CPS Composer Mentorship

The William Ferris Chorale invites high school students in the Chicago Public Schools who are interested in composing music – especially for choir – to apply to our Composer Mentorship Program.

Now in its fourth season, the William Ferris Chorale’s Emerging Voices initiative collaborates with Chicago Public Schools students to compose new music for choirs.

This season we are launching a Composer Mentorship program as part of our Emerging Voices initiative, and are seeking individual high school students with interest and skill in composition to work with a mentor-composer to develop a work for WFC to perform and record in March 2027.

Applicants must be:

• Enrolled at a high school within the Chicago Public Schools

• Interested in working with an established composer to revise and develop their work

• Excited to learn about the craft of music composition and see their work premiered by a professional choir in front of an audience

The chosen composer will:

• Meet 4-6 times with our Composer-Mentor, Eric Malmquist, to develop, revise, and/or expand the submitted composition in private lessons.

• Have 20 minutes to listen to their piece in a scheduled rehearsal with WFC and the Composer-Mentor to hear their work and offer revisions.

• Have the work premiered and recorded by WFC in March 2027.

• Submit (though the form above) a SATB composition for choir that you would like to work on further. This composition should be your own personal, original work -- not an arrangement. 

• Write a personal statement (200-300 words) about why you want to be considered for this program and how it will impact your life. Please address:

  • Why you want to be chosen for this program?

  • What impact this program would have on your life?

  • What you want to learn from this program?

  • Describe a time when you have received feedback on a musical composition or performance in the past, and you have done or changed in response to it to that feedback.