Composing in Colorado

Micah Hayes working on a composition in one of the Aspen classrooms.

Since 1998, The ASCAP Foundation has funded a full Fellowship for an aspiring film and television composer to study with distinguished faculty at the Aspen Music Festival and School in Aspen, Colorado. This year�s recipient Micah Hayes is working with Aspen Film Scoring Program director and ASCAP member Thomas Haines and composer- in-residence John Corigliano. Micah, originally from California, now lives in New York City where he is pursuing a career as a composer. After receiving the Fellowship Micah sent the following letter:

Dear ASCAP Foundation,
First of all, I would like to thank you a great deal for giving me the opportunity to further my film scoring skills at the Aspen Music Festival. Without the 2006 ASCAP Foundation Fellowship for Composition and Film Scoring I would not have been able to afford to pay for this wonderful experience. Having recently graduated with a Master of Music in Composition from the University of Oregon and afterwards taking up residence as a starving artist in New York City, I am thrilled to be able to spend some time in the sunny mountains of Colorado. The program here will be intensive and very difficult, but I know I will come out of the other side ready to spend the rest of my life writing music. The film-scoring program is top-notch, as is its director Tom Haines. Again, I will be indebted to The ASCAP Foundation for the rest of my life. Thanks again.

Yours truly,
Micah Hayes