The AGO Student Commissioning Project is the AGO’s most recent new music venture. Each year, grants of $1,000 are awarded to four collaborative composer-and-organist pairs for the composition and performance of four new works for the organ. In the fall, as the academic year begins, a student pair submits a joint application describing a proposed work and its performance. There are no restrictions with regard to a work’s compositional style, however, all composers and organists must be enrolled as full- or part-time students at an accredited U.S. college, university, or conservatory. After the new work is approved by the AGO Committee on New Music, the organist must premiere the work and present two additional performances. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this procedure has be amended for the 2020-21 projects. 2020-21 Project Guidelines
Award: Four grants of $1,000 will be awarded each year to four composer and organist pairs by the AGO Committee on New Music.
The four composer-organist student pairs that were selected fall, 2019, had a challenging year on campus due to the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic: Charles Berofsky and Bradley Vogel at the Eastman School of Music, J. Alexander Bennett and Amber Dahlberg at Brigham Young University, Matthew Hazzard and Jim Roman at The University of Houston, and Seo Yoon Kim and Wendy Johnston at the Peabody Institute.
J. Alexander Bennett (composer) and Amber Dahlberg (organist) collaborated on Coccinella. Listen to Coccinella
Matthew Hazzard (composer) and Jim Roman (organist) collaborated on Distance.
Charkes Berofsky (composer) and Bradley Vogel (organist) collaborated on The Storm Approaches. Listen to The Storm Approaches.
Seo Yoon Kim (composer) and Wendy Johnston (organist) collaborated on Under the Moonlight They Sing and Dance.
Committee on New Music
Louise Mundinger, MM, Director Email
David J. Hurd, Jr., MusD Email
Carol Feather Martin, MM Email
Alexander Meszler, DMA Email
M. Jonathan Ryan, Councillor for Competitions and New Music Email
AGO Headquarters Email
