APPLY FOR 26/27 EMERGING COMPOSERS PROGRAM!

Call for Emerging Composers: Unison Chamber Music Collective Commissioning Program 2026–2027

Unison Chamber Music Collective invites applications for its 2026–2027 Emerging Composers Commissioning Program.

Unison is a Michigan-based nonprofit organization that reimagines where classical music is presented and who it is for. Through engagement-based performances and educational initiatives, Unison brings live chamber music into shelters, recovery centers, correctional facilities, and other community spaces throughout Southeast Michigan. We believe music can serve as a powerful tool for connection, dignity, and belonging, and we are committed to amplifying voices that have historically been underrepresented within classical music.

For the 2026–2027 season, Unison will select up to five emerging composers to create new works inspired by the theme Metamorphosis.

Commission Details

Selected composers will be commissioned to write a new work of approximately 5 minutes induration for the following instrumentation:

  • Flute (optional piccolo and/or alto flute doubling)
  •  Clarinet (optional bass clarinet doubling)
  •  Violin
  •  Cello
  • Optional Fixed Media Electronics

The works will be performed by musicians from Soft Knee Collective, an ensemble of highly renowned artists dedicated to the performance of contemporary music and innovative collaborative projects.

Each selected composer will receive an $800 commissioning fee.

Proposals are due on Sunday, August 30th 2026. Composers are selected in September 2026 and will have until February 28, 2027 to complete their work.

Applications will include a current work sample.

Opportunities for Selected Composers

Selected composers will:

  • Receive an $800 commissioning fee
  •  Create a new work inspired by the theme Metamorphosis
  •  Collaborate directly with Unison musicians throughout the compositional process
  •  Participate in a workshop and reading session beginning in March 2027
  •  Receive feedback from performers during the development of their work
  •  Have their piece performed for audiences in both community and public concert settings
  •  Receive a professional studio recording of their completed work

The works will be presented for audiences in shelters, recovery centers, correctional facilities, and public concert venues, bringing new music directly into communities that are often excluded from traditional concert experiences.

This program is designed not only to support the creation of new music, but also to provide composers with meaningful opportunities for artistic growth through collaboration, rehearsal, feedback, performance, and professional recording.

Eligibility

This opportunity is intended for emerging composers. There is no age requirement or age limit for applicants. Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and gender-diverse individuals are encouraged to apply.

Selection will be based on the strength of submitted materials, artistic potential, and the applicant's demonstrated interest in the goals of the program.

We highly discourage the use of AI, and require any use of AI to be clearly disclosed in your application.

Application Materials

Applicants should submit:

  • One score that best represents their compositional voice
  •  A MIDI realization or recording (strongly encouraged)
  •  A résumé or curriculum vitae
  •  A brief statement of interest (500 words maximum) describing:
    -Why they would like to participate in the program
  •        -How this opportunity would support their growth as a composer
  •        -Their connection to, or interpretation of, the theme Metamorphosis

Timeline

Application Deadline: Sunday, August 30, 2026

Composer Notifications: Mid-September 2026

Composition Deadline: February 28, 2027

Workshops and Performances: Beginning March 2027

Submission Information

Please send all application materials to:

info@unisonchambermusiccollective.org

Questions are welcome at any time.

We look forward to supporting a new cohort of composers as they explore transformation, growth, and change through the creation of new music

MEET THE 2025/26 COMPOSERS

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Sergio Salazar            Matthew Tirona            Moshe Guerrero            Britney Benton       Joseph Jones

Sergio Salazar is an emerging latin american composer and sound designer. His compositions have premiered in Mexico, including: The Cinco Cinco Cinco Contemporary Music Concerts at the Center of the Arts in Monterrey (2022), and in Mexico City at the Casa de la Paz Theater. He studied musical composition at the National University of La Plata and continued to explore experimental music through artistic residencies. His work lives at the intersection of sound, image, and the unseen structures that bind them, drawing inspiration from the aleatory patterns of nature, like the fractal sprawl of branches, the rhythmic pulse of water, or the spectral play of light through leaves. In photography, He chases these dynamics, framing compositions that mirror the chaos and order of natural forms, where geometry and entropy collide.
Matthew Tirona (ASCAP) is a Boston-based composer with a prolific and acclaimed output.Collaborators include the New England Conservatory Philharmonia and Wind Ensemble, the Midwest Graduate Music Consortium (as winner of the MGMC 2024 Call For Scores), Vox Novus, and Trio Tyche, among frequent art-song collaborations with his operatic peers. In 2024, Matthew was named winner of the NEC Honors Ensemble Composition Competition for his piano trio. The same work was awarded first prize in the 2025 Belvedere Chamber Music Festival Composition Contest. Matthew is enrolled at New England Conservatory studying with Michael Gandolfi.
Moshe is a Colombian composer and was selected as one of the UCMC Composer Commissioning Winners for 2025. We are thrilled to feature his powerful new work, Transcontinental, in our upcoming performances and can’t wait for audiences to experience his inspiring artistry!
Brittney holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music Composition with a Minor in Music Technology from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and a Masters in Music Composition from the Yale School of Music. She is very interested in working outside of the concert hall, especially in the realm of video game music. Brittney’s music has been performed by the Bellevue Chamber Chorus, ZOFO, the Beo String Quartet, the Lowell Chamber Orchestra, the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, SOLI Chamber Ensemble and more. She was named one of the winners of Chicago a Capella’s “Her Voice Competition” in 2022. In 2024 she was named one of the winners of the SOLI Chamber Ensemble’s “30x30x30” competition and was a recipient of Kind of Kings “Bouman Fellowship”. Recent composition festivals include the 2020 Charlotte New Music Festival and Connecticut Summerfest 2021. She also attended the inaugural Akropolis Chamber Music Institute (ACMI) in 2022. In 2024, she attended the Alba Music Composition Festival in Alba, Italy.
Joseph Jones is a New York City–based composer and conductor whose catalog of more than 200 works spans symphonies, operas, chamber music, and solo repertoire. He studied composition and conducting at the Peabody Conservatory and is Artistic Director of Orchestra Amadeus, which he founded in 2015 following early humanitarian projects including Beethoven for Boston and Symphony for Haiti. His music has been performed at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and internationally. Guided by a philosophy he calls Earnest Aestheticism—the belief that beauty is not ornament but necessity—Jones creates music of sincerity, courage, and communion that seeks to dignify human experience.
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