Our Festival
Our 2024 festival took place from July 8–19 at Temple University
Read about our festival below & sign up for our mailing list so you can be the first to hear about our next application cycle, which will open in January 2025.
“I participated in this program last year and it changed my life. I'm now a first-year college student and have a huge leg up on my studies because of what I learned during this program.”
Quinn Harley, 2018
Program Overview
Our 2024 program took place from July 8–19 on the Temple University main campus in Philadelphia, PA.
Composers in our 2024 program engage in daily seminars, take composition lessons, learn from experts about compositional topics like film scoring and writing with text, and workshop their compositions with professional performers.
All composers have the opportunity to write a new piece that will be professionally premiered and recorded on the last day of the program. Students who live on campus also have opportunities to use the music labs and practice rooms in Presser Hall during off hours.
Composers may commute to campus or live in dorm housing for the duration of the program.
No fee to apply
No prior composition experience or training necessary
Financial aid (including full scholarships) available
Dorm housing and meals available
Join a growing alumni network & become eligible for Wildflower-sponsored commissions and performances
Our 2024 faculty included composers Melissa Dunphy, Sepehr Pirasteh, and Cerulean Payne-Passmore, musicians Maren Montalbano (mezzo), Yumi Kendall (cello), and Tessa Ellis (trumpet), and many more guests and friends of Wildflower.
Questions? Contact us: erin@wildflowercomposers.org.
Want to request physical posters? Send us an email.
Eligibility
Our festival is open to any female, transgender, nonbinary, or genderqueer student who is between the ages of 13 and 19.
Applicants do not need to have any prior composition experience or training to attend! Students must be able to read music (at least one clef) to attend.
Composers who have just graduated from high school but have not yet started a four-year college are eligible. Composers who have already started a degree program at a four-year college are not eligible, but are encouraged to check out our Virtual Mini-Courses, which have no age maximum. Those who are taking courses at a community college and are within the age range are invited to apply.
Still not sure if you’re eligible? Send us an email.
Tuition & Financial Aid
Tuition for 2024 is $850. Financial aid (including full scholarships) are available.
We are able to provide some level of financial aid to any student in need, including full tuition and housing scholarships. Please do not let the cost of tuition deter you from applying! There will be an option to request financial assistance in the general application.
There is no fee to apply to the Wildflower Composers Festival.
Housing
Students can commute to and from campus, or opt to live in the dorms for the duration of the program.
Commuters and overnight students are welcome to participate in our 2024 festival! There is an additional $1,150 charge for room and board. This includes all meals during the festival.
Chaperones will accompany students between buildings at all times. We are able to accommodate dietary restrictions and allergies.
Attend the Wildflower Composers Festival and experience the following:
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Mentor–mentee relationship with a private composition teacher.
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The chance to have a new work rehearsed and premiered by a professional musician.
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Expand your knowledge of composition and related topics through workshops led by experts.
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Join a growing community of young composers from all across the country.
“[Wildflower] taught me what it means to be bold, creative, and a risk taker. I am so grateful I was able to take that leap of courage with the support of the women that taught me and were with me at this camp.”
Leia Sofia Mendez, Wildflower ‘18 & ‘20
Join our growing
community of composers.
Frequently Asked Questions
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There will be a world premieres concert on the last day of the festival. The concert will be held in Rock Hall at Temple University, and will be free and open to the public. We will also be able to livestream the performance for anyone unable to be there in person.
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Yes, you should still apply! No composition experience is necessary to attend. In your application, you will have the opportunity to submit any materials that display your musical ability - perhaps a recording of you taking a solo with your school jazz band, playing a Bach partita on the violin, improvising at the piano, or a written document of a piece concept that you have been thinking about. If you are submitting compositions, sketches and/or works-in-progress are perfectly fine to submit as well.
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Yes, absolutely! Please express your interest in working with electronics in your application. Should you be accepted, we will take that into consideration when pairing you with an instructor.
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Yes, absolutely! You are not required to compose a finished product during the festival, and you can instead choose to workshop a few ideas with your fellow students in an informal concert setting at the end of the program.
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We’re looking for a young person who is driven, ambitious, willing to experiment, and eager to learn. We want to accept students who can really benefit from a program like ours, and who can bring their full selves to campus with us. We really do read your short answer responses very carefully, and we would encourage potential applicants to spend some time with their written statements. Tell us why this experience would be meaningful to you!
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No, there is no fee to apply.
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Yes, we offer need-based financial aid, including full scholarships! You will be able to request consideration for financial aid in your application.
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Yes of course! We would love to welcome back returning students.
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Students will receive notification of their admissions decision via email by early May at the latest.
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If you are on the wait list, you may be notified of a change of status to accepted up until July 1st. If you don’t hear from us, we would encourage you to apply again next year.