Creative Hybrids residency (high school students): This collaborative project with ProMusica Chamber Orchestra and Capital University was piloted in the 2008-09 school year.  It’s a composition project blending suburban and urban high school students with common interests in music.  This residency serves as an introduction to composition for high school students and it intended to extend their awareness of styles and instrumentation beyond the school’s capability.

Music students from two high schools worked within a learning community of professional musicians and students of higher education focused on musical composition.  These students studied a variety of musical styles, understood elements of each and then experimented with the styles by writing their own works.  Throughout the process, the students gained familiarity with a wider range of instruments, the role of each instrument and increased understanding of music notation beyond their own instrument.

The process included presentation/demonstration by professional musicians and composition coaching by college faculty and university composition majors.  Students will use Finale Notepad shareware software to provide practical application of their new skills.  Instruction was given in an exchange of locations, with five sessions in each high school and three sessions held on the campus of Capital University.