largest and longest-standing convening dedicated to diversity and inclusion in classical music. Hundreds of musicians, industry leaders, educators, funders, diversity advocates, and administrators gathered in Detroit (MI). Enjoy these 28 sessions designed to inspire and ignite action and spark collaboration.
Commissions & Consortia Workshop: Put Me On
Corey Field is a professionally trained composer who is better known as a prominent entertainment, media, and copyright attorney at his Los Angeles based law firm Corey Field Law Group, P.C. In this collaboration with ACO, Corey will unpack some of the need-to-know information surrounding orchestral commissions and the creation of consortia for composers.