The 2025 Irish Composition Summer School will run at the Technical University Dublin Conservatoire of Music, Grangegorman, Dublin City, Ireland, from July 7th to 16th.

Prospective participants should be composers at the early stages of their career, and students taking composition and considering it as a career.
Course Directors: David Bremner and Garrett Sholdice; Guest Director: William Anderson

Instruments/Performers: voice with Michelle O’Rourke, flutes with Lina Andonovska, guitar with Marco Ramelli and cello with Ailbhe McDonagh.
Technology director: Ian Brabazon
Admin: John McLachlan

Sponsored by the Arts Council / An Chomhairle Ealaíon
Supported by IMRO—the Irish Music Rights Organisation

We will offer a full day timetable that allows for composing time: the weekdays feature group seminars (mostly mornings) and individual tutorials (afternoons). Days are 9.30 to 5 Irish time (UTC / GMT).

The school offers a range of lectures, presentations and demonstrations on all aspects of contemporary composition, focusing on writing for any combination of the available forces, with an emphasis on trios, with optional electronic fixed media. The school offers advice on writing for the instruments, and on all aspects of contemporary art music composition. There is considerable one to one guidance on your piece as you write it, therefore we welcome composers at any stage of their development.

At the end of the course, the students' works will be presented in workshop, rehearsed and digitally recorded by the performers. Throughout the course, students will receive guidance from experienced course directors and nationally and internationally renowned composers This year, the ICSS is delighted to welcome Guest Director William Anderson a composer-guitarist from New York. He will present seminars on his own work, as well as giving individual tutorials to all students. Garrett Sholdice and David Bremner will also give tutorials and seminars on music.

Due to the limited duration of the course students are expected to come with some sketches/ideas prepared.
The course involves a great deal of individual tuition and so is suitable for a range of students at various levels of experience.

The course involves a combination of one-to-one tutorials with the participating composers, and group seminars. These will cover the major aspects of contemporary composition such as harmony, rhythm, formal structure and instrumental writing.
The Fee for attending the course is EU380, which does not include accommodation.

pdf of information on request from [email protected]

Deadline: 13 Jun 2025
Entry Fee: €380.00