Mostly Modern Festival - Composer
Donation protected
As a selected composer for the Mostly Modern Festival, I will be traveling to Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY to participate in a two-week long festival in mid-June (June 4 - 18). This festival will include a world premiere of chamber works from "Paul Klee: Painted Songs" for the American Modern Ensemble, an orchestral reading of excerpts from "Chamber Symphony 'Beams of Heaven,'" private lessons with guest composers and participation in workshops, concerts, and networking opportunities with guest ensembles (Imani Winds, Euclid Quartet, Atlantic Brass Quintet) and American Modern Orchestra and American Modern Choir. For more information about the festival, read the press release or visit the festival webpage.
This campaign will help cover tuition, room and board, and travel costs for the festival and any additional funding will be put towards the completion and promotion of the works themselves. Since I hope to use this as an opportunity to meet other composers and performers, I will be updating my headshots, business cards, and website before the festival.
Proposed Budget:
Tuition: $2,495.00
Room & Board: $1,175.00
Travel: ~$400.00
Headshots: ~$150 - $300
Business Cards: ~$10 - $20
TOTAL: ~$4,300.00
More about my work:
The main work I will be completing is Gallery II from "Paul Klee: Painted Songs," an ongoing series of short chamber works for a variety of instruments which can be arranged in various combinations to create 'galleries' which are based on the paintings and drawings of Paul Klee. I will be completing three movements for Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Violoncello, and Piano. These three movements form the core of Gallery II, which is designed to include thirteen movements using various subsets of the five instruments. Currently seven of the thirteen are completed, and by the festival, I hope to have the full work completed and highlight the three movements using the full ensemble. Listen to excerpts of a few movements here and read more about other pieces on my website.
"Chamber Symphony 'Beams of Heaven'" is another in-progress work that I will share at the festival. The "scherzo" was premiered in Curitiba, Brazil and I am still working on additional movements. For this festival, I hope to have 2 or 3 other movements read by the American Modern Orchestra. The full work will contain nine movements. Listen to the recording of the "scherzo" here and read more about the full work on my website.
In addition to these two works, I will be participating in lessons and masterclasses with the guest composers and musicians. These opportunities will help me refine my existing work and generate new ideas for future works.
More about me:
Jonathan Posthuma (b. 1989) is a freelance composer and musician living in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He recently received his Masters in Music Composition from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, where he studied with Stephen Dembski and Laura Schwendinger. The majority of his work is vocal or choral, but his symphonic and wind ensemble works have been performed at international festivals. As a vocalist, Jonathan sings in two auditioned choirs in the Twin Cities: VocalEssence Chorus and Kantorei, and a few of his choral works have received premieres by these ensembles, including two composed for VocalEssence as part of their ReMix program, designed for emerging composers of choral music, which were premiered at the ACDA National Festival in March 2017 and at Minnesota’s ACDA Festival in November 2017.
What your donation means:
Your support means everything! Especially where I am right now in my career! As a freelance composer working only part-time and no longer enrolled in a degree program, there are considerably fewer options for me to receive institutional funding or to perform my work with student ensembles. Though I receive a few awards and premieres annually, I am still considered somewhere in the gap between a student composer and an emerging professional composer. I have been working a variety of part-time jobs and balancing my freelance performing and composing, while actively seeking full-time work in arts administration, but even entry level positions are highly competitive. Though doctoral study does interest me, I simply cannot afford to go back to school. Festivals like this are critical networking opportunities to promote my work with professional collaborators, whom I ultimately want to be working with more regularly. And although I apply for several awards, festivals, grants, and opportunities, it is rare when your work is selected and you must make the most of the opportunities you have. Composers often shoulder the entire cost of their work by writing it, publishing it, promoting it, producing it, etc., which is all unpaid time. By helping me attend this festival, you will be promoting all facets of my work and investing alongside me in creating new contemporary chamber music, which will be shared online and with others, leading to further opportunities and collaborations. Essentially, your support now will help me support the rest of my career as an artist!
This campaign will help cover tuition, room and board, and travel costs for the festival and any additional funding will be put towards the completion and promotion of the works themselves. Since I hope to use this as an opportunity to meet other composers and performers, I will be updating my headshots, business cards, and website before the festival.
Proposed Budget:
Tuition: $2,495.00
Room & Board: $1,175.00
Travel: ~$400.00
Headshots: ~$150 - $300
Business Cards: ~$10 - $20
TOTAL: ~$4,300.00
More about my work:
The main work I will be completing is Gallery II from "Paul Klee: Painted Songs," an ongoing series of short chamber works for a variety of instruments which can be arranged in various combinations to create 'galleries' which are based on the paintings and drawings of Paul Klee. I will be completing three movements for Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Violoncello, and Piano. These three movements form the core of Gallery II, which is designed to include thirteen movements using various subsets of the five instruments. Currently seven of the thirteen are completed, and by the festival, I hope to have the full work completed and highlight the three movements using the full ensemble. Listen to excerpts of a few movements here and read more about other pieces on my website.
"Chamber Symphony 'Beams of Heaven'" is another in-progress work that I will share at the festival. The "scherzo" was premiered in Curitiba, Brazil and I am still working on additional movements. For this festival, I hope to have 2 or 3 other movements read by the American Modern Orchestra. The full work will contain nine movements. Listen to the recording of the "scherzo" here and read more about the full work on my website.
In addition to these two works, I will be participating in lessons and masterclasses with the guest composers and musicians. These opportunities will help me refine my existing work and generate new ideas for future works.
More about me:
Jonathan Posthuma (b. 1989) is a freelance composer and musician living in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He recently received his Masters in Music Composition from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, where he studied with Stephen Dembski and Laura Schwendinger. The majority of his work is vocal or choral, but his symphonic and wind ensemble works have been performed at international festivals. As a vocalist, Jonathan sings in two auditioned choirs in the Twin Cities: VocalEssence Chorus and Kantorei, and a few of his choral works have received premieres by these ensembles, including two composed for VocalEssence as part of their ReMix program, designed for emerging composers of choral music, which were premiered at the ACDA National Festival in March 2017 and at Minnesota’s ACDA Festival in November 2017.
What your donation means:
Your support means everything! Especially where I am right now in my career! As a freelance composer working only part-time and no longer enrolled in a degree program, there are considerably fewer options for me to receive institutional funding or to perform my work with student ensembles. Though I receive a few awards and premieres annually, I am still considered somewhere in the gap between a student composer and an emerging professional composer. I have been working a variety of part-time jobs and balancing my freelance performing and composing, while actively seeking full-time work in arts administration, but even entry level positions are highly competitive. Though doctoral study does interest me, I simply cannot afford to go back to school. Festivals like this are critical networking opportunities to promote my work with professional collaborators, whom I ultimately want to be working with more regularly. And although I apply for several awards, festivals, grants, and opportunities, it is rare when your work is selected and you must make the most of the opportunities you have. Composers often shoulder the entire cost of their work by writing it, publishing it, promoting it, producing it, etc., which is all unpaid time. By helping me attend this festival, you will be promoting all facets of my work and investing alongside me in creating new contemporary chamber music, which will be shared online and with others, leading to further opportunities and collaborations. Essentially, your support now will help me support the rest of my career as an artist!
Organizer
Jonathan Posthuma
Organizer
Newport, MN
