The Vermont Composers Initiative is a program which brings together young musicians with living composers, and is developing a body of ensemble music written by both professional Vermont composers and Vermont student composers who are mentored by the professional composers. New works are premiered at GMSI and RCMS concert venues, and will culminate in an anthology of published music. It is with great appreciation that the Institute announces that this project has received generous support from the Vermont Arts Council, the New England Foundation for the Arts Meet the Composers Fund, and several private donors.

The Vermont Composers Initiative has 3 components:

• The commissioning of a new work for student trio written by a professional composer. The composer will attend the GMSI as Composer-in-Residence, and, in addition to teaching two electives classes, will coach a trio of student musicians in preparing the new work for performance during the Green Mountain Suzuki Institute's week in Rochester. The work is then premiered at the final concert of the Institute.
• RCMS/GMSI partners with the Vermont MIDI Project to mentor a student composer to write a piece for student trio. The young composer will attend the GMSI, and, coached by the Composer-in-Residence, will work with a student trio. This work would also be performed at the Suzuki Institute's final concert.
• The culmination of the 5 year program will be an anthology of original compositions by Vermont composers and student composers that will be published and distributed by Pen Stroke Press, a non-profit press located in Rochester that was developed by a School-to-Work initiative, and dedicated to publishing new and student voices. The release of the collection will be celebrated by performances around the state, with book signing events that feature the professional and student composers.

2008: professional composer, Peter Hamlin, piece: 13 Kinds of Snow; premiered by Christina Koller, violin, Lane Waples, cello, Sarah Broadwell, piano.

2008: student composer, Christina Koller; piece: Chiaroscuro; premiered by Lynnie Woodruff, violin, Graeme Waples, cello, Rachel Eisemann, piano.

2007: professional composer, Sara Doncaster, piece: Legend; premiered by Olivia Daniel, violin, Julia Gaster , cello, and Nick Martin, piano.

2007: student composer, Cecelia Daigle; piece: Comitan Dancers; premiered by Brendon Mezzetti, violin, Lane Waples, cello, and Aiden Ryan, piano.

2006: professional composer, Troy Peters, piece: Summer Idyll; premiered by Lily Roberts-Gevalt, violin, Matthew Goff , cello, and Mitchell Goff, piano.

2006: student composer, Tim Woos; piece: Travel by my Dragonfly; premiered by Roseanna Hopper, violin, Sylvia Stevens-Goodnight, cello, and Sarabeth Hamberlin, piano.

2005: professional composer, Erik Nielsen, piece: 3 x 3; premiered by Estlin Usher, violin, Brianna Wood-Dunbar , cello, and Tim Woos, piano.