ICEBERG INSTITUTE
presented in partnership with
Featuring ICEBERG New Music, Sarah Kirkland Snider, Steven Mackey, Orlando Jacinto Garcia, Hub New Music, and Contemporary Art Music Project
June 1-12, 2026
University of Central Florida • Orlando, FL
Applications are due by January 1, 2026
ICEBERG Institute is a two-week composition intensive led by ICEBERG New Music composers and featuring a variety of guest faculty and performing artists each year. Participants receive rigorous individual instruction from world-class faculty members, work closely with acclaimed ensembles, hear their music performed in a public concert, and receive high-quality audio and video documentation of their work. The Institute is open to all composers 18 years of age and older, regardless of nationality, experience level, or professional status.
ICEBERG New Music, Core Faculty
The ten composers of ICEBERG New Music are committed to exploring every boundary of contemporary concert music. They are acclaimed composers and distinguished educators who have collaborated with some of the world's foremost contemporary ensembles and performers, and heard their music performed across five continents. As a collective, ICEBERG has presented concerts across the United States, Canada, and Europe. Their first album, a collaboration with acclaimed pianist Jenny Lin, was released in 2018 by Sono Luminus Records. ICEBERG New Music has produced over 50 concerts of new music since 2016, encompassing more than 250 world premieres.
2026 ICEBERG New Music Faculty Members
Click/tap an image to learn about the composer.
Alex Burtzos
Max Grafe
Haralabos [Harry]
Stafylakis
Victor Báez
Sarah Kirkland Snider,
Guest Faculty
Composer Sarah Kirkland Snider writes music of direct expression and vivid narrative that has been hailed as “rapturous” (The New York Times), “groundbreaking” (The Boston Globe), and “ravishingly beautiful” (NPR). Recently named one of the “Top 35 Female Composers in Classical Music” by The Washington Post, Snider’s works have been commissioned and/or performed by the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, and many others.
Steven Mackey,
Guest Faculty
Steven Mackey is a GRAMMY-winning composer of works for chamber ensemble, orchestra, dance, and opera - commissioned by the greatest orchestras around the world, and winner of several awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a Kennedy Center Friedheim Award. Bright in coloring, ecstatic in inventiveness, lively and profound, Mackey’s music spins the tendrils of his improvisatory riffs into large-scale works of grooving, dramatic coherence. He is the William Shubael Conant Professor of Music at Princeton University and a faculty member at Curtis Institute of Music.
Orlando Jacinto Garcia,
Guest Faculty
The music of Orlando Jacinto Garcia has been nominated for multiple Latin Grammys and performed across Europe and the Americas. In demand as a guest composer and lecturer at national and international festivals, Garcia is the recipient of numerous honors and awards from a variety of organizations and cultural institutions, including two Fulbright fellowships. He is a resident composer with the Miami Symphony Orchestra and Professor of Music in the Herbert and Nicole Wertheim School of Music & Performing Arts at Florida International University in Miami.
Hub New Music,
Ensemble-in-Residence
Clay-Larsen.jpg)
Called “contemporary chamber trailblazers” by the Boston Globe, Hub New Music is a “prime mover of piping hot 21st century repertoire” (Washington Post). Founded in 2013, the Detroit-based ensemble has commissioned dozens of new works for its distinctive ensemble of flute, clarinet, violin, and cello. Hub’s “nimble quartet of winds and strings” (NPR) actively collaborates with today’s most celebrated composers on projects that traverse today’s rich musical landscape.
Contemporary Art Music Project,
Artists-in-Residence
Click/tap an image to learn about the artist.
Eunmi Ko
Piano
Kevin von Kampen
Percussion
Katherine Weintraub
Saxophones
Contemporary Art Music Project (CAMP) is a collective of Tampa-based musicians and composers dedicated to collaborating with living composers and performing artists from around the world. Founded in 2021, CAMP presents an expansive range of programs, including commissioning projects, podcasts, a salon concert series, At the CAMPGround, and CAMP’s annual international festival of new music and flagship event, CAMPGround. CAMP's collaborative partners include Tempus-Projects, Tampa City Ballet, Central Florida Choreographers Collaboration, Atlas Modern Ballet, Heard’Em Say, and more.
ANSWERS,
Guest Ensemble
ANSWERS is an Orlando-based quintet of improvising composers. Equally at home in amplified and acoustic settings, the band performs spontaneous improvisations, original works, interpretations of graphic scores, virtuosic contemporary classical music, and works for open instrumentation. ANSWERS is on a mission to perform without limitations.
Participant Experience
ICEBERG Institute is a composition-intensive experience that places an emphasis on the advancement of participants' craft and the high-caliber realization of their music. Unlike many other festivals, participants are encouraged to revise their compositions based on feedback received in daily lessons and multiple workshops of their pieces. Each piece receives as much rehearsal time as possible, guaranteeing the most polished performance possible.
When not participating in lessons, seminars, and masterclasses, ICEBERG Institute participants can explore the many attractions of the Orlando area, including theme parks, beaches, museums, world-class music and theater institutions, wilderness areas, and extraordinary dining. For a guide to the area, visit https://www.visitorlando.com.
Location and Facilities
UCF Main Campus
UCF School of Performing Arts
Timucua Arts Foundation
Day-to-day activities will be conducted at the University of Central Florida. UCF's School of Performing Arts is Florida's first all-Steinway school, and features cutting-edge practice facilities, practice spaces, and technology labs for participants' use. Temperatures in early June are pleasant, with sun daily and highs between 82-88º F (27-31º C). All instructional, practice, and residential spaces are air-conditioned.
ICEBERG Institute's final concerts will be performed at Timucua Arts Foundation, Orlando's premiere independent performance space. Timucua is equipped with a state-of-the-art acoustic control system and seating for 100 listeners. All performances will be livestreamed and recorded from five camera angles.
Curriculum and Schedule
ICEBERG Institute is a rigorous two-week composition intensive. Participants receive individual and group instruction from faculty members as they work to refine and finalize a new chamber composition. These pieces are vigorously rehearsed and performed in a public concert during the Institute's second week. Other curricular activities include performances by the Institute's ensembles-in-residence, faculty and guest seminars, participant presentations, and small group masterclasses. Academic activities generally last from 9 or 10 AM until 4 or 5 PM, with concerts and social activities taking place in the evening.
All participants receive at least four individual lessons with core faculty, at least one masterclass with each guest faculty member, and high-quality audio/video documentation of their concert performance.
Lodging and Dining
ICEBERG Institute participants may choose to either secure their own lodging or take advantage the of on-campus housing option. On campus housing consists of single-occupancy rooms with shared kitchen and common spaces, located a one-minute walk from the School of Performing Arts.
ICEBERG Institute does not require participants to purchase a meal plan of any kind. However, UCF offers a variety of affordable on-campus dining options, and is a short walk from many additional restaurants, shops, and bars. On-campus housing units are equipped with kitchens. One banquet-style dinner is included in the cost of tuition (this dinner will follow the final concerts).
On-campus housing
Campus dining options
Tuition and Optional Expenses
Tuition for the 2026 ICEBERG Institute is $2,400 USD. Tuition includes the following:
-
All lessons, masterclasses, seminars, and other curricular activities
-
Access to practice, instruction, and study facilities at UCF
-
Rehearsal and performance of your work by the Institute's guest artists and ensemble(s)
-
High-quality audio and video documentation of your performance
-
Final banquet dinner
Optional expenses include the following:
-
On-campus housing ($50 USD/night, $650 total per person). Participants staying on campus should plan to check in on Sunday, May 31 and check out on Saturday, June 13. Alternatively, participants may choose to secure their own housing.
-
A daylong excursion is scheduled for Friday, June 5. Confirmed participants will choose the destination: options include Universal Studios, Gatorland, and Kennedy Space Center. Cost will depend on destination.
How to Apply
Applications are due by January 1, 2026!
To apply, click the button above and complete the online form. Application is open to all composers, regardless of nationality or professional status. Applicants must be 18 years of age or older as of June 1, 2026. There is no fee to apply.
All applicants will need to provide the following:
-
Name
-
Contact information
-
Date of Birth
-
Country of Residence
-
Link to a resumé or C.V.
-
Links to two work samples (scores) with accompanying recordings
-
A brief paragraph describing their artistic practice and interests
Additionally, accepted candidates will be asked to supply the following before arrival:
-
Proof of health insurance
There is no application fee. If you have questions, please contact us.
Accepted participants will be asked to compose a new piece for a given instrumentation and submit a complete draft of this work by May 1, 2026. These compositions will be workshopped, revised as needed, and performed during the Institute's final concert.
Application Timeline
-
OCTOBER 1, 2025: Application opens
-
JANUARY 1, 2026: Application closes
-
JANUARY 20, 2026: Acceptance notifications sent
-
FEBRUARY 1, 2026: Non-refundable $500 deposit due
-
MARCH 1, 2026: Housing preference due
-
APRIL 1, 2026: Tuition remainder due
-
MAY 1, 2026: Composition draft due
-
MAY 31, 2026: Participants arrive in Orlando
-
JUNE 1, 2026: Institute begins