CASMEC 2023 Young Composers Symposium

by Dr. Lisa A. Crawford CMEA Creating and Composition Representative

Thank you to the music educators and students who participated in this year’s CASMEC 2023 Young Composers Symposium! What an incredible array of different creative styles. I appreciated all of the students in Zoom and in-person for the conference. Students’ and educators’ excitement and extraordinary participation was noteworthy! Please see the Program for students and educators who participated.

Thank you, Amy Lui, for your Keynote, Nurturing and Empowering Student Creativity through Community and Industry Relations. We hope to hear more from you in the coming years about the explorations of your ideas. Thank you, Dr. Alexander Koops, for your support and efforts for the Young Composers Symposium! And thank you, CMEA, for your support of this work on behalf of students who create music.

As I prepared for Young Composers Symposium this year, music teachers asked about what types of music would be accepted. I have been asked about this frequently and finally realized that the word “composition” can feel misleading.

The Young Composers Symposium is about all creative works K-16 students are writing. This does not imply 21st century classical music styles only. Any project your student would like to submit is welcomed. Music educators may work with students who strongly present in creating music of their own, with and without lessons. All students and all music are welcomed!

I hope you will contact me during this next year if you have a student or students who would like to present in the annual Young Composers Symposium. We accept outcomes of your creating and composition lesson plans on video, songs, contemporary digital music, sound designs, and notated orchestral and band works.

For CASMEC 2024 Young Composers Symposium, we will have an independent session for presentation of K-5 creating and composing lesson plans on video. We have several music educators interested in participating in this and hope you will join us!

Please keep in touch with me over the coming year if you have questions (lisacrawfordmusic@gmail.com). Students and educators may attend our Creating and Composition Meetings held 2-3 times each year via Zoom. Watch social media and email for notifications. I want you to be a part of the conversation about what works for students beginning to explore their creative musical natures! See you next year!