Composition Summer Course for Ages 14–21

Course Dates & Times

Monday 28 July – Friday 1 August 2025
9.30am–5.30pm 

About Composition Summer Course for Ages 14–21

This five-day course is a unique opportunity for you to develop your composition skills and write a piece for a small instrumental ensemble. You will work with a composition teacher and performers on your own music and learn about writing for instruments and developing ideas.

The course, led by Guildhall Composition Professor Paul Whitmarsh, will culminate in a showcase where you will get to hear your work performed.

Who is the course for?

Young composers aged 14 to 21 with some composition experience.

What can I expect?

During the week you will:

• Participate in group composition classes, where you will explore aspects of technique, notation, instrumental writing and how to work with your ideas
• Receive one-to-one composition tuition
• Work with instrumentalists to try out ideas
• Write a piece for a string quartet throughout the week
• Hear your piece workshopped, rehearsed and then performed in an end-of-course showcase
• Receive a mastered audio recording of your piece

Do I need anything for the course?

• If possible, please bring a laptop with music notation software (e.g. Sibelius/MuseScore/Dorico) installed.

How to Apply

Click the ‘apply now’ button and complete the application form, which consists of the following:

• Write 250 words outlining your composition experience and what you hope to gain from the course
• Upload a portfolio of two completed compositions. These can be in any style but both compositions should be fully notated. Your portfolio should be submitted as a .pdf file – the music can be either handwritten and scanned, or notated using computer software. You may also submit audio files should you wish, but these are not essential.

Course Fee

£675

There is very limited availability remaining on this course. Please join our waiting list and we will contact you if a place becomes available.

• Read our terms and conditions

Participation Bursaries are available for this course. Please note the application deadline for Participation Bursaries is 28 April 2025.

Eligibility

• For everyone aged 14–21
• Some prior experience with composition (as listed above)
• Participants must have sufficient English language skills in order to fully engage with the course 

About the Course Tutor

The course is taught by composer Paul Whitmarsh who teaches in the composition and academic music departments at Guildhall School.

Paul also teaches composition at Wells Cathedral School. He read music at Clare College, Cambridge, before studying composition with Julian Anderson at the Royal College of Music. Music education is a huge passion, with previous job roles including Composer-in-Residence at Bedford School between 2002 and 2005 and three subsequent years as Maingot Trust Fellow in New Music at The Warehouse, London.

Paul's music has been performed at many festivals throughout the UK, including Aldeburgh, Spitalfields, Cheltenham, Deal, Hampstead and Highgate, Tête à Tête, the bmic Cutting Edge series, and the Park Lane Group New Year Series. Recent commissions include Lullaby for Choir and Organ magazine, premiered by the Joyful Company of Singers in 2010; Pealing Out, premiered by the Galliard Ensemble in 2009; and Berceuse in a Box for the 2007 Cheltenham Festival. His compositions have also been performed by, amongst others, Elizabeth Watts, Huw Watkins, David Campbell, Alexandra Wood, Daniel Becker, Chroma, and the Warehouse Ensemble.