New Music on the Point
June Festival
About Our June Festival
Since 2011, New Music On The Point ‘s June Festival has brought composers and performers together to create brand new music in an inspiring natural setting. Located on Lake Dunmore beneath the Green Mountains of Vermont, under a night-time sky filled with stars, our world-class music faculty guides and inspires our participants through one-on-one lessons, master classes, workshops, and coachings. Composition participants receive a public performance and recording of one of their new or pre-existing works. Workshop topics in 2026 will include MAX for Beginners, Songwriting, Group Improvisation, Just Intonation, Electronics Ensemble, Grantwriting and Fundraising, and much more! Together, participants and faculty perform concerts in unusual locations—often outdoors—with programs that include an exciting range of styles and sounds.
June 2026 faculty
Featured Composer
Tania León
Tania León (b. Havana, Cuba) is highly regarded as a composer, conductor, educator, and advisor to arts organizations. Her orchestral work Stride, commissioned by the New York Philharmonic, was awarded the 2021 Pulitzer Prize in Music. In 2022, she was named a recipient of the 45th Annual Kennedy Center Honors for lifetime artistic achievements. In 2023, she was awarded the Michael Ludwig Nemmers Prize in Music Composition from Northwestern University. Most recently, León became the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s next Composer-in-Residence—a post she will hold for two seasons, beginning in September 2023. She will also hold Carnegie Hall’s Richard and Barbara Debs Composer’s Chair for its 2023-2024 season.
Recent premieres include works for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Arkansas Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, NDR Symphony Orchestra, Grossman Ensemble, International Contemporary Ensemble, Modern Ensemble, Jennifer Koh’s project Alone Together, and The Curtis Institute. Appearances as guest conductor include Orchestre Philharmonique de Marseille, Gewandhausorchester, Orquesta Sinfónica de Guanajuato, and Orquesta Sinfónica de Cuba, among others. Upcoming commissions feature a work for the League of American Orchestras, and a work for Claire Chase, flute, and The Crossing Choir with text by Rita Dove.
A founding member and first Music Director of the Dance Theatre of Harlem, León instituted the Brooklyn Philharmonic Community Concert Series, co-founded the American Composers Orchestra’s Sonidos de las Américas Festivals, was New Music Advisor to the New York Philharmonic, and is the founder/Artistic Director of Composers Now, a presenting, commissioning and advocacy organization for living composers.
Honors include the New York Governor’s Lifetime Achievement, inductions into the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and fellowship awards from ASCAP Victor Herbert Award and The Koussevitzky Music and Guggenheim Foundations, among others. She also received a proclamation for Composers Now by New York City Mayor, and the MadWoman Festival Award in Music (Spain).
León has received Honorary Doctorate Degrees from Colgate University, Oberlin, SUNY Purchase College, and The Curtis Institute of Music, and served as U.S. Artistic Ambassador of American Culture in Madrid, Spain. A CUNY Professor Emerita, she was awarded a 2018 United States Artists Fellowship, Chamber Music America’s 2022 National Service Award, and Harvard University’s 2022 Luise Vosgerchian Teaching Award. In 2023, Columbia University’s Rare Book & Manuscript Library acquired Tania’s León’s archive.
Tony Arnold
Tony Arnold is internationally acclaimed as a leading proponent of contemporary music in concert and recording, a “convincing, mesmerizing soprano” (Los Angeles Times) who “has a broader gift for conveying the poetry and nuance behind outwardly daunting contemporary scores” (Boston Globe). Her extensive chamber music repertory includes major works written for her by Georges Aperghis, Eric Chasalow, George Crumb, Nathan Davis, Brett Dean, Jason Eckardt, Gabriela Lena Frank, Fredrick Gifford, David Gompper, Jesse Jones, Josh Levine, David Liptak, Philippe Manoury, Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez, Christopher Theofanidis, Christopher Trapani, Amy Williams, Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, and John Zorn. With more than 40 discs to her credit, she has recorded a broad segment of the modern vocal repertory with esteemed chamber music colleagues. She received a 2006 Grammy nomination for her recording of George Crumb’s Ancient Voices of Children (Bridge Records). She is a first-prize laureate of the Gaudeamus International and the Louise D. McMahon competitions, as well as recipient of the Brandeis Creative Arts Award. A graduate of Oberlin College and Northwestern University, Arnold currently teaches at the Peabody Conservatory and the Tanglewood Music Center.
Amy Beth Kirsten
Amy Beth Kirsten is a composer, director, writer, and vocalist whose work blurs boundaries between music, theatre, and ritual. Her 2025–26 season includes completing Eating the Underworld for Bergamot Quartet and voice, releasing Misfit Toys for concert band, and appearing at the Midwest Clinic.Recognized by the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the John S. Guggenheim Foundation, and the Rockefeller Foundation, Amy Beth Kirsten is celebrated for her theatrical and conceptual approach to composition. In addition to her musical work, Kirsten is also a writer whose poetry has appeared in several journals. Under the pen name Aster Isler, she recently completed her debut chapbook, Steady As We Fall, marking the beginning of a parallel literary journey that interweaves with
her compositional voice. She teaches composition at The Juilliard School and The Curtis Institute of Music and lives in New Haven, CT, with her doodle-hound Roux-ga-Roux and orange cat Higgs-B.
Levy Lorenzo
Born in Bucharest, Filipino-American Levy Marcel Ingles Lorenzo, Jr. works at the intersection of music, art, and technology. On an international scale, his body of work spans electronics design, sound engineering, instrument building, installation art, improvisation, and percussion performance. With a primary focus on inventing new instruments, he prototypes, composes, and performs new electronic music. As an art consultant, Levy designs interactive electronics ranging from small sculptures to large-scale public art installations with artists such as Alvin Lucier, Christine Sun Kim, Ligorano-Reese, Autumn Knight, and Leo Villareal. As a musician, he has worked with artists such as Peter Evans, Tyshawn Sorey, Anna Thorvaldsdottir, Ryuichi Sakamoto, George Lewis, Henry Threadgill, and Claire Chase. As a sound engineer, he is in demand as a specialist in the realization of complete electro-acoustic concerts with non-traditional configurations. A core member of the acclaimed International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), he fulfills multiple roles as percussionist, electronics performer, and sound engineer. His work has been featured at STEIM, REWIRE, MIT Media Lab, Harvestworks, Banff Centre, Harvard University, G4TV, Grey Group, Bose, Amazon Studios, BBC,
Bergamot Quartet
Bergamot Quartet is fueled by a passion for exploring and advocating for the music of living composers with creative programming, community-oriented audience building, and frequent commissioning. The quartet is in high demand as interpreters and co-creators of new music, having premiered hundreds of works by students of all ages and developed numerous significant new pieces with composers at the forefront of contemporary concert music. They maintain a full season each year of concerts ranging from DIY events to appearances at major venues. As educators, Bergamot serves on faculty at New Music On The Point and Arts Letters and Numbers Creative Music Intensive. In 2025 they have conducted residencies with Tulane University, Manhattan School of Music, and Columbia University as well as served as the faculty ensemble for Wildflower Composers Festival.They also operate the monthly concert series “Bergamot Quartet Extended” as a medium to showcase their many inspiring collaborators and present new work.
Based in New York City, Bergamot Quartet is Ledah Finck and Sarah Thomas, violins; Martine Thomas, viola; and Irène Han, cello. Bergamot Quartet was the inaugural Graduate String Quartet in Residence at the Mannes School of Music 2020-2022, where they were mentored by the JACK Quartet.
Katherine Young
Katherine Young makes electroacoustic music and sonic art using expressive noises, curious timbres, and kinetic structures. Her work has been recognized by awards and fellowships including a Fromm Foundation at Harvard University Commission and the Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship in Music Composition. Relationship building and ecological thinking are central to her practice. She has worked closely with Yarn/Wire, Wet Ink, Ensemble Nikel, Linda Jankowska, Olivia De Prato, Weston Olencki, and others. The LAPhil, Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s MusicNOW, Internationales Musikinstitut Darmstadt, Third Coast Percussion, Ensemble Dal Niente, Bludenzer Tage zeitgemäßer Musik, and other ensembles and festivals have commissioned her music. As a bassoonist and improviser, Katherine amplifies her instrument and employs a flexible electronics setup. Her debut solo album garnered praise in The Wire (“Bassoon colossus”) and Downbeat (“seriously bold leaps for the bassoon”). Katherine performs regularly in ad hoc improvised groups and with projects such as Beautifulish (duo with Sam Scranton) and Architeuthis Walks on Land (duo with Amy Cimini). She has documented her work on numerous recordings, including her quartet Pretty Monsters’ self-titled debut and a duo recording with Anthony Braxton. She teaches at Emory University in Atlanta.
Kerrith Livengood
Composer Kerrith Livengood’s music has been described as “an escapade of wild effusions” (Bloomington Herald-Times) and “sketchy-seeming” (New York Times). Her works have been performed at the International Computer Music Conference, SEAMUS Conference, KISS 2018, ACO’s SONiC Festival, June in Buffalo, Bargemusic, CCM’s MusicX festivals, the North American Saxophone Alliance annual conference, the Atlantic Music Festival, the Contemporary Undercurrent of Song series, the Cortona Sessions, and Alia Musica Pittsburgh’s Conductors Festival. She has written works for the JACK Quartet, Third Angle Ensemble, Duo Cortona, Altered Sound Duo, mezzo-soprano Jennifer Beattie and pianist Adam Marks, soprano Amy Petrongelli, and the h2 Quartet. Her music features complex grooves, lyricism, noise, and humor. She is also a flutist, drummer, technologist, and improviser, who performs collaborative and experimental works created by herself and others. She received her doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh, and previously taught theory and composition at the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign).
Amy Williams
The “fresh, daring and incisive” (Fanfare) compositions of Amy Williams have been presented by leading international performers, including the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, JACK Quartet, Bent Frequency, Ensemble Musikfabrik, Wet Ink, International Contemporary Ensemble, Junction Trio, Orpheus, pianist Ursula Oppens, soprano Tony Arnold and bassist Robert Black. Her pieces appear on the Albany, Parma, Blue Griffin, Centaur and New Focus labels. As a member of the Bugallo-Williams Piano Duo, she has performed throughout Europe and the Americas and recorded six critically-acclaimed CDs for Wergo (works of Nancarrow, Stravinsky, Varèse/Feldman and Kurtág), as well as appearing on the Neos and Albany labels. Ms. Williams has been awarded a Howard Foundation Fellowship, Fromm Music Foundation Commission, Guggenheim Fellowship, Koussevitsky Music Foundation Commission, two awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Fulbright Scholars Fellowship to Ireland, a MacDowell fellowship and the 2024 Henri Lazarof International Commission Prize. Ms. Williams holds a Master’s degree in piano performance and Ph.D. in composition from the University at Buffalo, She has taught at Bennington College and Northwestern University and is currently Professor of Composition at the University of Pittsburgh. She is Artistic Director of the New Music On The Point Festival.
June guest Artists
Sharon Harms
Praised as “superb”, “luscious-toned”, “extraordinarily precise and expressive”, and “dramatically committed and not averse to risk” by the New York Times, young American soprano Sharon Harms is known for fearless performances and passionate interpretations of works new and old for the recital, concert, and operatic stage. Sharon has premiered the music of some of today’s leading composers and her repertoire spans a versatile spectrum of periods and styles. A wide array of collaborations have put Ms. Harms in venues around the world. Recording projects include a 2013 Latin Grammy nomination for Gabriela Ortiz’ Aroma Foliado with Southwest Chamber Ensemble, and a CD of new vocal works by Louis Karchin with Da Capo Chamber Players on Bridge Records.
Alec Goldfarb
Alec Goldfarb is a Brooklyn-based guitarist, composer, and Hindustani classical musician known for blending jazz, new music, and Indian classical traditions. A DownBeat Magazine award-winning composer, his music is described as “full of ingenious juxtapositions and twists” (The Wire), and unravels hidden meeting points between disparate sound cultures, revealing the intricate movement of traditions across time. Alec’s work seeks to bridge cultural and musical boundaries, inviting global audiences into the profound world of Hindustani music through an instrument they may already know, yet in a form they have never heard before.
Erin Gee
In January 2014, Composer Erin Gee was cited by Alex Ross, music critic for The New Yorker, as a member of the short list of the most influential composer-vocalists of the 21st century. She has been awarded the Herb Alpert Award (2023), the Arts and Letters Award in Music and a Charles Ives Fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters along with fellowships from the Bogliasco Foundation, Guggenheim Foundation, Radcliffe Foundation and the 2008 Rome Prize. She has been commissioned by the Zurich Opera House for the opera SLEEP, by the Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna, the Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group under Esa-Pekka Salonen, and for four pieces by Klangforum Wien. Gee has also worked with the Latvian Radio Chamber Choir, Ensemble Surplus, Alter Ego, Either/Or Ensemble, Wet Ink, Metropolis Ensemble, Repertorio Zero, and many others. Her series of compositions Mouthpieces uses non-traditional vocal techniques, devoid of semantic language, to construct intricate and subtle patterns of a diverse array of vocal sounds. She is Professor of Composition at Brandeis University.
NMOP June Festival Testimonials
NMOP was one of the best festivals I’ve ever attended. The amount of high-level talent brought in, both faculty and participants, was incredible. I loved my time at NMOP!
This has been the best musical experience of my life. I have so much energy and inspiration. I feel I have so much to do now and this has helped recover confidence in myself.
I loved my time at NMOP and met so many amazing people with good hearts at the top of their craft. It helped me find my music community after graduating from college, and it reignited my passion and dedication to music. The food was super great too.
…I have come away with increased confidence as a performer, improviser, and composer, and with many wonderful connections to artists who I admire (and who are really great hangs!). I guess what I’m trying to say is…I had so much freaking FUN!
June Festival DATES:
December 1: June Festival applications open
January 15: June applications close
Mid-February: acceptance decisions for June Festival are sent out until all spaces are filled
March 1: tuition deposit due
March 15: composition and performance assignments sent
May 1: final tuition and housing payments due, compositions due (scores and parts)
June 1: arrival day
June 2-14: another wonderful Festival!
June 15: departure day
NMOP June festival
frequently asked questions
We have limited financial aid available for the June Festival, in the form of fellowships, scholarships, and work-study opportunities:
Fellowships
We award the following specific fellowships to select participants:
Latin American Fellowships: For two composers and/or performers from a Latin American country. The fellows can be currently studying or living in the US or any other country. These fellowships provide free tuition and limited travel funds.
Pre-formed Ensemble Fellowships: We will be offering one full tuition fellowship to a pre-formed ensemble (2-5 players).
Robert Black Bass Fellowship: This fellowship provides free tuition to one double bassist in memory of the legendary bassist and dear friend of NMOP, Robert Black.
Eva Laucks Vocal Fellowship: Eva Laucks was a soprano who made her 1929 debut in Don Juan in Dresden, Germany. Eva’s family is honoring her life with this Vocal Fellowship, which provides free tuition to a vocalist.
Yvar Mikhashoff Piano Fellowship: Yvar Mikhashoff was an American pianist and composer who dedicated his career to contemporary music. This Fellowship provides free tuition to one pianist.
Emerson Wahl “So Good” Percussion Fellowship: Honoring the life and musical legacy of ’17 and ’19 NMOP alumnus Emerson Wahl, gifted musician, devoted mentor, music teacher and so much more. This Fellowship provides free tuition to one percussionist.
Eleya Composition Fellowship: This fellowship covers tuition and housing for one composer.
Lake Dunmore Composer Fellowship: This fellowship covers tuition for an outstanding female, transgender, nonbinary, or genderqueer composer.
Ada and Constance Kambour Keyboard Composition Fellowship: This fellowship covers tuition for a composer or keyboardist.
NMOP fellows are expected to take on additional performance duties during the festival, including collaborating with composer participants during our Lab Times, assisting with concert management and technology, or other activities as needed.
BIPOC Scholarships: Every year, NMOP offers partial scholarships to outstanding applicants who are Black, Indigenous, and/or Persons of Color.
Work Study Opportunities: NMOP offers work-study opportunities for participants, including technology assistance and transportation assistance. Some work-study positions require early or late arrival at the festival. When you complete the application form, you’ll see a multiple selection item listing all available fellowships, scholarships, and work study roles. Just check the boxes next to any that you want to be considered for!
The June Festival is primarily for early career composers and performers (typically ages 18-35). During the June Festival, we offer an intensive schedule of lessons, workshops, rehearsals, coachings and public performances, intended to create an unforgettable musical and educational experience for participants and audiences alike.
The September Retreat is primarily for early and mid-career composers (loosely interpreted), and does not accept performer participants. The September Retreat schedule is more relaxed, with emphasis on having time to compose as well as connect with other composers at similar points in their career paths. Our performer artists will rehearse and record works by participants, as well as offer workshops on various professional development and pedagogical topics.
We are a rustic, historical youth camp, and June participants stay in unheated shared cabins and sleep in bunk beds.
Yes it is encouraged! Even if you feel you are more advanced in one area than the other. There is an extra space in the application form for dual applicants to include additional audition materials. You only need to pay one application fee.
It’s absolutely true. We have a seriously gourmet menu at NMOP, which helps make up for the bunk beds. You can learn more about our awesome chefs on our About page.
Yes. There are vegan options at every meal and all additional food needs are accommodated.
Yes. Three meals a day are provided for the duration of both the June Festival and the September Retreat.
During the June Festival, there is one day off in the middle of the festival in which several group hikes are organized. Other hikes and outdoorsy activities are organized throughout the festival as scheduling allows.
Instead of waiving application fees, we are making it free to apply between December 1st and January 1st. After that you must pay the application fee.
Yes. Please remember that we prefer works composed after 1970 for the performance examples.
Ensembles only pay one application fee per ensemble.
There should be one lead applicant for ensembles who is the contact person.
Yes, you will need to fill out two separate applications (one for you as an individual performer or composer and one for your ensemble). Likewise, if anyone in an ensemble wants to apply as an individual, they will need to fill out a separate application. You only need to pay one application fee (if you apply after January 1st).
Composer Applicants: Scores (pdf) and links to recordings of three original works. MIDI is acceptable, but not encouraged. Recordings and realizations of electroacoustic music or experimental works that do not use traditional scores can be submitted.
Performer Applicants: Please submit three video recordings of solo or chamber performances of works composed after 1970. Works that involve improvisation are acceptable.
NMOP is open to ALL instrumentalists and vocalists, including brass, winds, strings, piano, guitar, and percussion. Please note that our campus is not equipped for large instruments such as harp, organ and marimba. If you have any questions about whether your instrument or ensemble is feasible in our space, please email us.
Pre-formed Ensembles: Ensembles (2-5 players) of any instrumentation are eligible to apply. Ensembles should prepare three audio or video recordings of performances of works composed after 1970. Recordings must include the same players who are applying.
No, please provide links to the recordings instead. This can be on YouTube, Soundclound, Bandcamp, Google Drive, personal website, etc. Make sure that there is no password required to access and no downloading required. Please try to link directly to each recording or video (rather than links to playlists or folders containing multiple examples).
No, just list the contact information for three references. Referees will be contacted individually by reviewers as needed.
The first round of acceptances will be emailed in mid-February. We will also notify you if you’ve been placed on our waitlist. It may be some weeks before we finalize participants, so please be patient.
Performer participants at NMOP get one-on-one lessons with performance faculty, plus coaching from faculty and the opportunity to perform in a featured Showcase concert. Composer participants receive recordings and performances of new works, by NMOP performer and faculty participants. All participants get to attend workshops, seminars, and amazing concerts!
Payment
Accepted participants must send a $500 deposit by March 1 to reserve a space ($517.50 via PayPal, including fees). Below is the PayPal link to pay either the deposit, or the program fee in full. You can also pay your deposit with Zelle using the email address of [email protected].
Pay by check:
Make checks payable to NMOP and mail to:
NMOP
1361 Hooker Road
Leicester VT 05733
Pay Online:
Application Fee: $51.75 (includes PayPal fee)
Initial deposit: $517.50 (includes PayPal fee)
After your deposit has been paid, you will receive an emailed invoice for the Balance of Fees which is due in full no later than May 1. Payments are not refundable, except in cases of documented medical emergencies.
More Questions About the June Festival?
Don’t hesitate to contact us here.