The 48th Annual Seminar on Contemporary Music for the Young will take place April 2–4, 2027. More information about the featured composer to be announced soon.
The Rivers School Conservatory Seminar on Contemporary Music for the Young was founded to address the need of young performers to hear, play, and learn the music of their time. Since 1978 the seminar has presented 3,254 pieces, representing more than 1,920 composers and 720 premieres, including 227 commissioned pieces. Each seminar’s programming is unique; pieces are performed only once, so that repertoire, composed within the last 25 years, is constantly being explored. The idea of young performers, composers, and audiences interacting with one another in an artistic and creative way has sparked the imagination of educators. Our seminar has become the model for many such events throughout the United States and the world.
Every year RSC commissions one composer for a major work. 2026 Seminar featured renowned composer Matthew Aucoin, former RSC student and MacArthur Fellow, and debuted a new arrangement of Aucoin’s song cycle The Inner Core performed by a student string quartet, alongside award-winning bass-baritone William Socolof — watch the video above. Other past commissioned composers and guests include:
John Cage
Sorrel Hays
Chen Yi
Wendy Rolfe
Ivan Tcherepnin
Daniel Pinkham
John Harbison
Gunther Schuller
Joan Tower
Sir John Tavener
Lukas Foss
Samuel Adler
Lowell Liebermann
Michael Gandolfi
Robert Sirota
Libby Larsen
Matthew Aucoin
Andrew List
Lera Auerbach
Elena Ruehr