Youth Inspiring Youth: A Model Commissioning Program

With a focus on youth and a community building creative process, WomenSing’s Youth Inspiring Youth is providing the opportunity for young composers ages 18-25 to create new choral music, mentored by teaching artist Libby Larsen and artistic director Martín Benvenuto. Texts for these works are provided by the award-winning children’s poetry from River of Words, a program that educates youth about nature through art and poetry. Young composers, poets, teaching artists, children/youth choruses, and the WomenSing chorus all participate in a public workshop where the young composers hear their work in progress, receive feedback, and put the finishing touches on their work. Since the inception of the Youth Inspiring Youth program in 2008, WomenSing has premiered eight pieces.

The panel will share the key components of the Youth Inspiring Youth model, including resources for identifying gifted young poets and composers, establishing guidelines for the teaching artist-young composer mentoring relationship, and maximizing financial and non-financial resources to ensure the success of the program.

The panel will also reflect on the impact of the program on the organization’s presence locally, nationally, and internationally, and on any modifications made to the project since its launch, criteria used to evaluate the program, and lessons learned. The panelists will welcome interaction and questions.