UPCOMING PROGRAMS

SEASON 2024

CREATIVE

MUSIC

INTENSIVE

08/03–08/18 2024

Arts Letters & Numbers Campus

Averill Park, NY, United States

PROGRAM BREAKDOWN

The class schedule will be sent out by July 15th.

Archival recordings of online workshops and performances will be made available for future reference or use in grant applications and career development:

  • Participants’ Concert

    All participants, in person and online, are invited to share work in a final concert. This work must be developed during the program. The concert will be open to the public and available online and will take place on August 17th at Sand Lake Center for the Arts.

  • Terry Riley with Sara Miyamoto: Online Concert and Q&A

  • Filmmaker Bill Morrison screens Just Ancient Loops (collaboration with Michael) and other films

  • Performance with Michael, Elliot, Ina Filip, Benoit Rolland & Mir Islam

  • Bergamot Quartet: Concert

  • Duos performance with Payton, Ledah & Irene from Bergamot Quartet, and Alec Goldfarb

  • Composition: An Overview & Discussion (Michael, Aleksandra, Elliot, Payton, and Ledah from Bergamot Quartet)

  • Improvisation (Payton, Michael and Elliot), multiple sessions

  • Listening Non-Critiques (David, Faculty & Participants), multiple sessions

    These are opportunities to share our works in a safe and supportive framework and engage in positive conversations about the works and the connections between them.

  • Duos Day (Elliot) - full day (90-minute morning session, free afternoon, evening concert)

    An adventure in collaboration: participants will be guided in a range of approaches to collaboration as they create a concert of duo performances in a single day.

  • Collaboration and masterclass/rehearsals (Bergamot Quartet & Aleksandra), multiple sessions

    Bergamot Quartet, a NYC-based string quartet specializing in contemporary music, and Aleksandra will work with up to twelve participant composers on a first-come, first-serve basis to workshop new music and premiere it on a final concert. Aleksandra will offer technical feedback on writing for strings as well as on elements of composition in participants' works rehearsed by BQ. Participants from all backgrounds and notational traditions (or lack thereof) are welcome to submit work and proposals.

    Please write to Ledah Finck (ledah@bergamotquartet.com) to indicate interest and include a proposal for your idea – it can be in its infancy! BQ is also happy to perform already-completed pieces, but we encourage composers to take advantage of the time we'll have together to chat and workshop, and bring in new works.

    Please email drafts to Ledah by July 1st, 2024. Completed works should be in the 5-minute range. Note that your scores should ideally be mostly or totally completed as far as notes on the page go by July 1st. Workshopping time at ALN will be for fine-tuning. We can't wait to hear your music!

  • Writing for Percussion & Collaborations with Payton

    Payton MacDonald will work with up to four participant composers on a first-come, first-serve basis to workshop new music and premiere it on a final concert. Payton will offer technical feedback on writing for percussion as well as on elements of composition in participants' works. Participants from all backgrounds and notational traditions (or lack thereof) are welcome to submit work and proposals.

    Please write to Payton (payton.macdonald@gmail.com) to indicate interest and include a proposal for your idea – it can be in its infancy!

    Please email drafts to Payton by July 1st, 2024. Completed works should be in the 5-minute range. Note that your scores should ideally be mostly or totally completed as far as notes on the page go by July 1st. 

  • Singing & Playing Indian Ragas (Michael & Elliot), 10 sessions on all weekdays

    Join this welcoming community where we'll learn by doing. Join in with your voice or your instrument as Michael shares the Kirana lineage of Khayal singing he learned from his Gurus Pandit Pran Nath, Ustad Mashkoor Ali Khan, Terry Riley and La Monte Young. Together, we'll experience the basics of raga, from structural principles to the building blocks of basic rhythmic cycles, improvisation, traditional bandishes (melodic compositions) and ways of combining raga with Western musical approaches. Elliot will assist in teaching the classes.

  • Adventures in Polyphony (Elliot), multiple sessions

    We’ll explore music from various polyphonic traditions, including Renaissance music, Georgian music, and Shape Note hymns. We’ll primarily sing it (or play it on instruments), developing our musicianship and giving us a direct experience of how it works from the inside. We’ll also analyze it, and participants will have opportunities to compose music inspired  by our adventures.

  • Composition Workout (Elliot), multiple sessions

    I think of composing like exercise — the more often you do it, the more ideas and confidence you’ll have when you sit down with the page. So get out your pencils! I’ll lead us through hands-on practice of the elements of writing music. We’ll start by writing lines of all different kinds (what makes a line ‘good’, anyway?), and then explore approaches to patterning, variation, rhythm, and harmony. Notation skills not strictly necessary - students more comfortable in a piano roll are welcome to work in their DAW.

  • Imagining and sketching a piece of music (Aleksandra), multiple sessions

    Discover ways to start a piece of music with visual sketches. Express your ideas through drawings in color, and then engage in a collaborative group analysis of the images in relation to musical elements. Through this process, you'll develop the ability to visualize and articulate musical concepts, as well as to gain insight into your own creative process.

  • Working with text (Aleksandra)

    Unlock the text by analyzing both its meaning and sound; explore its potential as a structural element in a piece of music. Bring in texts of your choice, including poetry, journals, short stories, newspaper articles, or scientific records. By examining the texts on the spot, we would extract valuable information for the compositional process.

  • Interdisciplinary Interactions & Collaborations (David)

  • Introduction to Just Intonation (Michael)

  • Intro to composing and performing in alternate tuning systems and just intonation (Michael and Bergamot Quartet)

    Forging new approaches to composition and performance through tunings and structures that extend the ancient concept of just intonation, a form of pure tuning constructed from musical intervals of perfect mathematical proportions. 

  • Co-writing a Piece (Bergamot Quartet)

    A co-creative exploration of improvising and musical storytelling led by Bergamot Quartet, open to any interested participants. 

  • Entrepreneurship as a 21st-Century Ensemble (Bergamot Quartet)

    BQ will lead a conversation about ensemble practice as a sustainable business. 

  • Indian rhythmic theory and practice (Payton)

    Payton covers the basics of both Carnatic and Hindustani rhythmic theory and practice, and shares several beautiful compositions he learned from his Guru, Pandit Sharda Sahai.

  • Sonic Divide/Sonic Peaks Performance Art (Payton)

    Payton shares his epic music/film/endurance sports performance art pieces Sonic Divide and Sonic Peaks. With Sonic Divide, Payton rode his mountain bike 2,500 miles from Mexico to Canada, while premiering 30 new pieces of music in the wilderness, all of which he captured with cameras and then created an award-winning film. With his follow-up project Sonic Peaks, Payton is climbing all 146 peaks in the Northeast U.S. that are above 3,500 feet, and creating original graphic scores for each climbing experience. We'll discuss each project, and all the aspects of interdisciplinary art.


    Sonic Divide trailer: https://youtu.be/oYM5_BjUKzY
    Sonic Peaks trailer: https://youtu.be/AXPOyi721qM

  • On Works and Creative Process (Aleksandra)

    Aleksandra will present her works from different genres and give insight into her creative process. Topics of discussion: intuition, inspiration and research; sketching and notation; linear and non-linear narratives; defined versus open forms; composing with or without an instrument, collaborations and cross-disciplinary influences. Format: listening with scores and a Q & A.

  • Private Lessons (for in-person participants)

CMI 2024 will offer each in-person participant a total of two 60-minute private lessons: one with Aleksandra Vrebalov, Elliot Cole, Payton MacDonald or Michael Harrison, and one with any member of Bergamot Quartet.

Participants must make the request to schedule private lessons at least one week in advance. The faculty’s email addresses will be sent out along with the class schedule on July 15th.

For additional one-on-one lessons with CMI faculty, please reach out to them directly to inquire about fees and scheduling.

  • Private Lessons Opportunities (for online participants)

    CMI 2024 will not offer online participants private lessons. If participants want to have one-on-one lessons with any particular faculty, please contact them directly to inquire about fees and scheduling. The faculty’s email addresses will be sent out along with the class schedule on July 15th.

  • Private lessons with Aleksandra: Composition

    Individual lessons will explore necessary tools for a creative process - from  sketching of initial ideas, to bringing a piece of music to a physical world. Depending on each composer’s needs, topics would cover:

    • spiritual dimension of creativity - why and for whom we compose

    • (awareness of) synthesis of emotion and intellect in the creative process

    • predetermined form, content-defined form, and free form

    • notation and attitude towards the score and performers as “translators” of coded messages

    • text vs. underlying (programmatic) narratives

    • choice of instruments and orchestration

  • Private lessons with members of Bergamot Quartet

    Each member of BQ will be offering "new and old classical (violin, viola, cello) repertoire and technique." In addition, Ledah, violinist, can also offer Celtic/old-time fiddle, and composition for composer/performers; Amy, violist, can also offer viola for violinists.

SCHEDULE

The class calendar/schedule will be announced on July 15th by email.

Creative Music Intensive will run August 3rd - 18th, 2024:

August 3rd - Arrival & Welcome Dinner

August 4th - Introductions, Orientations & Informal Sharings

August 5th to 16th - In-person and online classes

August 17th - Participants’ Concert (onsite & online)

August 18th - Closing Session (post-performance) & Departure

Concerts/Performances during the program:

Date tbd - Online Concert from Terry Riley & Sara Miyamoto (online concert)

Date tbd - Concert from Payton MacDonald

Date tbd - Concert from Bergamot Quartet

Date tbd - Collaborative performance/installation with Bill Morrison, Michael, Elliott, Ina Filip & Benoit Rolland

August 17th - Participants’ Concert (onsite & online)

Letters From CMI 2023 Participants

“I have participated in CMI twice, both online. It is such a wonderful programme that has really shaped my career to date, from establishing an ongoing relationship with Del Sol Quartet, to deepening my knowledge of Just Intonation harmony with Michael Harrison, to broadening my understanding of rhythm studying Konnakol with Payton McDonald. The experiences I've had at CMI in private lessons and group sessions have positively impacted my confidence and helped me shape my artistic voice. The community around the programme also makes it such a special programme, bringing together musicians from all over the world and opening up the possibility of international collaboration.”

-Maddie Ashman
London, England
www.maddieashman.com

“In 2023, I had the great joy of visiting Arts, Letters and Numbers and completing Creative Music Intensive and hope to visit it soon again. Being around the tremendous musicians of the Bergamot Quartet, who did a fantastic job of workshopping a wide variety of curious pieces, and being so open to questions and experimentations was a huge blessing. Being able to learn from Michael, Elliot, Aleksandra and Payton, who are incredibly open to new ideas and I could even spontaneously perform a piece together with Payton. Furthermore, we had so much time together, in the classroom, in concerts, in the studios and also at the lake, at the bbq, at the ping pong table and etc., with the quartet, the fabulous professors and the other participants that a great bond was created between us all and a great artist community could be felt, where everyone was trying to help each other with the wonderful mix of experiences and areas of focus that the group had. Through this I felt the course not only helped me develop as a musician and artist, but also reinforced very strongly why I want to be a musician. Because I want to share experiences and art with others.”

-Golden Henryk
Vienna, Austria

“I attended the first Creative Music Online program in 2020, not quite knowing what I was getting into or how it was going to transform me as a composer. I attended every single year after that because this program offered everything I'd been seeking and more. The supportive environment cultivated by everyone there helped to build my confidence as a composer. I finally found a community where I felt like I belonged, and where the things I was interested in were celebrated. Michael Harrison's raga classes in particular became an ongoing beautiful meditative practice for me that have changed how I think about and experience music. Because of the Creative Music Intensive I have now written several string quartets, something I would not have done otherwise, and now my composing practice involves experimenting in just intonation and creating my own tunings.”

-Stacy Fahrion
Centennial, Colorado
www.whimsicallymacabre.com

“Immersing myself in the CMI program during the summer of 2023 was a transformative journey into the world of music composition and innovation. As an amateur cellist venturing into the fusion of my instrument with electronics and synthesizers, the program offered a diverse community ranging from fellow amateurs to skilled composers and students. The privilege of collaborating with accomplished faculty members enriched my learning experience, particularly in the composition classes, the exploration of visual scores, and starting each day learning Indian ragas. The workshop sessions fostered a supportive environment, where constructive feedback encouraged everyone to embrace their creativity, breaking away from conventional notions of what defines exceptional music.”

-Claudia Kulesh
New York, NY

“I attended the Creative Music Intensive at Arts Letters and Numbers for the first time during the summer of 2023. The experience was moving and resonated deeply in a number of ways. First, I have spent my entire life involved with interdisciplinary projects, between music, math, engineering and computer science, and also between theater arts and dance choreography. The whole premise of ALN is for artists and workers to collaborate and find new expressions. Second, ALN has been put together on an old industrial site where there is a strong ethos of volunteerism, hands-on and working together to build something special, and I found myself connecting deeply with this, having worked in the trades as a young man. Third, the entire ALN staff, and its director David Gersten share an attitude of encouragement and openness which provide a safe space for taking risks. This in turn encouraged me to share music and thoughts, and keep going with some new ideas. Fourth, ALN is inclusive, welcomes participants of all ages and backgrounds, and it was a privilege to meet many participants who attended from different countries. Finally, I felt welcomed into a family, made some new friends, and even now am collaborating with one of the participants on a new project.”

-Edward Childs
Corinth, Vermont

“I decided to attend CMI to experience what it would be like to express myself as a musician/pianist in front of and around gifted creative musicians. I was determined to play as myself and not what someone else thought I should sound like or play like. For many creative musicians this is not a difficult thing to flesh out. I was not fortunate enough as a young man to feel the assurance of having my own unique voice. I was still working on how to play the damn thing! My experience has lead me to pursue my doctorate at the New England Conservatory. Without question I can say that CMI provided all of the nurturing encouragement I could have imagined! Everyone I met was very supportive and inspirational. I look forward to attending again. While attending CMI, I attained the self-assurance I desired!”

-David Warren Harewood
Arlington, Massachusetts
www.davidharewoodmusic.com

"When I got to Creative Music Intensive program, I was a little worried about the new environment, different continent and culture, and range of professional expertise that is maybe expected of me. I was amazed to see that the musicians gathered were coming from very different backgrounds - from music enthusiasts and amateurs, jazz and rock-based musicians to academically trained professionals and many more. What is most important, we all could share our experiences and follow the lectures with our capabilities. And the lectures were exceptionally valuable and diverse. I enjoyed the most the counterpoint lessons named "Adventures in Polyphony" by Elliot Cole where I felt that composing with counterpoint rules can be an adventure whose goal is to make one's music more intricate. Another lesson that broadened my musical experience was the raga class with Michael Harrison. His refined sense of how much can we learn as a group, and not to go too fast to lose the depth of the music that we played resulted in one of the greatest musical experiences at the final "Marathon" 5-hour concert. I could go on about every little detail, but that would take me hours and hours. To sum it up, I recommend this program to every kind of musician. Things that you learn here stay with you for life, and the experience of 2 weeks removed from everything else except music is life-changing."

-Dimitrije Beljanski
Novi Sad, Serbia
www.youtube.com/dimitrijebeljanski

"CMI was one of the best decisions of my musical career. The collaborations and friendships I made with both participants and faculty during the program really pushed my career forward and hold a very special place in my life. Having attended many festivals virtually and in-person, it was immediately clear to me what CMI's values are through their high-caliber faculty and education for such a modest tuition price. I strongly recommend CMI for both the aspiring professional and the casual enthusiast!"

-Anuj Bhutani
Los Angeles, California
www.anujbhutani.com

  • There is a limited number of Scholarships available with partial reduction of the program fee. Scholarships are only considered for applicants for whom this is crucial for their participation in the program, and require a separate application. The scholarship application should be submitted once the program application has been submitted.

  • Artists are expected to pursue their individual creative endeavor and many times this calls for leading a workshop, giving a lecture, sharing a film, partake in critique, exhibiting/performing work etc. These are optional but has proven to be an integral tool for artists to find inspiration and to allow others to experience the works in progress or previous works. The artist will be encouraged to propose any form of sharing suitable for their work.
    Everyone staying at Arts Letters & Numbers is expected to treat the facilities with care and consideration as well as be mindful of each other’s space. Whether it’s in a living or working situation, everyone is responsible to clean up after themselves, and to lend a helping hand when needed. Arts Letters & Numbers is based on the value and reward derived from communal efforts.
    Staying at ALN you will become part of an ecosystem. During this time you will be asked to follow the guidelines provided, and respect the integrity of the spaces, property and personal spaces.

  • Public transportation is available through the Albany international airport or Albany/Rensselaer train station. We are happy to schedule a pickup and drop off from either location. Upon arrival you will be given a tour of the facilities by an ALN affiliate, a run through of the protocols of the facilities and covid guidelines.

  • Artists in residence are accommodated in the House on the Hill or the Twins both with shared kitchen, bathrooms and communal spaces. Although residents are responsible for their own meals, it is always encouraged that everyone in the house gathers to cook and share dinners together, or prepare dishes for the community events. Weekly grocery shopping runs for those without a car will be organized by the onsite ALN affiliate.

  • Arts Letters & Numbers facilities are a collection of buildings once part of the former textile complex Faith Mills along Burden Lake Road in Averill Park, NY: the House on the Hill, the Twins, the Barn, the Studios and the Shop. With a variety of different sized studio spaces (socially distanced areas in both large and smaller rooms), a wooden barn and the outdoor grounds, we welcome artists to think of these spaces at sites they can work with and within. We'll help you choose one that best suits your practice.
    The Shop is equipped with basic woodworking tools and an assortment of power and hand tools. Additional equipment are digital media, musical instruments including a 9’ Baldwin concert grand piano, a 6’ Steinway grand and upright piano all available for artists to use.

  • All residents must be willing to provide proof of vaccination or a negative covid test taken less than 48hrs before arrival.There will be ALN affiliates around and we are always happy to engage and help out. Please know that during this time, we are low in numbers and we are also taking these months to recalibrate our operations and programs toward a future ALN. We will be around to check in on how things are going, and talk about any adjustments that need to be made as we are navigating these new waters together.
    ALN Covid-19 Protocol