SF Symphony and SFCM Call for Applicants for Fifth Annual Emerging Black Composers Project

The San Francisco Symphony, in partnership with the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, revealed that applications are now open for the fifth annual Emerging Black Composers Project Michael Morgan Prize and the Cabrillo Emerging Black Composers Prize.

The winner of the 2025 Michael Morgan Prize will receive a $15,000 award for a new music commission that will receive its world premiere with the San Francisco Symphony during the 2026–27 season. The winner will also receive mentorship from SFCM Music Director Edwin Outwater and Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser, the resident conductor of engagement and education at the San Francisco Symphony and chair of the EBCP selection committee.  

The winner will also receive mentorship, including career support and investment from SFCM faculty and musicians. This award was named the Michael Morgan Prize in 2023 in honor of the late maestro, the first chair and co-founder of the EBCP.  

“As the EBCP continues and expands, our talented laureates have been building on the gains made as a result of participation in our program and we couldn't be more delighted,” said Bartholomew-Poyser. “We are so excited to continue lifting up Black composers and their music with our Michael Morgan Prize, and our continually growing additional collaboration prizes. As we start a new year, we hope to see the composer application base broaden and welcome more composers from even more diverse genres of music and areas of the country.” 

The 2025 recipient award will mark the twelfth commission from the Emerging Black Composers Project and its partnerships since it launched in 2020.  

“The music created, the lives changed, and the doors opened by this project all continue to grow year after year,” Outwater said. “The composers honored in previous years continue to thrive, and I can't wait to hear this year’s submissions and expand the community that exists around the EBCP.” 

The Emerging Black Composers Project is a 10-year commitment to spotlight early-career Black American composers and their music. It was launched in 2020 with the first-place commission given in June of 2021 to Trevor Weston, with additional prizes awarded to Sumi Tonooka, Shawn Okpebholo, and Jonathan Bingham. Additional winners of the project include Jens Ibsen, Xavier Muzik, and Tyler Taylor. Muzik, winner of the Michael Morgan Prize in 2023, will have his work premiered by Esa-Pekka Salonen and the San Francisco Symphony, February 21–23, 2025. Taylor, winner of the Michael Morgan Prize in 2024, will have his work premiered with the San Francisco Symphony during the Orchestra’s 2025–26 season.  

In addition to the Michael Morgan Prize, in partnership with the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, the Cabrillo Emerging Black Composers Prize is an independent award that will be chosen from this same pool of applicants. This additional winner will receive a cash prize for the composition of a new five- to seven-minute symphonic work to receive its world premiere by the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra during an upcoming Cabrillo Festival season. The winner will also serve as composer-in-residence at the festival.  

All applications are judged through an anonymous process by a committee of leaders in the field that include Kedrick Armstrong, Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser, Kalena Bovell, Daphne Burt, Cristian Măcelaru, D. Riley Nicholson, Shawn Okpekbolo, Edwin Outwater, Valérie Sainte-Agathe, Nina Shekhar, Trevor Weston, and Jeffrey Zeigler.   

Applicants are encouraged to apply today. This year’s EBCP submission deadline is February 1, 2025; winners will be announced in spring 2025. 

The Emerging Black Composers Project is underwritten by Michèle and Laurence Corash.   

How to apply 

Black American composers (US citizens or permanent residents) aged 35 or under during 2024 who have completed a degree program in composition or music performance, or have equivalent experience, are encouraged to apply. 

Applicants must submit a resume along with three scores and recordings of past or current compositions reflective of their work by 11:59pm PT on February 1, 2025. 

For further information or to apply, visit https://sfcm.edu/emerging-black-composers-project.  

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