THE SEATTLE SYMPHONY OPENS APPLICATIONS FOR THE 30th ANNIVERSARY SEASON OF THE MERRIMAN-ROSS FAMILY YOUNG COMPOSERS WORKSHOP
APPLICATIONS ALSO OPEN FOR THE YOUNG ARTIST AUDITIONS PROGRAM
Seattle, WA – The Seattle Symphony is pleased to announce that applications for the Merriman-Ross Family Young Composers Workshop and Young Artist auditions are now open, and will close Friday, September 23, 2022. The Merriman-Ross Family Young Composers Workshop supports local students’ development as budding composers and consists of a 15-week course that provides direction on all aspects of composition. Students will broaden their knowledge of writing themes, learning instrumentation and orchestration, and will prepare a final score with parts for a full orchestra. Each Merriman-Ross Family Young Composers Workshop culminates in a final performance at Benaroya Hall, featuring Seattle Symphony musicians performing the students’ final scores.
The 2022/2023 Merriman-Ross Family Young Composers Workshop marks the program’s 30th anniversary, and the Symphony looks forward to celebrating another successful year of working with local students to support their musical enrichment. The program has a long history involving many prestigious names in music composition, providing local students the opportunity to connect with exceptional expertise in this field. The program began in 1992 under the direction of Rebecca & Jack Benaroya Conductor Laureate Gerard Schwarz who was the Harriet Overton Stimson Music Director of the Seattle Symphony from 1985 to 2011, and former Composer in Residence Bright Sheng. It was originally named in honor of David Diamond, recognized as one of America’s greatest composers and the Symphony’s longtime Honorary Composer in Residence.
The Seattle Symphony welcomes back Angelique Poteat as the 2022/2023 season Workshop Director of the Merriman-Ross Family Young Composers Workshop. Poteat is an acclaimed composer and clarinetist, who is also a Young Composers Workshop alumna and the Symphony’s 2022/2023 Artist in Residence. Poteat will help students collaborate with Seattle Symphony musicians to create original works and facilitate their learning with renowned guest composers and guest artists. The Seattle Symphony welcomes youths ages 18 years and younger to apply to the Merriman-Ross Family Young Composers Workshop for this opportunity to develop their talents with guidance from professional composers and musicians.
The Seattle Symphony is also pleased to open applications to the Young Artist program and invites pre-college instrumentalists to audition. A select number of Young Artists will be presented the opportunity to be a featured soloist performing with the Seattle Symphony at Benaroya Hall during the 2023/2024 season.
Both the Merriman-Ross Family Young Composers Workshop and the Young Artist program are critical in broadening the work the Seattle Symphony does within the community, and uniquely extend beyond the regular Symphony season, offering opportunities for local youth throughout the entire year. The Seattle Symphony credits the meaningful work that the Education and Community Engagement department invests in overseeing these youth programs as well as all other community initiatives, and is excited to welcome new students to these programs later this year.
For more information about the application process and materials needed to apply, please visit the Education and Community Engagement’s program website, or contact the department via email education@seattlesymphony.org.
ANGELIQUE POTEAT | COMPOSER
Angelique Poteat is from the Pacific Northwest. Her music has been recorded and performed in Australia, Germany, Lithuania, Hungary, Japan, Italy, Norway and all over the United States by ensembles including the Seattle Symphony, Yakima Symphony Orchestra, Philharmonia Northwest, Seattle Collaborative Orchestra, Saratoga Orchestra, Woodlands Symphony Orchestra, North Corner Chamber Orchestra, CernaBella and the Enso Quartet. Some notable performances include Beyond Much Difference (2014), a piece commissioned and performed by the Seattle Symphony at their January 2015 Sonic Evolution concert with Mike McCready, Chris Cornell and members of the bands Pearl Jam, Sound Garden and more.
Poteat is the recipient of the 2015 American Prize in Composition for Beyond Much Difference, as well as grants from Seattle 4Culture, Artist Trust and the Allied Arts Foundation. She is also a 2015 CityArtist from the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture and the 2018 Composer-in-Residence for the New Music on the Rock Festival. She recently completed a work for Arx Percussion Duo and is currently working on a clarinet quintet for Seattle Symphony’s Dr. Robert Wallace Clarinet Laura DeLuca.
Poteat is the Director of the Seattle Symphony Merriman-Ross Young Composers Workshop. Poteat earned the degrees Bachelor of Music from the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University and Master of Music from the College-Conservatory of Music. She has studied composition with Samuel Adler, Joel Hoffman, Mara Helmuth, Anthony Brandt, Pierre Jalbert, Shih-Hui Chen, Arthur Gottschalk and Samuel Jones. Many of her works are influenced by the natural world around her, often returning to the ocean and Puget Sound area.
SEATTLE SYMPHONY
The Seattle Symphony unleashes the power of music, brings people together and lifts the human spirit. Recognized as one of the “most vital American orchestras” (NPR), the Seattle Symphony is internationally acclaimed for its inventive programming, community-minded initiatives and superb recordings on the Seattle Symphony Media label. With a strong commitment to new music and a legacy of over 150 recordings, the orchestra has garnered five Grammy Awards, 27 Grammy nominations, two Emmy Awards and was named Gramophone’s 2018 Orchestra of the Year. The Symphony performs in Benaroya Hall in the heart of downtown Seattle from September through July, reaching over 750,000 people annually through live performances and radio broadcasts, and through the Seattle Symphony Live streaming service, the orchestra’s concerts reach audiences at home and around the world.
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The Merriman-Ross Family Young Composers Workshop is generously underwritten by Pamela Merriman, Sonja Ross, and Kelley Ross.
Additional support for The Merriman-Ross Family Young Composers Workshop is provided by Patricia M. Davis, Ann Holbrook, and Michel and Christine Suignard.
The Seattle Symphony’s Family, School & Community programs are supported by 4Culture, Arakawa Foundation, Marco Argenti, The Klorfine Foundation, Merriman-Ross Family, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, Maryanne Tagney, the Atsuhiko and Ina Goodwin Tateuchi Foundation and individual contributions to the Seattle Symphony Annual Fund.