Soundbox Fellowship Program for Composers: April 8–13, 2026

The Soundbox Fellowship Program for Composers — April 8–13, 2026 is a week-long residency in Sarasota that combines SFP’s core curriculum with a special focus on memory, history, and advocacy, inspired by oboist James Austin Smith’s Hearing Memory project. 

Across the week, composer fellows work closely with resident performers and faculty to develop new or recent works, receive individual and group mentorship, and rehearse and refine their music in workshop settings, culminating in readings and professional documentation. This practical work is interwoven with SFP’s signature seminar blocks on artist-advocacy, communication, portfolio-building, and the realities of a 21st-century composing career, all within a small, supportive cohort. 

This session is anchored by a live presentation of Hearing Memory—a musical-historical project that explores an overlooked East German avant-garde through documentary interviews, storytelling, and performance, examining how musicians create meaning beyond sound and how cultural memory shapes our present. Fellows engage with the themes of the project—lost or marginalized histories, political context, and the afterlives of repertoire—and are invited to reflect on how their own works participate in, challenge, or expand the musical record.

In keeping with SFP’s mission, the April program asks composers not only to hone their craft, but also to consider how their voices can advocate for under-heard stories, communities, and musical lineages, using Hearing Memory as a living case study in composing, curating, and listening with historical awareness.

Faculty