Australian Composers Orchestral Forum provides emerging composers the opportunity to work with a professional symphony orchestra
Australian Composers Orchestral Forum (ACOF)
Running for 25 years, the ACOF project gave emerging composers the opportunity to develop a piece with a professional orchestra, a sympathetic conductor, and expert tutors.
Recent Years
About ACOF
After 25 years, the Australian Composers Orchestral Forum has now come to a close.
This project leaves a significant legacy: More than 100 composers have benefited from the experience of being a participant, countless new works have been written, and the careers of orchestral composers have unfolded as a result.
Many of these composers are now amongst Australia's best known. In fact, the list of previous participants and tutors, that includes Carl Vine, Elena Kats-Chernin, Graeme Koehne, and Andrew Schultz, reads like a Who's Who of Australian Composition.
Originally called the Young Composers' Summer School, the project began in 1980 as a joint venture between the Australian Music Centre, the Music Board of the Australia Council, and the ABC.
At the time, the project provided the only opportunity for emerging composers to work with a professional orchestra. Over the last twenty-five years, almost all the professional orchestras in Australia have hosted ACOF at some stage. Many of these orchestras have now established their own composer development programs, and there is a much wider range of opportunities for emerging composers to hone their orchestral compositional craft.
The Australian Music Centre is grateful to the Music Board of the Australia Council for its support for ACOF over the years. The Centre is also particularly grateful to Symphony Australia for their involvement in and commitment to ACOF. We will continue to be involved in providing advice and assistance in support of Symphony Australia's Artist Development Programs, and to any organisation involved in composer development projects.
