Applicants for full-term Rome Prize Fellowships in musical composition must demonstrate professional commitment and be currently engaged in the discipline.

A completed online application form and the following documents, to be uploaded to your online application as separate digital files.

1. Current résumé/curriculum vitae, with a complete list of works (including composition, year, and instrumentation).

2. One-page proposal describing the project to be undertaken. Please be sure to address the following points/questions in your proposal:

• How will the proposed project and your own professional development will benefit from a residency within a multidisciplinary community in Rome?
• What guides or motivates your work?
• Rome is a modern city powerfully stamped by the material remains of the past. Is this past important to your present? If so, why?
• What, if any, resources in Rome or Italy will be significant to the completion of your proposed project?
• What kind of workspace do you need in Rome?

Your proposal should be double-spaced with 10- to 12-point typeface and one-inch margins.

3. Musical scores for at least two but not more than three compositions from within the past five years. If your work is unscorable, please provide lead sheets or other explanatory material. Handwritten scores should be scanned and uploaded.

4. Recordings of at least two but not more than three compositions from within the past five years. Recordings should be hosted online, either on SoundCloud or another file-hosting site. Links to the recordings should be included in the online application form. Learn more about uploading music to SoundCloud. Please note if any performances are MIDI realizations.

Also needed are three references. Provide the names and contact information only for three professionals acquainted with you and your work. Letters of recommendation are not required for applicants in music composition.

Finally, you must submit an application fee paid by credit card through our online payment option or by check or money order made payable to American Academy in Rome. Send to:

American Academy in Rome
Attention: Musical Composition
535 West 22nd Street, Third Floor
New York, NY 10011

This fall, the American Academy in Rome will host two in-person information sessions about the Rome Prize. The first takes place at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia on Tuesday, September 24. The second will be presented at the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence on Tuesday, October 8. 

AAR will also present two general online information sessions on Zoom on September 23 and October 15. A third virtual meeting, focused only on landscape architecture, will happen on October 16.

These information sessions give prospective applicants a general overview of the Rome Prize application process, tips on what makes a successful application, and a look into the experience of living in the American Academy’s unique residential community in Rome.