Young Composers:About
Young Composers was first launched in 1997, with the aim of bringing together a community of younger composers. The site was home to regular member activity from about 1997-2002. During this time, many contributors helped each other out with composition and general music-related questions. Members could submit their compositions to be added to the site, and would have to wait for the webmaster to do this manually: a system which worked well before the invention of automated submission processes.
Contents
The History of Young Composers
Eventually the site took a spill due to lack of leadership and outdated technology, and this wonderful place became nothing but a long lost memory, losing a large amount of members due to inactivity, which in turn discouraged new visitors from signing up. From 2003 through to about July 2005, there remained a few faithful members. The current owner of the site joined the older site in 2003. Like many others, he also grew bored due to inactivity. He occasionally visited thereafter, but eventually lost interest altogether.
In May 2005, Mike, one of YC's current administrators and an ex-member of the old forum for a short period in 2001-2002, returned to it and proposed to the few lingering die-hard members that the concept of a forum for young composers be revived elsewhere. A mixed reception ensued: some were keen on initiating a new beginning, whereas others were understandably sceptical.
Through sheer coincidence, Michael Porcaro, YC's current owner and also an ex-member of the old forum, also happened upon it around this time, harboring plans to buy the domain name from the then owners and restart the site himself.
After some discussion, he managed to strike a deal, and Young Composers was completely reborn, save the small number of posts from a "proof of concept" forum that Mike had set up on a budget web host. After moving this data to the new site, Mike kept his administrative position to help out with technical matters, a state of affairs which continues to this day.
What are the main functions of the site now?
The site contains:
- An active forum, allowing members to upload their compositions for review and analysis by other composers in the community. There are also plenty of opportunities to discuss and socialize with fellow composers.
- A wiki, containing valuable articles for composers and musicians to read. Young Composers also allows for self-promotion through the wiki - a composer may write a page about himself in the third person.
- Archives, containing material from the old forum and music submitted to the old site.
Young Composers and Youth
A common misconception held by newcomers is that Young Composers is a community exclusively for use by people who would commonly be referred to as "young" (i.e. teens, twenty-somethings). This is absolutely not the case: our community is home to a lot of notable people who fall into age brackets other than the two previously mentioned. Some of these individuals are professionals who very kindly lend their expertise to budding younger composers, and some are still very much in the process of learning themselves; regardless of your experience or age, Young Composers endeavours to welcome you with open arms.
What does the future hold?
Even though the site has undergone a complete renovation, there's still more to come. The new plans for Young Composers, which include 'social networking' and 'music management' functionality, are tremendously ambitious.
The Young Composers Team
Check out this page for a list of YC's staff. Links are provided to their forum profiles, should you wish to contact them.
