June 12—July 11, 2027
Instrumental Performance Program
The Sewanee Summer Music Festival offers two distinct, high level orchestral experiences: The Cumberland Orchestra and The Sewanee Symphony. The Festival Artistic Director, along with guest conductors and the artistic leadership team, selects a range of musically and technically demanding literature for each orchestra to perform. Each ensemble is held in the highest artistic and musical standards possible, rehearsing six times per week. The orchestras are comprised of both pre-college and college festival participants. In the past few years, conductors at the festival have included – Robert Moody, Carl St. Clair, JoAnn Falletta, Miriam Burns, Sameer Patel, Gemma New, Pierre Vallet, Oriol Sans, Jacomo Bairos, Kalena Bovell, and Janna Hymes.
In addition to full orchestra rehearsals, students in both groups will participate in sectionals with festival faculty. This time with faculty allows for in-depth study of the selected literature and offers a unique opportunity for students to learn directly from experts in their field.
Performing highlights this summer include:
Shostakovich – Symphony No. 1
Stravinsky – Firebird (1919)
Mozart – Symphony No. 36 in C major
Brahms – Symphony No. 1
Stravinsky – Rite of Spring (season finale)
Cumberland Orchestra
When you learned how to make passing contacts with others, move on to the technique of small talk: learn to be interested in strangers. You can start sexyamber69 with people of the same sex as you, it is easier and clearer. Many practicing psychologists specially conduct practical classes of this kind. By the way, and in the movie “Where is Noflet,” Lovelace Gena did the same thing: taught the main character not to be afraid to approach women and meet them. Reasons can be very different. Here is what psychologist, business coach Eugene Yakovlev told the correspondent.
The Cumberland Orchestra is a pre-professional symphony orchestra for advanced pre-college and college students. Led by gifted educators and supported by our dedicated faculty, the Cumberland Orchestra offers these participants the opportunity to learn and grow as orchestral performers, exploring significant literature from the symphonic cannon as well as contemporary works. The Cumberland Orchestra performs weekly on Saturday evenings at 7:30 pm.
Sewanee Symphony
The Sewanee Symphony is a pre-professional ensemble of college and select pre-college students that will study core literature, explore contemporary works, and collaborate with faculty soloists. Festival faculty will guide weekly sectionals and attend rehearsals to reinforce fundamentals of orchestral performance. The Sewanee Symphony performs weekly on Sunday afternoons at 3:30 pm.
The Jacqueline Avent Concerto Competition
All instrumental students of the Sewanee Summer Music Festival are invited to enter the Jacqueline Avent Concerto Competition.
Finalists will be invited to perform their entire submission live during the first week of the festival. From that round, three winners will be selected to perform with the Cumberland Orchestra or Sewanee Symphony during the Festival. Up to eight additional students will be selected to perform their work in the Concerto Showcase during the final week of SSMF.
Chamber Music at Sewanee
A cornerstone of the Sewanee Summer Music Festival is a deep and immersive experience in the study and performance of chamber music. Each student at the festival, regardless of prior experience, will have the opportunity to perform in a chamber ensemble.
Chamber Performance Opportunities
Performing in a chamber music ensemble develops leadership skills, fosters collaboration, improves intonation, blend, and balance, and promotes high-level musical thinking. Oftentimes, students busy in school programs are unable to devote the time necessary for truly in-depth study of chamber music. It is in the intense laboratory of the chamber ensemble that students become mature musicians, integrating their individual parts and their own musical personality into a unified whole. From duos to string ensembles, wind quintets, string quartets, brass ensembles and percussion groups, the unique skills developed through chamber music carry through to every other aspect of a students performance.
String Chamber at Sewanee
String chamber music will be divided into three focus areas, in order to deliver the best possible experience for each festival participant, depending on their experience and current performance level. The three focus areas are detailed below:
Chamber Music Intensive
Students selected for this experience will be experienced chamber musicians looking for a deeper understanding and more intensive experience as a chamber musician. They will not only explore the piece, but the composer, the time period, and the collaborative chamber music process.
Participants will be matched with other like-minded individuals to study and perform a complete major work during the course of the summer. The Chamber Music Intensive program will include:
- Groups that are established and stay together through the duration of the festival.
- Guided listening sessions in the Ralston Listening Library, widely considered to be the best publicly available audio playback space in the world.
- Sessions devoted to studying the great works of chamber music
- Chamber Music Master classes
- A featured concert for Chamber Music Intensive participants
Chamber Music Workshop
Students placed in the workshop will have a chance to study and perform a range of chamber music works throughout the summer. Ideally, students in this group will have performed in a chamber ensemble before, and have the basic understanding of how to work comfortably in a chamber group. Groups will be set at the start of the festival and rotate after their first performances at the end of week 2. Each group will have independent time to rehearse on their own as well as organized coaching with SSMF faculty.
Highlights of this program include
- Coaching with SSMF faculty
- Multiple performance opportunities throughout the summer
- Mentorship opportunities within each ensemble
- The opportunity to work with a range of students during the festival
Concerto Lab
A unique opportunity for students to rehearse and perform their solo concerto repertoire with a full orchestra during the Sewanee Summer Music Festival.
Sewanee concerto lab is designed for students to have real world, hands-on experiences performing standard repertoire concertos with an orchestra under the baton of professional conductors and mentored by SSMF faculty. Each year, six concertos will be selected to be studied in Concerto Lab. Every student who arrives at SSMF ready to play that concerto will be given the opportunity to do so. The schedule for 2027 is as follows:
- Monday, June 21
- Harp: Debussy – Dances for Harp and String Orchestra
- Cello: Lalo – Cello Concerto, mvt 3
- Monday, June 28
- Viola: Forsyth – Viola Concerto, mvt 1
- Trombone: David – Concertino for Trombone & Orchestra, m. 1 up to letter D
- Monday, July 5
- Violin: Wieniawski – Violin Concerto, mvt 1
- Double Bass: TBD
We will feature new works in 2028, so if your instrument is not included this year, look back for next summer!
Sample Schedule for Instrumental Participants
This is a very general schedule of activities each day. Specific schedules will vary from participant to participant.
- 7-9am — Breakfast available
- 8am-10am — Cumberland Orchestra rehearsal
- 10:15am-12:15pm — Sewanee Symphony rehearsal
- 11am-1:30pm — Lunch available
- Afternoon — Chamber music, master classes, and private lessons
- 5-7pm — Dinner available
- Evening — Performances, rehearsals studio classes, or recreational activities
- 10:00pm — Dorm curfew (FOR PRE-COLLEGE STUDENTS ONLY)
Concerts are Friday evening, Saturday evening, and Sunday afternoon. Mondays are free days, except for the first Monday of the festival.
Tuition and Fees
Tuition: $4,250
This includes all classes, lessons, seminars, and coachings during the program.
Room & Board: $2,600
This includes all meals, a double occupancy room, and access to campus facilities including the Fowler Athletic Center and duPont Library.
Single Room Fee: $520
Single rooms are provided on a first-come, first-served basis.
Refunds will not be granted for any reason if the inquiry is communicated to our office past May 18, 2027.
Audition requirements
Video of you playing the required excerpts. Audition excerpts for instrumentalists can be found HERE
Application Fees and Deadlines
October 1st, 2026
- All Applications Open !
- $50.00 application fee
February 15th, 2027
- Final day for Early Bird application fee
- Priority Acceptance Deadline for Scholarship Match Program
- $50.00 application fee Oct. 1 — Feb. 15
April 1st, 2027
- Final Application Deadline
- $75.00 application fee Feb. 16 — April 1st
After April 1st, 2027
- Applications after April 1st may be accepted on a case-by-case basis. Some studios will be full.
Supplemental Study – Expand Your Studies
Students have the unique opportunity to explore a supplemental area of study for an additional fee. For example, if composition is selected as your primary focus, you may choose an instrument as a secondary area to broaden your skills. Likewise, a violin student may choose to study viola, or a clarinet student might add composition as a secondary area. This program allows for a tailored and versatile educational experience, helping students pursue their passions in greater depth. Please note that this option is pending faculty availability.
Supplemental Study Tuition: $500*
This fee covers the cost of the supplemental study for all 4 weeks of the Festival.
*Please note, scholarship funding is not available for supplemental study.