Write the music you dreamed of.

The composition department both honors tradition and encourages innovation. Our four versatile faculty members closely mentor students while maintaining high-profile composing careers. We strongly emphasize interdepartmental collaboration, matching composers with performers, as well as offer frequent concerts and readings of student works. Every year, SFCM hosts the Highsmith Competition, an internal composition contest that grants the winner a performance of the submitted work by the Conservatory Orchestra. You'll be able to take advantage of the extraordinarily rich musical life of San Francisco, home to some of the most groundbreaking musical activity of the past half-century.