JACOBS SCHOOL OF MUSIC
COMPOSITION DEPARTMENT
News and Events, 2025-26
Center for Electronic and Computer Music
Music Scoring for Visual Media
The JSOM Composition Department is delighted to present a wealth of concerts, guest composers, collaborative events, and opportunities this year. Be sure to check out our events calendar for updates, as well as our YouTube channel for the latest in new music from the department.
Guest Composers, Fall 2024
This year, the New Music Ensemble welcomes a number of guest composers, including Wen Deqing (September), Marcos Balter (November), alumna Melody Eötvös (December), alumnus Texu Kim (February), and Caroline KyungA Ahn (March).
In addition, the NME will present concerts featuring world premieres by alumni Melody Eötvös, David Canfield, Kang -gyu Lee, Texu Kim, Caroline KyungA Ahn, Beomseok Yoo, Yie Eun Chun, current students Cooper Wood and Jieun Ok, and faculty members Gabriel Jenks and David Dzubay.
NME in South Korea
The New Music Ensemble will travel to South Korea during spring break, 2026, presenting concert in Seoul at Yonsei University’s Kumho Concert Hall (3/18), Kookmin University’s Concert Hall (3/19) and Lee Kang Sook Hall on the Seocho campus of Korea National University of Arts (K-Arts, 3/21). The concerts will feature eight commissioned works touching on the theme of “connection” by students (Jieun Ok, Cooper Wood), alumni (Texu Kim, Yie-Eun Chun, Caroline KyungA Ahn, Beomseok Yoo) and faculty (Gabriel Jenks, David Dzubay) for the project. The new compositions will be performed in Bloomington and Seoul and recorded for CD release through Naxos. Performers on these concerts will include 18 current students, 3 faculty and 2 faculty from schools in Korea. The trip is all about strengthening connections with our alumni, the Korean musical community, and pro-spective students.
NOTUS
In October, NOTUS performed the US premiere of Carus-Verlag’s CREDO Project, with premieres by six composers from around the world. In January, NOTUS celebrates Arvo Pärt’s 90th Birthday with a selection of his most celebrated works. In March, NOTUS welcomes composer Reena Esmail to campus for a residency and perform ance of her work This Love Between Us on the MAC stage with sitar, tabla, and chamber orchestra.
NOTUS Third Album Release
NOTUS’ third commercial album, Weaving Eternity: Music of Wild Imagination, was released in September on Navona Records. You can preview the album here.
It includes music by Dale Trumbore and Zanaida Stewart Robles, plus IU faculty composers Don Freund, Gabriel Jenks, and Dominick DiOrio, with a featured faculty soloist in saxophonist Otis Murphy. Over 90 students took part in this album’s creation (including NOTUS rosters in March 2017 and March 2024), plus instrumentalists and audio engineers from across the Jacobs School. The album was produced by Dominick DiOrio and Associate Professor Jamie Tagg. You can stream and listen anywhere in the world on Apple Music, YouTube, Spotify, or any of the usual ways starting Friday.
New Voices
The JSOM Composition Department continues its New Voices program this year, inviting IU composers to submit orchestral pieces for performance in the spring. This year’s New Voices concert will be 8:00pm Thursday, February 19, 2026 with the JSOM Symphony Orchestra and will be conducted by David Dzubay. Composers will be announced by November 1.
48 Hours
This spring, from February 27 to March 1, 2026, the Jacobs School welcomes members from Ensemble Dal Niente to work with 8 student composers who will have 48 hours to compose short pieces for the ensemble, which are then rehearsed and performed, all over a single weekend. The composers will be announced in October
CECM Students on National and International Stages
2024-25 was an exciting year for the Center for Electronic and Computer Music (CECM). 42 pieces composed in the CECM by students were selected for performance at venues in the United States and abroad, a record for us. These venues include the International Computer Music Conference (ICMC), the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS) national conference, the Electronic Music Midwest festival, and the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival. These selections are the result of a rigorous peer-review process, with students competing against all submissions, including from faculty members and independent professionals.
CECM continues to have success in the annual national SEAMUS commission competition, in which 3-4 finalists are chosen in a double-blind process. This year two out of the three finalists were Younje Cho (2nd year DM) and Yao Hsiao (MM alumna), who received the commission with a piece composed during her studies in the CECM.
Computer Music Composition Master’s students Wyatt Cannon and Hsuan Chang Kitano were commissioned by the Musicacoustica Festival in Hangzhou, China. They traveled with Prof. Wang to premiere their works on September 27, 2035 at the Grand Convention and Exhibition Center in Hangzhou. This year the Musicacoustica Festival was a joint event with the International Confederation of Electro–acoustic Music (ICEM), further amplifying its global reach.
Music Scoring for Visual Media
New Faculty
This year, the Jacobs School of Music welcomes our newest faculty member in Music Scoring for Visual Media, Roger Neill. Roger brings a wealth of experience from a celebrated career as composer, conductor, and recording artist, with credits in films such as 20th Century Women and Don’t think Twice, and TV credits in the long-running series King of the Hill. Roger has also contributed to numerous AAA video game titles, including Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, Borderlands 2, and Darksiders 2. You can find out more about Roger Neill here.
Guests
Last month, MSVM had a guest masterclass with Sam Hulick, video game composer for “Mass Effect” and founder and CEO of Reel Crafter. In September, we have another guest, television composer and visiting faculty member Rick Marvin conducting a masterclass series on workflow efficiency.
Project Involve
We have begun our recording sessions for Project Involve that are scored, played, conducted, and recorded by JSOM students! Project Involve is a competitive, merit-based opportunity that pairs select IU scoring students with emerging filmmakers from Film Independent’s acclaimed short film mentoring program. Each year, only 5–6 composers are chosen based on skill, professionalism, and artistic potential. This year’s composers are Jamey Guzman, Wietse van der Meer, Nehemiah Robertson, Theo Morris, and Ling Chen.
Each selected composer is assigned to a specific film and is responsible for creating an original score — from developing initial concepts and themes, to spotting, scoring, revising, and ultimately delivering final music stems. The full process follows a timeline that mirrors professional industry standards and workflows. These films are set to premiere in the upcoming spring.
Double Exposure & BFA Capstone
Every year the IU Music Scoring for Visual Media Department and IU Media School put together a project we call Double Exposure, allowing student film makers and composers to collaborate on an original film! This is a great opportunity for students to get a feeling for what it is like to collaborate with others on a piece of media. These films are then premiered in the IU Cinema. MSVM also scores the films for the BFA Capstone projects for senior film students from the media school in similar format.
New Courses: Starting from last spring, we have a new spring exclusive course: K455/555 “THE DUB” with Steven Thomas. The Dub is a course that dives into the world of post-production audio. Over 8 weeks, students have the chance to get hands-on with the process of organizing, editing, premixing, and final mixing of Dialogue (DX), Sound Effects (FX), and Music (MX). Working on the previously mentioned Double Exposure films, students will collaborate with classmates to create professional-grade audio, all while sharpening your technical and creative abilities.
EarShot Readings at IU
This year, the Jacobs School of Music is delighted to once again host the EarShot Readings, held at the end of September, with a concert on October 1 featuring premieres of new works by winners of the American Composers Orchestra’s EarShot competition held at the Jacobs School of Music last March. This year, works by two of our student composers were performed by the IU Philharmonic Orchestra: Alumnus Corey Chang’s Dragon Gate, and MM student Laura Pacheco’s Voices of the Earth and Sea.
Jacobs Composition Academy
Now in its fourth year, Jacobs Composition Academy is an internationally recognized virtual music composition program led by Dr. Benjamin Taylor. JCA provides private composition lessons, weekly masterclasses, and a concert performance and recording of student works by incredibly talented IU performers. JCA continues to expand by offering greater flexibility to composers of all ages and backgrounds. Recent international students are from Austria, Canada, China, Nigeria, Spain and Thailand, with many choosing to wake up in the middle of the night in order to participate in live Zoom masterclasses. Learn more about all JCA offerings at the website.
Summer Intensive
The Jacobs Composition Academy Summer Intensive is a trans-formative 5-week online summer program directed by Corey Chang that provides aspiring composers of all ages and levels with conservatory-level training from the comfort of home. Students receive nine private lessons, nine informative lectures, personal masterclasses with Indiana University’s renowned composition faculty, and interactive guest sessions with some of today’s leading voices in classical music. Each participant also receives a professional recording of a brand-new work, written during the program and premiered by Jacobs School of Music’s accomplished performance majors.
Now entering its third year, the Summer Intensive has already premiered 39 new student works and built a tradition of excellence through guest lectures with renowned composers including Joan Tower, Stacy Garrop, Amy Beth Kirsten, Shawn Okpebholo, and Robert Paterson, among others.
Fall 2024 News
48 Hours with the [Switch~ Ensemble]
Center for Electronic and Computer Music
Music Scoring for Visual Media
This Fall will feature a diverse array of contemporary music activities, guest composer appearances, multiple collaborations, world premiere performances, and our usual slew of concerts featuring works by our talented student composers and faculty. You can catch the full schedule of performances at our Events page. Please feel free to visit our composition blog for information about our department, access to faculty and student recordings, and recent news.
Guest Composers, Fall 2024
This past February, we have enjoyed visits from Pascal LeBeouf, who presented his work in the Composition Forum, and Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon. Both were featured on the New Music Ensemble concert in September. Upcoming guests include composers Felipe Lara and our very own Eugene O’Brien.
NME and NOTUS Performances
This October, the New Music Ensemble performed several works by Charles Ives as part of the Charles Ives at 150 Festival, including his Set for Theater Orchestra, and his iconic Central Park in the Dark.
In addition to performances of works by Pascal LeBeouf and Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, mentioned above, the NME will perform Felipe Lara’s Mosaic Maze, Eugene O’Brien’s In the Country of Last Things, Mason Bates’ The Rise of Exotic Computing, and Sean Shepherd’s Simple Machines. They will also be performing DM student Corey Chang’s work, What’s Next?, commissioned by the NME. The full calendar of NME concerts can be found here. All NME concerts can be viewed on IUMusicLive!.
In October NOTUS performed several of Charles Ives’ sacred choral works, also as part of the Charles Ives at 150 Festival.
New Voices for Orchestra
On November 19, David Dzubay will conduct the Symphony Orchestra in the New Voices for Orchestra concert. The concert will feature 5 new pieces by IU composers and alumni, including Jung-Woong Oh, Kian Ravaei, Rowan Lemaster, Eunji Lee, and Cooper Wood.
48 Hours with the [Switch~ Ensemble]
This year marks the 5th and final year of the Composition Department’s 48 Hours Symposium and Concerts. Over a single weekend, 8 IU student composers will each write an original work for the 48 Hours guest ensemble, which will then be performed at the end of the weekend on Sunday. This year’s guest ensemble is the New York-based [Switch~ Ensemble]. The 8 composers selected to participate are: Daixuan Ai, Sy Anderson, Elijah Culp, Yuanning Gao, Ye-chong Jeon, Rowan Lemaster, Jake Rogus, and Coda Sheuer. The event will take place Nov. 1 – 3. More information can be found here.
Opera
In November, the IU Opera and Ballet Theater will present the premiere performance of Mason Bates’ The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, with libretto by Gene Scheer. This opera is a coproduction with the Metropolitan Opera but will receive its world premiere on the MAC stage. Mason Bates will be present at the premiere and will also give a talk at the Composition Forum that week. Performances are scheduled for November 15, 16, 21, and 22.
Center for Electronic and Computer Music
Students and faculty continue to raise the profile of the CECM at national and international conferences and festivals. Last calendar year, students were selected 18 times for such events. This year, we are up to 36 selections. Highlights include (from left to right in the photos below) a contingent of CECM-ers at Electronic Music Midwest, outside of Chicago; a presentation of current student work at Zhejiang Conservatory of Music in Hangzhou, China; and a reunion of current CECM students and alumni at the International Computer Music Conference in Seoul.
Music Scoring for Visual Media
We are delighted to announce that two of our graduates from the MSVM master’s program are now working full time in L.A. Arda Ren is assistant to Mike Post and is currently writing cues for the new season of Law & Order. Eli Denson is working for TV composer Kevin Kiner on all of the new Disney + Star Wars shows: Ashoka, Clone Wars, Rebels.
Jacobs Composition Academy
The first Jacobs Composition Academy (JCA) Summer Intensive proved to be a huge success for students and faculty alike. Formed and directed by third-year doctoral student Corey Chang, who serves as the assistant director of the Jacobs Composition Academy during the fall and spring semesters, this new summer composition program gives students of all ages private instruction from some of Indiana University’s top award-winning graduate students, as well as composition professors Don Freund (JCA founder), Han Lash, and David Dzubay, and culminates with two concerts and eighteen premieres from track 1 participants. In addition, students this year were given the opportunity to witness lectures by distinguished guest composers and new music leaders Joan Tower, Amy Beth Kirsten, Cheng Jin Koh, Tengku Irfan, and Jiji Kim, all of whom provided important and diverse insights on being a composer and new music advocate.
Learn more about all JCA offerings at the website.
JACOBS SCHOOL OF MUSIC
COMPOSITION DEPARTMENT
Spring 2024 News
Center for Electronic and Computer Music (CECM)
Music Scoring for Visual Media
This Spring will feature a diverse array of contemporary music activities, guest composer appearances, multiple collaborations, world premiere performances, and our usual slew of concerts featuring works by our talented student composers and faculty. You can catch the full schedule of performances at our Events page. Please feel free to visit our composition blog for information about our department, access to faculty and student recordings, and recent news.
Guest Composers, Spring 2024
This past February, we have enjoyed visits from composers Pamela Z and Nina Young. Pamela Z presented her work in the Composition Forum, and both composers were featured on the following New Music Ensemble concert. Upcoming guests include composers Anthony Cheung, Chen Yi, and Melinda Wagner, all of whom will be here in March for the ACO Earshot Readings (see below), as well as Taiwanese-American composer Chihchun Lee.
ACO Earshot Readings at IU
This spring, the Jacobs School of Music is delighted to host the ACO Earshot Readings from March 20 – 23, featuring works for chamber orchestra by four young composers. The four composers, two of whom are current IU composition students, will be mentored by guest composers Anthony Cheung, Chen Yi, and Melinda Wagner.
NME and NOTUS Performances
In addition to performances of works by Pamela Z and Nina Young, mentioned above, the NME premiered DM composer Daixuan Ai’s commissioned work, The Burning of Yuan Ming Yuan. In March will feature two premieres, guest composer Chihchun Lee’s To be, or not to be?!, and DM composer Alexey Logunov’s Georgina Joshi Composition Award winning piece, The Hollow Men, alongside Augusta Read Thomas’ Terpsichore’s Box of Dreams. Then in April, works by the three ACO mentor composers will be featured, including Chen Yi’s Fire, Melinda Wagner’s Limbic Fragments, and Anthony Cheung’s Parallel Play. The full calendar of NME concerts can be found here. All NME concerts can be viewed on IUMusicLive!.
March 22, NOTUS will premiere the two winning works of the NOTUS Composition Contest, BM composer Erin Blake’s Gacela de la muerte oscura (Ghazal of the Dark Death), and MM composer Daniel Cui’s Jasmine Flower. The concert will also feature works by IU composition faculty Han Lash, and a new work by NOTUS director Dominick DiOrio.
Collaborations
The IU Jacobs Composition Department supports a wide range of collaborations with other departments throughout the year. This Spring will feature performances of works from many of those collaborations, including:
Kids Compose – melodies written by local school kids are selected and worked into new pieces for orchestra and concert band; performances on January 24 and February 21.
Piano Prelude Collaboration – premiere performance of 24 piano preludes by 24 different composers, featuring IU student pianists, March 30.
Nature Walk – a new collaboration where student composers will go on a nature walk with IU retired biology professor Roger Hangarter as inspiration for their new pieces for small ensemble. The premieres will be held April 27.
Other collaborations this spring include the Community Ballet, Trombone Choir, Brass Band, Carillon, and Voice and Guitar. More information on these and other collaborative opportunities can be found here. For updates on collaboration concerts, please see our Events page.
Center for Electronic and Computer Music
Spring is festival season for CECM composers. Several students are joining faculty members John Gibson and Chi Wang at Electronic Music Midwest (EMM) outside Chicago, MOXsonic at Central Missouri University, and the SEAMUS Electroacoustic Fais Do Do at Louisiana State University. Yao Hsiao and Huan Sun are among four national finalists for the Sweetwater SEAMUS commissions. Anne Liao, who will complete the Master’s in Computer Music Composition this semester, is traveling to Paris to present her music at the IRCAM Forum. Professor Wang is a finalist in the Guthman Musical Instrument Competition at Georgia Tech for the Yuan instrument she designed and built. Professor Gibson will be guest composer at the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.
The CECM enjoyed an inspiring visit to one of our classes in February by Pamela Z, pictured here after the class. We also welcomed Felipe Tovar-Henao (DM ’20), who shared his fascinating music and research with us. For more information, visit cecm.indiana.edu.
Music Scoring for Visual Media
A new “Episodic Television Scoring” course is having its inaugural semester now. Two cohorts of MMSVM students are in Los Angeles for two months studying Episodic Television Scoring with Ric Marvin. Besides the course work, they have many visitors to the studio such as Kole Hicks—Riot Games, Jon Ohara—Mike Post Productions, Markus Siegel—John Powell’s assistant, and Yitong Chen—Gordy Haab assistant.
This past Fall, film writer and director Rod Lurie visited the current scoring class to discuss the driving force behind his film “Nothing but the Truth,” which the scoring students are using as a Long Form composing assignment.
This Spring will see the annual presentation of the Double Exposure collaboration featuring student composers, film makers, and sound designers.
Jacobs Composition Academy
The Jacobs Composition Academy (JCA) is doing very well this year with enrollment at full capacity. Now in its third year, JCA is helping aspiring composers of all ages from around the world learn the craft of composition with online private lessons, masterclasses, and a workshop and performance of their compositions by IU student performers. Under the direction of Dr. Benjamin Taylor, semesters have been lengthened to 12 weeks (previously 8 weeks) and private lesson time was increased from 30 minutes to 45 minutes. The feedback from students and parents has been overwhelmingly positive. Learn more about our offerings at our website.
JACOBS SCHOOL OF MUSIC
COMPOSITION DEPARTMENT
Fall 2023 News
Guest Composers and NME Performances, Fall 2023
NOTUS Premieres and Performances
Center for Electronic and Computer Music (CECM)
Music Scoring for Visual Media
This Fall we are delighted to host an array of activities, guest composer appearances, multiple collaborations, world premiere performances, and our usual slew of concerts featuring works by our talented student composers and faculty. You can catch the full schedule of performances at our Events page. Please feel free to visit our composition blog for information about our department, access to faculty and student recordings, and recent news.
Guest Composers and NME Performances, Fall 2023
This past September, we were honored to have Five Friends Guest composer George Lewis present the U.S. premiere of his piece, The Deformation of Mastery, performed by the New Music Ensemble under David Dzubay. On October 26 we will have another Five Friends guest, Lei Liang, present two pieces with the NME, Brush-Stroke (2004) and his Harp Concerto (2008) alongside the world premiere of Don Freund’s Soul Chaconne, with tsunami. Then on November 30, we welcome retired professor emeritus Claude Baker to present his piece, Carmen infernarum machina-rum fugaz, together with David Dzubay’s Labyrinth and Oswald Huynh’s I Ask My Mother to Sing.
48 Hours with Hub New Music
October 27 to 29, we are delighted to have Detroit-based Hub New Music as the guest ensemble for this year’s 48 Hours Symposium and Recitals. 48 Hours is a weekend-long project consisting of an intense period of 48 hours in which students compose works for a visiting ensemble.
This year’s participating composers are: Christian Courage Barda, KiMani Bridges, Elijah Buerk, Noah Burns, Mil Carroll, Kenneth Hightower, Yao Hsiao, and Em Singleton. Hub New Music will present two concerts, one featuring their own program, and one featuring the eight participating composers. 48 Hours was made possible by the generous funding of the Fox Family Trust.
New Voices Orchestra
November 12 the IU Concert Orchestra will premiere four new orchestra pieces for the New Voices Orchestra concert, now in its sixth year. The four composers, all current or former IU students, are: Justin Graff, Khimaira; ChunWai Wong, Fire; Alexey Logunov, MESSIER 87 (US premiere); and Pablo M. Teutli, Secuaz. The concert will be livestreamed by IUMusicLive!
NOTUS Premieres and Performances
On October 24, the NOTUS Contemporary Vocal Ensemble will present several premieres and performances by IU student composers and alumni. Among these is the recipient of the Sven-David Sandstrom Award in Choral Composition and IU alumnus, Matthew Peterson, for his piece An Inner Sky (2022, U.S. premiere). The program will also include works by two alumni Alex Berko’s You Through Me (2022) and Kahan Taraporevala’s Youth (2023), as well as current BM student Thejas Mirle’s, Du Silbena Datia (2022).
Center for Electronic and Computer Music (CECM)
The fall semester began with a concert of electronic music by three CECM faculty: John Gibson, Chi Wang, and Alicyn Warren. We then welcomed composer George Lewis to the CECM, while he was here for a New Music Ensemble performance. Later this fall, the CECM will feature three more in-person guests. Ted Moore, a composer, improvisor, and software developer, will visit us on October 31. He is a member of the FluCoMa project, which is widely known for implementing machine-learning approaches for sound design and control.
Ted Coffey, professor of music at the University of Virginia, visits on November 9. He is a composer of acoustic and electronic music with significant dance collaborations to his credit, including with the Bill T. Jones / Arnie Zane Dance Company.
Yuanyuan (Kay) He, a composer focusing on audiovisual media in combination with live instrumental performance, visits us on November 16 from the University of Arizona, where she is a professor of composition and music technology.
Rounding out the semester, IU composers will present a concert of their new electronic music on December 3, with a mix of live performances using a Wacom tablet, sensor-based custom-designed controllers, live-processed acoustic instruments, multichannel fixed-media acousmatic pieces, and installation sonic art.
Music Scoring for Visual Media
On November 4, the IU Cinema will present “Dragnet Girl,” a Japanese gangster-crime drama centers around the triangular relationship between career criminal Joji, his gangster moll Tokiko, and Kazuko, the proverbial girl-next-door. As Kazuko finds herself pulled deeper into Joji’s world, Tokiko is willing to do whatever it takes to preserve her relationship and her status as queen of the underworld. [1933, 100 min; drama, romance; silent with Japanese title cards and English subtitles]
This screening will be accom-panied by the debut of a new live score composed by IU Jacobs School student Ebenezer Eferobor, orchestrated by Kyle Peter Rotolo, and performed by IU Jacobs student musicians.
“Project Involve” is an annual event where six scoring composers collaborate with six emerging Los Angeles film makers via Film Independent (The Spirit Awards). The current six scores and films will be ready for premieres later this fall.