A Guide for Planning and Implementing Composer Residencies
Excerpts from the Music Alive Handbook (Copyright 2003 Meet the Composer and the American Symphony Orchestra League)

Among a range of efforts employed by orchestras to cultivate enthusiasm for new music, the short-term residency has proven a successful and cost-effective program model.  Within a residency framework of only a few weeks, scheduled consecutively or spread out over a season, composers and orchestras can achieve important goals: nurture successful creative collaborations between composers and music directors, create memorable opportunities for orchestra musicians, board members, and key supporters to interact with composers in formal and informal settings, and incorporate composers into a variety of educational and community activities that reach a range of audiences.

The most critical factor in the success of composer residencies is the creative synergy between the orchestras music director and the composer in residence.  Careful attention to the selection of the composer is the first step in forging an effective collaboration.  Other key ingredients for the success of short-term residencies include careful planning, a clear artistic vision that is shared by all the participants, the cultivation of strategic support within the orchestra, and excellent, ongoing communication among all the residency partners.

A composer residency can have lasting effects on a host orchestra and its community - by reinvigorating the orchestra's commitment to new music, engaging the interest of untapped audiences, and demonstrating a range of successful short-term outreach activities that can be adapted to suit the talents and interests of other visiting composers and soloists.

I. Initial Planning: Defining Goals and Identifying Key Areas of Activity
Composer selection: reason for selection provides the core theme or through-line for the residency, clear communication internally and externally about what is compelling about the composer's work is necessary
Residency activities: performance of the composer's work(s), advocacy for new music within the institution, collaboration with artistic staff and musicians, community engagement
(See sample residency plans in the Handbook.)

II. Residency Plan in Action
Building institutional support for your composer residency involves  the cultivation of interest and enthusiasm among your board of directors, audience groups, orchestra musicians, marketing and enthusiasm among your board of directors, audience groups, orchestra musicians, marketing and public relations staff, music librarian, and other key constituents within the orchestra.
- Newsletters, the web site, and bulletin boards inform your donors, subscribers, staff, and musicians
- Social gatherings during the residency provide effective opportunities to introduce the composer to orchestra musicians, board members, subscriber groups, and other key supporters.