Nothing! Zero, zip, zilch. And that includes application fees. You get all the stuff listed on the Apply page - workshops, coachings, 2 guaranteed performances, automantic acceptance to the next Institute at no cost. It’s a free program we’re running, so come on and join us!

Yeah, really. Totally free!

Not exactly. While fellows DO get guaranteed acceptance to the upcoming SPLICE Institute, this does NOT apply to SPLICE Festival, which is a different beast. For the Festival you’ll need to apply like everyone else. See our Festival page for the most recent updates.

Also keep in mind: although Fellows are guaranteed acceptance to the Institute, the cost for that remains the same (see Institute pages for details). All are welcome to apply for our scholarships!

We get this one a lot. Here’s the breakdown:

SPLICE Institute (the one with guaranteed acceptance for Fellows) is a week-long intensive summer program that takes place every year at Western Michigan University. In addition to concerts, lectures, and panels, we offer a series of technology classes/workshops. For more details about SPLICE Institute, see our Institute page.

SPLICE Festival essentially follows a music conference paradigm, offering 3 days of concerts, lectures, and workshops at a different host institution each year. It’s shorter, less intensive, and less class-based.

Both are run by the same folks, and it’s all part of the SPLICE ecosystem.

The performances will take place at our partnering institutions: the University of Tulsa and the Hartt School of Music.

Up to 6 Composition Fellows will be selected from this year’s call. There will also be up to 6 Performance Fellows selected from across the partnering institutions - the University of Tulsa and the Hartt School of Music.

It depends - some Composition Fellows will be assigned to write for piano and electronics, others for piano, electronics, and one “open” instrumental part. For both groups, our own wizardly Keith Kirchoff will perform the piano parts.

The open instrumental parts will be covered by the Performance Fellows at each of the partnering institutions. Since each piece will be performed at BOTH institutions, and the roster of Performance Fellows will vary between them, the parts will need to be flexible.

The second instrument will be unspecified in the score: it could be any instrument and will vary from performance to performance. For the purpose of this fellowship, the part will be played by two different Performance Fellows on two different instruments.

Unfortunately no - those are selected directly from the partnering institution. However, we’re hoping to open this up to a wider pool of performance applicants some time in the future.

Nope! That’s part of what this is about - to provide an opportunity for composers to work more closely with our faculty to learn how to approach the creation of electronic parts. That being said, we’re perfectly happy to work with you if you DO have experience. And if that’s the case, we want to know! We therefore encourage you to submit a piece that shows that off, if you have one.

• August 15: Application deadline

• September 10: Applicants will be notified

• November 1: Drafts of pieces are due

• January 1: Final scores/materials are due

• March 2026: Performance at University of Tulsa

• April 2026: Performance at the Hart School of Music