collaborative composer/writer workshops

The New School / Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

Derek Bermel and his longtime collaborator, acclaimed author and librettist Wendy S. Walters, have presented several educational workshops for student composers and librettists on the art of text setting and working with the other’s medium.

During the writing process for The Good Life, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra presented a six-monthlong residency for young, local composers to work with Derek and Wendy on their pieces in progress. Click here to listen to an interview with Derek, Wendy, and student composers Scott Wasserman and Matthew Heap with WQED Radio, where they discuss their experiences working together.

As part of his 2012-13 tenure as composer-in-residence with the Mannes School of Music at the New School, Derek and Wendy joined forces once again to advise student composers and librettists on writing vocal music. These collaborative workshops formed a major part of Mannes’s inter-disciplinary outreach to other departments of the New School. Click here to learn more about Derek’s residency.