About The Alba Music Composition Program takes place in Alba, Italy, nestled in the foothills of the Alps, during the annual Alba International Music Festival. For a little over one week at the end of each May, a select group of eight (8) to twelve (12) composer participants, chosen by a panel of professional composers, descend on this small, picturesque town, and works one-on-one with distinguished faculty, composer-in-residence, and has their music performed and recorded by a top-flight resident professional ensemble.
A Brief History The composition program in Alba started in 2005, when composer David Froom began a composition masterclass in connection with St Mary's College of Maryland, one of the founding partners of the Alba Music Festival. In the years following, the size and scope of the masterclass evolved and a wide range of student composers attended these courses along with a diverse and distinguished group of guest composers and performers. Among past guest composers are Jeffrey Mumford, Scott Wheeler, Louis Karchin, Robert Gibson, Mark Andrew Cook, Judah Adashi, Sylvano Busotti, Christopher Muscat, and Antonello Lerda.
In 2015, composer Elliott McKinley assumed the role of Director, and designed a new program for 2016, featuring composer-in-residence David Gompper (see our 2016 program photos here). In 2017, the program hosted eleven composition fellows to work with resident ensemble, Transient Canvas, Composer-in-Residence Lansing McLoskey, and a composition faculty which included Carl Schimmel and Giacomo Platini (photos from 2017 may be viewed here). The third edition in 2018 was the most ambitious yet, with fourteen composition fellows in residence to work with the SOLI Chamber Ensemble, Composer-in-Residence George Tsontakis, and faculty Jennifer Jolley and Luke Dahn. 
Students playing jazz on an Albaese street-corner in 2012
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Director Elliott McKinley and former director David Froom after an afternoon masterclass in 2010
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