Jessie Montgomery headlines CIM’s June 2025 Young Composers Program

An opportunity without parallel awaits young composers this summer at the Cleveland Institute of Music.   

On Tuesday, Feb. 25, the school announced the 2025 edition of its acclaimed Young Composers Program and revealed that Grammy Award-winning composer, violinist, and educator Jessie Montgomery will be the program’s creative partner.   

“I am very excited to serve as guest faculty this summer for the Cleveland Institute of Music’s Young Composers Program,” Montgomery said. “We look forward to welcoming a talented cohort of composers for a week of new music in-the-making, inspiring forums, and performances that support today’s aspiring artists.” 

Running June 22-27, the 2025 Young Composers Program is a five-day intensive for emerging composers consisting of personalized lessons, masterclasses, workshops, and a dedicated composer concert June 27 in CIM’s Mixon Hall.   

Throughout the program, participants will immerse themselves in the world of contemporary music, working closely with Montgomery as well as CIM faculty, including composers Jennifer Conner and Alex Cooke, and their peers. New this year, the program is open to both young and emerging composers ages 12-17 in the Young Innovators division and ages 18-28 in the Next Gen division.  

Students in the Next Gen division will receive two private lessons, including a one-on-one with Montgomery, and take part in masterclasses, music business workshops, and an optional jam session. They will be asked to write a new work for string quartet or piano trio to be workshopped, performed, and recorded. 

Composers in the Young Innovators division will enjoy two private lessons with CIM faculty, a masterclass with Montgomery, musical enrichment classes, and a required jam session. They will be asked to write a new work for string duo, also to be workshopped, performed, and recorded.  

Applications for the 2025 Young Composers Program are being accepted now through March 24. Apply by March 14 to enjoy a reduced application fee. Admission decisions will be sent by April 18. Click here for the application form.  

Along with the application fee and the application form, all participants must submit a portfolio, with scores and recordings, of two or three recent compositions. Those who wish may also submit a personal statement and an application for financial support.  

Tuition for the 2025 Young Composers Program is $1,250. Additional costs include a required $350 dining fee and an optional $490 housing fee for students who choose to reside on campus. For assistance, email Summer Programs Director Jennifer Arnold at jennifer.arnold@cim.edu. Detailed information can be found at cim.edu/ycp. 

About Jessie Montgomery 

Jessie Montgomery is a Grammy Award-winning composer, violinist, and educator whose work interweaves classical music with elements of vernacular music, improvisation, poetry, and social consciousness, making her an acute interpreter of 21st-century American sound and experience. Her profound works have been described as “turbulent, wildly colorful, and exploding with life” (The Washington Post), and are performed regularly by leading orchestras, ensembles, and soloists around the world. In June 2024, she concluded a three-year appointment as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s Mead Composer-in-Residence. A founding member of PUBLIQuartet and former member of the Catalyst Quartet, Montgomery is a frequent and highly engaged collaborator with performing musicians, composers, choreographers, playwrights, poets, and visual artists alike. At the heart of Montgomery’s work is a deep sense of community enrichment and a desire to create opportunities for young artists and underrepresented composers to broaden audience experiences in classical music spaces. Montgomery has been recognized with many prestigious awards and fellowships, including the Civitella Ranieri Fellowship, the Sphinx Medal of Excellence and Sphinx Virtuosi Composer-in-Residence, the Leonard Bernstein Award from the ASCAP Foundation, and Musical America’s 2023 Composer of the Year. She serves on the composition and music technology faculty at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music. 

Photo by Jiyang Chen