News

Development Opportunities for Scottish composers / composers based in Scotland

sound is pleased to announce that we will be offering three development opportunities for Scottish composers / composers based in Scotland.

sound is a new music incubator based in North East Scotland, which aims to increase access to new music, encourage excellence and experimentation, and nurture talent. It achieves this through a variety of activities including the annual soundfestival, a year-round composer support programme, a youth programme, and other learning and engagement activities.

The opportunities involve writing new works for the following ensembles, leading to performances or sharings at the 2026 soundfestival. Please note that there is a progression through the opportunities, with each one catering to composers at different points in their careers. We thus expect the majority of composers to apply to one of these opportunities rather than multiple opportunities.

1. A duo of musicians from Red Note Ensemble (alto flute and percussion) in the run up to the soundfestival. This is aimed at very early career composers.

2. North East Scotland’s new music ensemble, Any Enemy, conducted and mentored by Pete Stollery in the run up to the soundfestival. This is aimed at early career composers slightly further along their career path.

3. A 3-day Composers’ Lab with Quatuor Bozzini during the soundfestival. This is aimed at more experienced emerging composers.

These opportunities are part of sound’s soundcreators programme focusing on nurturing creative talent. soundcreators is currently funded by Creative Scotland, Aberdeen City Council, the Hinrichsen Foundation, the William Syson Foundation and through the PRS Foundation’s Development Network fund supported by PPL. These particular opportunities are in addition funded by The Garrick Charitable Trust.

Candidate Information

  • By very early career we mean composers who are aiming for a career in composing, and are at a stage where they need opportunities to work with and write for real musicians. If they have studied music, we would expect them to be at post-grad level at least.
  • By early career, we mean composers who are more confident in writing for live musicians, and need a bit more of a challenge to help them hone their skills.
  • By emerging, we mean composers who are able to demonstrate a number of years of compositional experience, who are emerging onto the professional scene.
  • By Scottish composers / composers based in Scotland we mean composers of any nationality, who have been resident in Scotland for at least 18 months and expect to stay for the next 2 years at least. Scottish-raised composers who are studying elsewhere in the UK for a limited amount of time may also apply, but will be expected to pay for any travel to get to Scotland.

For the Red Note, and Any Enemy opportunities we are looking for composers who have:

  • have strong notation skills and experience in working with and writing for classically trained musicians, and are interested in developing this skill further;

OR

  • are coming from a not classically trained background, but are able to demonstrate ability/skill set to produce a score (including graphic, text, semi-graphic) for classically trained musicians to play from.

For Composers’ Lab with Quatuor Bozzini, the candidates must have strong notational and experience in working with and writing for classically trained musicians.

All composers will need to be able to articulate their development needs and how the particular opportunity would benefit them at this point in their career. They can be of any age and background, including those who have had to take a substantial career break due to maternity leave or other reasons, or those who practised composition as amateurs in previous years and have now started to take steps into the professional world. They might also be those who have had a career in another field of music and are only now identifying as composers.

We are committed to working with and supporting composers from under-represented groups. Female, trans, gender-diverse, and global majority or Gypsy/Traveller composers, composers from a low-income background, and/or composers with a disability are encouraged to apply. By global majority we mean people from all ethnic groups except white British and other white groups, including white minorities.

Opportunity Descriptions 

1. Writing for Red Note duo: alto flute and percussion

Since its formation in 2008, Red Note Ensemble has taken up a leadership position as Scotland’s contemporary music ensemble, performing and developing both an extensive, highly-varied and critically-acclaimed programme of new music.

6 very early career Scottish composers (see definition above) will have the opportunity to develop short works for a duo of alto flute and percussion with mentoring support from Shiori Usui.

The schedule for the opportunity is as follows:

  •  Introductory session: 2nd and 3rd July
  •  Mentoring support: Early/Mid August
  • Workshop session with musicians: 19th or 20th September, Aberdeen
  • Additional rehearsal session: early October, Central Belt (date tbc)
  • Performance on 1st November, Aberdeen

Expenses

A stipend of £200 will be available for each successful candidate who completes the opportunity. Second-class travel within Scotland will be reimbursed, and any necessary accommodation booked. See the paragraph on accessibility below for additional access costs.

2. Writing for Any Enemy

Any Enemy (established in 2018) is a contemporary music ensemble formed of local musicians in North East Scotland. The ensemble meets regularly with conductor Pete Stollery to rehearse a wide range of new music for flexible instrumentation, and has commissioned a number of new works. For the past 5 years it has offered development opportunities to composers across Scotland and beyond.

3 early-career Scottish composers (see definition above) will have the opportunity to develop works for Any Enemy (instrumentation: fl, ob, bn, vn, va, vc, perc, tuba) with mentoring support from composer Pete Stollery.

  • Introductory session: 2nd July
  • Workshop session with musicians: 19th or 20th September, Aberdeen
  • Performance on 24th October, Aberdeen

Expenses

A stipend of £250 will be available for each successful candidate who completes the opportunity. Second-class travel within Scotland will be reimbursed, and any necessary accommodation booked. See the paragraph on accessibility below for additional access costs.

3. Composers’ Lab with Quatuor Bozzini

Quatuor Bozzini has been an original voice and strong advocate in new, experimental and classical music since 1999. Driving the hyper-creative Montréal scene and beyond, the quartet cultivates an ethos of risk-taking, experimentation, and collaboration, venturing boldly off the beaten track. With a rigorous eye for quality, it has nurtured a rich and diverse repertoire, regardless of trends, and leading to a great number of commissions and some 500 premiered works. Its open, collaborative, artist-led approach has resulted in the realization of numerous innovative and highly praised productions, including inter-disciplinary projects with video, theatre and dance.

4 emerging Scottish-based composers will take part in an intensive workshop on string writing. The workshop aims to improve technical skills in writing contemporary music for string quartet instruments, and to generate creative ideas in an open and stimulating environment.

Accepted participants must produce 6 weeks in advance a nearly-finished or finished work for string quartet. The workshop will conclude with a public sharing as part of the soundfestival on the Thursday 29th October, showcasing the work accomplished during the week.

  • 27th-29th October - Workshop sessions with Quatuor Bozzini in Aberdeen
  • 29th October: Public sharing as part of soundfestival, Aberdeen

Expenses

Second-class travel within Scotland will be reimbursed, and accommodation will be provided. See the paragraph on accessibility below for additional access costs.

Notes to Composers Wishing to Apply

Attendance

The successful candidates should be available to attend all sessions relevant to the opportunity. This requirement is kept flexible for those living with disability, or those for whom such participation might be tricky due to any other reason related to their underrepresented characteristic. You will be able to discuss this with us upon successful application and we will help find a solution.

As well as respecting timelines, we expect you to let us know as early as possible if you are struggling, or if for some reason you need to pull out. We are happy to be as flexible and supportive as possible to help you complete the opportunity. However, if you do decide to pull out, we have a reserve list of composers to allow someone else can benefit from the opportunity.

Accessibility

Access costs will be covered for those who require it. You will be asked about your accessibility needs upon successful application, this will be discussed with you individually, and the programme and schedule (where possible and required) will be tailored towards your needs.

If you need any accessibility assistance in applying for this opportunity, please contact Kadri on info@sound-scotland.co.uk

What to expect for Any Enemy and Red Note opportunities

  • Your creative process should start at the initial date of each opportunity, and continue throughout. It will be punctuated by online or live sessions with the composer mentor and/or musicians.
  • You will be working mostly individually, using any medium of your choice during the creative process to help you generate ideas.
  • Any mentoring sessions will be aimed at helping you shape your ideas into a suitable composition.
  • For the mid-project live session, you will be expected to present a draft notated score and parts in advance for the musicians (you can use graphic or semi-graphic notation, and/or text instructions, if that is how you normally work). The deadlines for this will be given to you at the introductory meeting.
  • After this you will be required to prepare a final fully notated score and parts for a date to be agreed with the musicians.
  • In between sessions, it is up to you how exactly you would like to manage your process.
  • Your mentor is your sounding board and advisor, but you are expected to work as a professional, and will be making your own decisions based on your experience.
  • Time management and preparation guidance - while we will provide you with a schedule, we will expect you to manage your own creative flow, and make autonomous decisions on any creative preparations for meeting with musicians, etc.
  • You will always be able to discuss any logistical questions (equipment, access, timeline, etc.) with our manager.
  • Please note that this is a development opportunity leading to a live performance of your work in the soundfestival. It may be possible to make an audio and/or video recording of the performance which, provided the players are happy with the performance, will be available to you for personal, non-public use only, including submission to competitions and as part of educational assignments.

If you have any further questions or personal requirements in regards to this, you will be able to discuss them with the manager and/or mentor of the project upon the successful application.

How to Apply

Please apply to the opportunity that most closely matches the stage you are at in your career (see above). Remember that we thus expect the majority of composers to apply to one of these opportunities rather than multiple opportunities.

You can apply to an opportunity through the following relevant form:

Text, video or audio applications are accepted.

In the application form you will be asked :

  • Your name, email, age, pronouns, postcode, and to confirm you are Scottish/resident in Scotland, and to identify your underrepresented characteristic if you wish so.
  • Why are you interested in each opportunity and how will it help your development as composer? (text, or upload video or audio).
  • Biography or CV (text only).
  • Small portfolio of your work: two relevant PDF scores (notated, graphic, or description) AND (ideally) recordings/midi of the same pieces.
  • You will also be asked to fill in an equalities monitoring form.

Please note there will be an online information session for all our opportunities on

Tuesday 26th May, 11.30am-12pm for those who need further advice or information. Here’s the link to register for the session:

https://calendly.com/sound-scotland/information-session-26

If you have any other questions, you can email Kadri on info@sound-scotland.co.uk

Deadline for applications: Sunday 7th June 2026

We offer a 2-day “grace period” until the end of day on Tuesday 9th June for applicants who can’t reach the deadline due to health challenges, having to care for family members, or other reasonable and/or unexpected circumstances. Please state your reason in the application form.

Selection Process

As mentioned above, sound is committed to working with and supporting composers from under-represented sections of the population. To enable this, there is a two-stage application process: an initial selection is made, and then this is narrowed down in a second stage selection process. If you are a female, gender-minority, Gypsy/Traveller or global majority composer, disabled and/or from a low-income background, you can choose to self-select automatically to the second round. 

The selection panels will be made up of representative(s) of Red Note Ensemble, Quatuor Bozzini or Any Enemy (depending on your application), and sound. We will inform you whether you are successful or not by the Thursday 25th June 2026. We may also offer you a reserve place in case one of the successful candidates can’t take up the opportunity or needs to pull out at an early stage.

Notes on Selection

Selection for new music opportunities is inherently subjective and the criteria used can differ from project to project. We are frequently over-subscribed and often the quality of applications is extremely high from a wide range of composers, which usually means making difficult decisions.

Reasons for selecting one composer over another are not always to do with skill level or experience. We choose composers that we believe will benefit the most from a particular opportunity. We may also take into consideration whether we feel composers are the right fit to work a particular ensemble. In certain cases, we may also need to take into consideration the coherence and balance of a group. We sometimes end up turning down composers with more experience or skills, or giving opportunities to composers who we feel would benefit most from a particular opportunity at that stage in their career. Faced with difficult choices we may sometimes turn down composers who have already benefited from a number of opportunities in the past.

We would however encourage composers to apply for any opportunities that interest them and for which they fit the specification, and not be discouraged if they are not selected for a particular opportunity, as it does not mean that they are not “good” enough. Please do continue to apply for any opportunity that interests you!