The Sphinx Orchestral Futurist Fellowship & Residency is run by the National Orchestral Institute + Festival (NOI+F) at the University of Maryland, with the National Philharmonic and the Sphinx Organization as partners.
Year one is a 13-month Orchestral Futurist Fellowship. The fellow takes principal performance assignments at the summer festival in College Park, then works remotely with NOI+F and Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center staff on arts administration through the rest of the year.
Selected fellows continue into a second year as Orchestral Futurist in Residence, embedded in the National Philharmonic’s administrative and artistic teams in the Washington, DC region. The aim is to build orchestral leaders who can both perform and run programs.
Benefits & funding
- Year one: a monthly stipend of $300, plus festival attendance, domestic travel and housing.
- Year one mentorship in development, marketing, finance, community engagement, production and entrepreneurship.
- Year two: a monthly stipend of $600, performance fees where applicable, domestic travel and housing during residency periods.
- Year two mentorship in arts entrepreneurship and leadership, fundraising and sustainability, marketing and community engagement.
- Remote workload is 10–12 hours per month in both years, outside the festival and residency periods.
Eligibility
- Open to Black and Latinx classical musicians.
- Applicants must be 18 or older by the beginning of the festival; NOI+F states that its typical participant age range is 18–30.
- The program page sets no nationality, residency, degree or work-experience requirement.
- The second year is not automatic — the residency goes to selected fellows.
Can you apply?
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Age requirement
≥ 18 yrs
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Application process
- 1Wait for the window: applications for this fellowship resume in Fall 2026, when NOI+F also publishes requirements and key dates for the 2027 festival.
- 2Record a video audition.
- 3Write a response of 750 words or fewer that names one problem facing the future of symphony orchestras and proposes a solution.
- 4Submit through the NOI+F application; questions go to noi@umd.edu.
- 5Selection is made jointly by NOI+F, the National Philharmonic and the Sphinx Organization.
Program timeline
Fall 2026
Applications for this fellowship resume; NOI+F announces requirements and key dates for the 2027 festival.
Year one begins with the festival at the University of Maryland; exact dates are not yet published.
Summer 2027
Across the following 13 months
Remote arts administration work with NOI+F and Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center staff.
Following season
Selected fellows continue as Orchestral Futurist in Residence with the National Philharmonic.