​Absolutely. Because of the intensive nature of our programs, there are limited spots for participants. Many applicants choose to apply to both our Impulse and Study programs for the summer (you may select both programs to apply for from a single application).

If you are accepted into multiple programs for the summer you will be asked to select one to participate in.

The Hybrid element of this festival means that there are an initial slate of online events, followed by a week in-person, in residence at The Colburn School Conservatory of Music.

Online festival events happen early in July to help you while you compose the new work. These lessons, masterclasses, workshops, and evening lectures are carried out via Zoom, with recordings of masterclasses, workshops, and evening lectures made available for participants to view or review at a later time, if needed.

In-Person events then happen in August once your score and parts have been submitted, and include rehearsals of participants' works, masterclasses, conducting workshop, talks, concert(s), and other special events.

No, INMF prides itself on the aesthetic and stylistic diversity of its faculty and participants. As long as you are exploring your own distinct artistic voice, we want to hear it.

We believe that you know best what you need from our programs, so the one-on-one opportunities of lessons and instrumental workshops are open to whatever topic(s) interest you. Most composers use the workshops to ask instrument-specific questions to the performer about their piece, or try to gain a better general understanding of writing for that instrument.

In lessons, some composers want to talk about the piece they are working on for the festival, some want to look at other pieces from their catalog, and many composers use their lessons to talk about specific skills or topics, ranging from counterpoint to analysis to using electronics, or to career development topics like finding and applying for grants.

In other words, we are here to support the next stage of your creative and professional development, whatever that means for you.

Impulse New Music Festival uses our status as a non-profit organization to fundraise and build partnerships during the year so that we can offer our critical services like our summer programs and workshops at lower cost to you, the participants. As a result, these programs are heavily subsidized, and the remaining program fees that you see listed help us compensate our faculty artists fairly, rent the facilities, hire recording engineers for your pieces, etc.

INMF is committed to helping break down socio-economic barriers to music education and training, so we work with participants by providing letters of support for institutional and private grants, and offer payment plans for our programs.

Our organization also fundraises for a scholarship fund each year, in order to help those outstanding applicants who might not be able to participate in INMF without financial support. INMF Scholarships are limited and distributed at the discretion of the festival directors and faculty. Applicants may apply for our scholarships after being officially accepted into an INMF program.

For the 2026 Festival, all participants are invited to Los Angeles, California during the week of August 4-8 to participate in our in-Person events, including rehearsals, talks, conducting workshop, concert(s) and more. While not required, we strongly encourage all participating composers to join us for the in-person portion of the festival.

Our host for in-person events is the Colburn School Conservatory of Music. Accepted composers will be provided information on housing options and costs.