Offerings

Beginner Composition Workshop (click to see more)

This course is designed for middle and high school-aged musicians/music students with little or no composition experience. Students will:

  • Learn the techniques and repertoire of contemporary music composition

  • Write three miniature pieces and have them all played and recorded by Vicente and Phillip

  • Stretch their imaginations by writing one-minute "one idea" compositions

  • Learn the practical issues associated with preparing a score and parts for a performance

  • Meet other students their age and build community

This course includes

  • Ten 90 minute group sessions. Sessions will focus on study of techniques and repertoire of contemporary music composition and critiques of the students works and works-in-progress.

  • Write two focused one-minute etudes for piano and drums, to be performed by Vicente and Phillip

  • Write a two-minute final project piece to be performed by Vicente and/or Phillip

  • Two individual 30 minute lessons (one with Vicente & one with Phillip) in the second half of the course


The course will run from October to December 2022. Please express interest by the end of September 2022.

By the end of this course, students will be prepared for the Advanced Composition Workshop.


To apply, students should send an example of themselves playing an instrument and/or an example of a piece of music that they have created.


The cost of this course is $1000. Enrollment will be capped at 15 students.

If you are accepted for the course, a 10% non refundable deposit will be required to secure your spot.


To view the syllabus, please click here.

Advanced Composition Workshop (click to see more)

This course is designed for motivated high school-aged students with some experience as a composer. This fall, we will focus on the String Quartet. Students will:

  • Study approaches to writing for the String Quartet

  • Write a 3-4 minute String Quartet

  • Receive individual and group instruction

  • Engage in guided group feedback sessions with fellow young composers

  • Learn about score preparation and the rehearsal process in a professional context

  • Receive a professional quality video and audio recording by the acclaimed Bergamot String Quartet*

*such recordings will be useful for students' portfolios for college and conservatory applications and other composition programs


The course includes a total of seven meetings:

  • Five 90 minute group sessions. Sessions will focus on study of the String Quartet repertoire and workshop-style group critiques of students' works-in-progress

  • A 30 minute rehearsal midway through the course for each student

  • A 45 minute recording session towards the end of the course to create a professional quality video and audio for each student

plus

  • two individual 30 minute lessons (one with Vicente & one with Phillip)


The course will run from October to December 2022. Please express interest by the end of September 2022.


To apply, students should send an example of a piece and recording (if available) that they have written using the form below.


The cost of this course is $1500. Enrollment will be capped at 15 students.


Students may also audit the course for $300. Auditors will attend all group sessions and receive two 30' individuals lessons on their work. There is no cap on the number of auditors.


If you are accepted for the course, a 10% non refundable deposit will be required to secure your spot.


To view the syllabus, please click here

College & Conservatory Application Counseling (click to see more)

With Vicente's BA in Philosophy and DMA in Composition from Columbia and Phillip's BA in English from Harvard, M.Mus. from Guildhall School of Music and Drama (UK) in Composition, and M.M. in Jazz Performance from New England Conservatory, Vicente and Phillip are uniquely positioned to advise high school students with their application process to university music programs and conservatories. With this package, students will receive


  • Two rounds of supplemental essay editing for essays concerning music-related topics

  • A review of students' music portfolios with feedback on the selection choices and professional engraving and presentation practices

  • Two 30 minute advising sessions on which schools would be best fit for the students' interests and circumstances to help craft students' list of schools


The cost is $600

Individual & Specialized Lessons (click to see more)

For composers and composer-performers seeking more individual instruction, Vicente and Phillip are both available for private lessons.

  • $100 per 60 minute lesson

  • Package of five lessons for $450


Vicente and Phillip are pleased to offer highly specialized training and instruction in the following areas:

  • Working with jazz performers and improvisers

  • Microtonality (just intonation, equal divisions of the octave, historical tunings, etc.)

  • Writing for drum set and notating drum set parts

  • Piano performance and improvisation (classical, jazz, contemporary music, etc.)

  • Drums performance

  • Jazz harmony and jazz improvisation

  • Blues and early ("traditional") jazz techniques and repertoire

  • Approaches to incorporating improvisation within composition

  • Approaches to graphic score notation

  • Notating complex rhythms

  • Writing for non-traditional instruments and non-traditional performers

  • Dorico (advanced notation software)

  • Logic Pro X (production, composition, mixing, sound design)

  • Transcription

  • And more! (Write to us at youngcomposerslab [at] gmail [dot] com)