“The week I spent at Illinois Wesleyan turned out to be an excellent experience.  The classes and private lessons with Dr. Pelusi were insightful.  I learned so much!  Everyone was friendly and eager to learn, regardless of personal tastes or prior training.  I feel as though my skills in composition really improved because of this program. Anyone interested in composition should definitely consider this program.”

Erin Sumpter
Wade Hampton High School
Greenville, South Carolina

“IWU’s Summer Music Composition Institute is definitely worth a week of your summer vacation.  Not only are the classes and the composing aspects of the program great, but the social aspects are worth the trip alone.  It’s really important for young composers to meet kids like themselves whom they wouldn’t have had the chance to meet at home.”

Stephanie Rosario
Staten Island Technical High School
Staten Island, New York

“I had a lot of fun at the Institute, but more important, I learned about new areas of music.  The piece that I had created by the end of the week was completely different from anything I would have written at home.  I certainly expanded my musical horizons, while at the same time making lots of new friends.”

Ethan Berl
University Laboratory High School
Champaign, Illinois

“This program is great.  It has the perfect balance of composing time, classes, and free time.  You also learn more than you ever expected.”

Meghan Birdsong
Webster Groves High School
Webster Groves, Missouri

“This program introduces students of all levels to a comprehensive guide to creating sound and improves musicianship on many levels.”

David Bloom
Indian Springs School
Birmingham, Alabama

“This is an excellent program for anyone who has an interest in music composition.  I was amazed by how much I had learned in a week.”

Jim Miles
High School of St. Thomas More
Champaign, Illinois

“This program creates a positive and beneficial environment in which to expand your exposure to different types of music and to grow your knowledge and interest in music composition.”

Brad Cardella
Lemont High School
Lemont, Illinois

“The program provided me with more knowledge than I thought possible in a week.”

Blake Cecil
Normal Community High School
Normal, Illinois

“This program presented me with ideas and elements of music I never even knew of; it introduced me to an entirely different world.”

John Gholson
Hampshire High School
Hampshire, Illinois

“The Composition Institute provided me with an optimal learning experience that is very hard to find anywhere else.  If you have any interest in how masterpieces were created, it is all here!”

Dylan Findley
Ottawa Township High School
Ottawa, Illinois

"The IWU Summer Music Composition Institute balances learning, composing, and recreation in a way that is intriguing, informative, and fun."

John Lewis
Naperville Central High School
Naperville, Illinois

"After completing the Summer Music Composition Institute at IWU, my  whole outlook and music technique completely changed.  I learned more about music in a week than I've learned my whole life."

Adam J. Peña
Bartlett High School
Bartlett, Illinois

"It doesn't matter how much you know about music--this program is about expanding your knowledge."

Tim MacKay
Indian Spring School
Birmingham, Alabama

"A positively wonderful experience! At the risk of sounding lame, it  really did alter my idea of what music truly is!  I also met a fantastic group of people and made two great friends!  Go!

John Rot
Larkin High School
Larkin, Illinois