What is the Wildflower Lab?

The Wildflower Lab is a true workshopping space for works-in-progress, sketches, ideas, and/or completed drafts of compositions. Our pilot phase included two lab sessions in fall 2023 when we welcomed four composers from the Philadelphia area to hear their music and receive feedback from musicians. During each of the two lab sessions, each composer will receive 45 minutes with musicians, totaling 90 minutes of individual time. The second lab session may be used as a recording session of a completed piece, a revised draft, or as an additional workshopping opportunity.

Both sessions will be professionally recorded for composers’ personal use.

This is a free opportunity. There is no cost to apply or participate.

Who is this program intended for?

Early-career composers who are actively seeking feedback and advice on a recent piece, work-in-progress, or compositional idea. Composers must live or work within a 50 mile radius of Philadelphia and are required to attend both workshops in person (barring illness or unexpected life events).

We are actively seeking applications from composers who do not have regular access to performer feedback, and who are female, transgender, nonbinary, and/or genderqueer in the early stages of their professional careers (defined as having not received a commission of more than $5,000).

Our pilot iteration of the Wildflower Lab is only open to composers who are 18 or older by the start of the first session. Although there is no maximum age to participate, we expect that the majority of participants will be between the ages of 18 and 35. We expect to offer future sessions that are open to younger composers.

We invite submissions of works-in-progress, sketches, and/or completed pieces. Submissions must be clearly notated and copy-edited (see example works here). We ask that you submit a maximum of 10 minutes of music. If you would like to submit a longer piece, please specify an excerpt that you would like to focus on for this session.

Stay tuned for future iterations of the Wildflower Lab!

The pilot phase of this project was sponsored by the Presser Foundation.

Thanks to Susanna Payne-Passmore, James Diaz, and Erin Busch for providing example scores, Adam Vidiksis and Melissa Dunphy for donating their time and expertise, and Temple University’s Boyer College of Music and Dance for donating the workshop space.