About

  • Photo of music composition students.
  • Photo of a student playing an instrument.
  • Photo of a girl recording dripping sounds.

The Western Michigan University composition studio is an active, dedicated, and community-oriented program. There are four student composers' concerts each semester, in addition to individual composition recitals. Composition students have numerous opportunities to partner with student performers and ensembles to realize their creative vision. The WMU composition studio benefits from the high activity level, large size and quality of performers that exist in the School of Music. As part of the College of Fine Arts, composers have the opportunity to pursue collaborative projects with students in other creative fields, such as dance, art and theatre.

WMU offers student composers a variety of internal opportunities. We have yearly wind ensemble and orchestra readings of student compositions. There are also two yearly composition competitions, one for large ensemble and one for a chamber music composition. Student composers are encouraged to apply for opportunities outside WMU and to attend new music festivals.

Composition majors have the opportunity to study privately with WMU’s award-winning and diverse composition faculty. Student composers are encouraged to grow and develop their own compositional voice. Students learn the necessary skills to pursue careers writing music for traditional ensembles, multimedia and collaborative projects.

The composition studio fosters community and mutual support amongst our student composers, and encourages entrepreneurial activities. To these ends, the composition students at WMU have a student group that organizes events and seeks out opportunities within the Kalamazoo community to present their work and engage with new audiences.