Point
CounterPoint

Prelude

Adult
Workshops

New Music
On The Point

Point CounterPoint Arrow Banner Point CounterPoint Prelude Arrow Banner Point CounterPoint Adult Workshop Arrow Banner Point CounterPoint New Music on the Point Arrow Banner

NMOP 2024 What to expect.

Intensive interaction between participants and our internationally renowned faculty, visiting master artists, and special guests is integral to the New Music On The Point experience. Participants work closely with faculty in private lessons, masterclasses, workshops, reading sessions, ensembles and daily seminars.

NMOP 2024 will be special in its focus on collective, interdisciplinary art rather than individual works: the Artphibian Experience. During the 2024 festival, each composer-performer will contribute to the musical program in the surrounding woods and the Silver Lake (the first Saturday), a large collaborative Artphibian Experience piece (second Saturday), While at NMOP, all composer-performers will begin a new NMOP-inspired composition, have an opportunity to work one-on-one with faculty to create and record sound materials for individual projects, and have access to a jointly created substantial library of video and audio documentation, with guidance toward creating a short professional video promoting their creative personae.

Each student will participate in two ensembles that will meet throughout the festival. Ensemble 1 will focus on exploration of ecological materials such as videos, audio recordings and physical artifacts collected by the students. One performance faculty member and one composition faculty will mentor and guide the process of co-creation of a large-scale collaborative art and sound event, jointly designed by all ensemble members, for a site-specific performance at the end of the festival. 

Ensemble 2 will focus on helping and workshopping the new NMOP-inspired pieces. Student participants will be largely self-directed as they offer each other mutual inspiration for new individual musical works: reading each other’s sketches, trying musical ideas in real time, and giving each other constructive feedback. The time will be dedicated to individual projects through readings and recordings by faculty and participating soloists and ensembles. One performance and one composition faculty will mentor and guide the ensemble sessions.

“LabTime” is an individualized session that provides participants with a focused 20-minute segment working directly with NMOP’s world-class performers. These sessions encompass a variety of activities, including readings, improvisation, and other creative exercises. Each LabTime session will be documented through audio and video recording by NMOP staff. These personalized sessions will serve as a platform for participants to explore and refine their artistic expression, benefiting from guidance and mentorship of NMOP faculty. 

Students will also gain access to NMOP’s documentation library for personal use. This comprehensive resource includes video clips, audio recordings, and physical artifacts showcasing their individual and collaborative work at NMOP, offering a valuable insight into their creative practice as part of their NMOP experience. Supported by seminars on video and audio editing, this collection serves as a valuable tool for students’ to enhance their professional growth and career prospects. 

Performance ensembles and soloists will play ecologically motivated works by faculty and from their own repertoire. Student performance ensembles and soloists will have an opportunity for individual instruction, masterclasses, ensemble coaching, and performing on the on-campus Salon concerts and community events.

This year, NMOP is excited to present a program in which ALL participants are fully music creators in every sense: as performers, composers, improvisers, and explorers. Open to performer-composer, composer-performer and performance students. ALL instruments and vocal types, including brass, winds, strings, piano, guitar, and percussion are welcome to apply. Please note that our campus is not equipped for large instruments such as harp, organ and marimba. If you have any questions about whether your instrument or ensemble is feasible in our space, please email us.

“I am blown away by the program you have created for new music! The freedom to express ourselves, enjoy the teachings of others, and have the release of all that academic tension is beautiful and I was often brought to tears listening to my new colleagues perform. I can’t tell you what a safe haven you have created for us, especially as vocal musicians. We are constantly judged out in the “real” world, and to have two weeks of non-judgment to hone our crafts and work with such a talented group of faculty and colleagues is a breath of fresh air. Compared to other summer vocal institutes, NMOP is by far superior in content.”
—vocal participant

Open to ALL instruments and vocal types, including brass, winds, strings, piano, guitar, and percussion. Please note that our campus is not equipped for large instruments such as harp, organ and marimba. If you have any questions about whether your instrument or ensemble is feasible in our space, please email us.

Check out these articles in The Sybaritic Singer of what it’s like to attend NMOP:

composers James May & Cullyn Murphy (2018)

vocalist Hillary LaBonte (2013)

 

Point
CounterPoint

Prelude

Adult
Workshops

New Music
On The Point