YOUNG COMPOSERS PROGRAM

Meet the Composer Louisville “New Residency”

Resident composer Steve Rouse created the Young Composers program to reach at-risk, public school aged children who showed evidence of or strong interest in musical creativity. Between its inception in January 1996 and May 1998 the Young Composers program taught music composition to over 600 children who created and performed over 500 original musical works. More than a dozen local professional composers participated in teaching more than 40 classes of Young Composers throughout Jefferson County and neighboring counties.

The Young Composers classes reached students of all public school ages. Programs were held in 19 elementary, 15 middle, and 8 high schools. While a number of schools found funding for Young Composers through the Family Resource and Youth Service Centers of the Kentucky Department of Education network, many other programs were funded by grants. The City of Louisville Youth Alliance was a principal contributor of grant funding for Young Composers. Target schools were those that had at least 80% of their students receiving free and reduced lunch. Other schools could participate by using their own resources. The cost of each program was distributed directly to the composer who taught it. 

Through their musical successes, student participants in Young Composers classes found powerful reasons to feel good about school. For many of these students Young Composers was one of few points of success in their school lives. At the end of ten one-hour sessions of musical exploration and creativity, each Young Composers class presented its new compositions to audiences of their peers, parents, teachers, and administrators.

Through public performances of Young Composers compositions, individuals, families, and whole communities observed and experienced the act of creating music as an important and valuable source of self-expression and societal engagement.   

Young Composers sample video – M.L.King Elementary and Lebanon Junction Elementary (Sara Buchanan MacLean instructor), Williams Middle School (Jeff Rehmet and Spiff Weigand instructors)

Click the top of images to enlarge.