Listen to a KCUR radio interview with Composers in the Schools founder James Mobberley.

View a sample Composers in the Schools lesson.

About Composers in the Schools

Composers In The Schools (CITS) aims to increase the knowledge, experience, and amount of participation in music by middle and high school students in Kansas City. Graduate students from the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance's top-ranked composition department visit Kansas City metro area schools once or twice per week, working with students in a variety of musical areas including composition, music theory, music history, music appreciation, and performance.

CITS graduate fellows work closely with students to develop their compositional skills, performance abilities, and general understanding of music to not only engage more deeply with the music they love, but to explore music beyond their current familiarity. The CITS program emphasizes creativity and active participation, and our fellows encourage and help their students to compose their own original music.

Schools and students participating in CITS have many opportunities to meet and have classes with world-renowned composers and performers. In the last two years, notable visiting composers have included Martin Bresnick, Chinary Ung, Fleix Lazo, Cristian Morales-Ossio, and Michael Daugherty. Visiting performers have included violinist Rolf Shulte, cellist Madeleine Shapiro, pianist Hsing-ay Hsu, and multimedia artist Tyler Galloway.

What's Happening This Year

2009 - 2010 CITS Participating Schools:

2009 - 2010 CITS Fellows

2009 - 2010 CITS Areas of Instruction

Student Composition Competition

One of the highlights of CITS is the annual Student Composer Competition, to which CITS students are encouraged to submit their original works. First and second place winners receive certificates for their work, and often a chance for their music to be professionally performed and/or recorded by UMKC Conservatory performers.

2010 Student Composition Competition

The 2010 CITS Students Composition Competition is underway!

CITS students are encouraged to submit original works for the annual CITS Student Composition Competition.  First and second place winners will receive certificates for their work and will have the chance for their music to be professionally performed and/or recorded by UMKC performers.  Any student participating in the CITS program is eligible to apply.  The work may include any combination of 1-4 players chosen from the following instrumentation:  flute, clarinet, saxophone, oboe, bassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, violin, viola, cello, and piano (only one player per part).

Interested CITS students should submit finished scores to the Academy office no later than March 22 (receipt date).  Winner(s) will be announced on April 19, and the winning composition(s) will be performed on the Conservatory in the Schools Final Concert in White Recital Hall on Saturday, May 22, 2010.

Submission requirements:

• 1 copy of full score with applicant's full name (please indicate if the score is a transposed or concert score).
• Contact information sheet with applicant's full name, mailing address, telephone, email, school affiliation, and title of the submitted work.

SUBMISSIONS NOT ADHERING TO THESE GUIDELINES ARE SUBJECT TO DISQUALIFICATION.

2009 Student Composition Competition Winners

First place:  Brandi Burns (Ruskin High School), Misfortune Smiles for viola and piano

Second place:  Ellarose Rogers (Ruskin High School), Life to the Fullest for violin, viola, and piano

The Future of Composers in the Schools

Future goals include expanding the program to more schools, bringing in more guest composers and performers, working more with performers and ensembles at UMKC and in the Kansas City area, and to build partnerships with the Kansas City Art Institute and with local visual artists.

Learn More about CITS

To learn more about Composers in the Schools, please contact:

Dr. Mara Gibson

or

Nicholas Omiccioli