CSIC commissions professional composers throughout the country and introduces high school students to the creation and performance of new works. Our commission and workshop programs encourage creativity and introduce students to careers in the music-creating industry.

www.composersandschools.com Twitter @csicproject

In 2014, the national music education standards changed for the first time since 1999. They included “creating” as part of the standards that music educators are encouraged to teach.

These new standards were created by teachers and arts education experts.

What Was Music Education Like When You Were a Kid?

Did you play an instrument?

– Was the experience creative?

– Did it include improvisation or songwriting?

– Did you ever meet a living composer or discuss them?

– Did anyone mention that composition could be a career?

Traditional youth music education is primarily focused on getting students to learn the language of music but it rarely addresses the question of how to encourage creativity. Nor does it introduce students to career opportunities in the music-creating industry.

The Problem

Youth Music Education Often Looks Like This

www.composersandschools.com @csicproject

Our solution is simple: Provide Hands-on creative work with living composers.

Our Solution

Our Two Programs for Schools and Students

We are helping students to participate in the “creating” aspect of music education by providing two programs that offer teachers and students hands-on creative work with living composers.

A) Our composer commission program for youth ensembles where we include students in the process of the creation of the piece

B) Composition workshops for students. Our professional composers coach students in the discipline of contemporary music composition and encourage students to create.

Why Do Teachers and Students Love Our Programs?

“The process of meeting a composer, interacting and giving input for the commission was invaluable to the education of my students.” — Armand Hall, Associate Director of Bands, May 2015

Music Directors have shared with us that: • “CSIC’s programs provide a broader picture of what career opportunities

possible beyond teaching and performing.” • “I had several students approach me after the project to ask about

studying composition in college.” • “The energy and the special atmosphere that this collaboration created

cannot be replicated by just the teacher. The kids are getting a huge impact through this connection with the composer, like a jolt of coffee, it brings them up and then they are that much more enlightened.”

In Addition to Serving Teachers and Students, We Also Serve Composers. Who are They?

Victoria Bond, award-winning composer and conductor

Gabriela Lena Frank, Grammy award-winning composer

Steve Kirk, Composer, Guitarist: the man behind the Farmville theme song

Alex Shapiro, Composer, Board Member ASCAP

Lou Marini, Composer and Performer : Doc Severinson, SNL Band, Blues Brothers, Frank Zappa

• Composers for Jazz Ensemble • Songwriters • Composers for Film and TV and

Games • Composers for Wind Band,

Chorus or Chamber Ensemble • Every genre of the music-

creating industry is represented

What Do Composers Need?

They overwhelmingly told us they need the following:

• Access to commissions

• Tools to develop workshop lesson plans for high school students to share their craft

• Assistance in reaching educators

So We Created This

• A commissioning program that includes students in the creation process. We’re facilitating a marketplace for professional composers that follows national music education standards.

• A workshop development program that helps composers share their craft and expertise with students in a way that works in a school setting e.g. lesson plans, learning outcomes, talking points, print materials, national standards.

• Teacher professional development program taught by composers. We help composers share their craft with teachers who can in turn teach their students.

Sales Model

Our sales model is primarily business to business. We sell our programs to schools, and school districts and we sell our services to composers. Across the United States there are 26,407 public secondary schools and 10,693 private secondary schools. (Digest of Education Statistics, 2001, Table 89) Each one of these institutions has a budget for educational programming. Across the Unites States there are 77,600 composers in the United States (Occupational Outlook Handbook, BLS.gov)

The Sales Process When a teacher, school or district goes online to commission their favorite composer or select a composer workshop to host, they have the confidence of knowing that CSIC has vetted this composer to be a good fit for a youth environment. The composer negotiates their commission and CSIC provides training services for a fee.

In Summary, This is Us.

Watch the Video At

https://youtu.be/Ur

1fPjfLx3Q

www.composersandschools.com Twitter @csicproject