MacDowell — Fall/Winter 2027–28 Fellowship

MacDowell gives composers a private studio and uninterrupted time to write, in Peterborough, New Hampshire. Music composition is one of seven disciplines it supports, alongside literature, theatre, film and video, architecture, interdisciplinary arts and visual arts, and around 300 fellowships are awarded across all of them each year. It is open to artists of any nationality and any career stage.

There is no residency fee. On top of the studio, need-based stipends and travel reimbursement grants are available to fellows who need them, which is the foundation's stated way of keeping the residency open to as wide a field as possible. No fixed award figure is published; financial assistance is assessed case by case.

An application has three parts, and the selection panels weigh all three: a list of your professional achievements so far, a current work sample showing how you actually write, and a proposal for what you mean to do with the time. Artistic excellence is named as the sole criterion for acceptance. Be realistic about the odds — MacDowell says recent cycles have drawn a very large field of strong applicants, and the number of studios on campus caps how many places exist.

There are two intakes a year, each covering a six-month season. The February deadline covers the following autumn and winter; the September deadline covers the spring and summer after that. The application opens roughly a month before each deadline. Conversational English is recommended, as no interpretation is provided, though the guidelines are also published in Spanish.

Worth separating two different fees: there is no residency fee, but applying costs $30. MacDowell charges a nonrefundable $30 processing fee with each application, and waivers are available on grounds of significant financial hardship or economic sanctions, requested inside the application after you start it and no later than three business days before the deadline.