The San Francisco Symphony and San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) launched the Emerging Black Composers Project in 2020 as a 10-year commitment to spotlight early-career Black American composers and their music. In 2023, the award was renamed the Michael Morgan Prize in honor of the late maestro who served as the first chair and co-founder of the EBCP prior to his passing in 2021.  

Now five years in, the Emerging Black Composers Project has awarded the Michael Morgan Prize to six composers—Jens Ibsen, Xavier Muzik, Kyle Rivera, Tyler Taylor, Christopher Thompson, and Trevor Weston—and additional prizes to composers Jonathan Bingham, Shawn Okpebholo, and Sumi Tonooka. Several other composers have received commissions under the auspices of the initiative.  

The winner of the Michael Morgan Prize receives a $15,000 award as well as a commission for a new work to be premiered by the San Francisco Symphony. The winner also receives mentorship from SFCM Music Director Edwin Outwater and Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser, Resident Conductor of Engagement and Education at SF Symphony and chair of the EBCP selection committee.

All applications are judged through an anonymous process by a committee of leaders in the field that include Kedrick Armstrong, Valérie Sainte-Agathe, Nico Muhly, Shawn Okpebholo, first-year winner Trevor Weston, Edwin Outwater, and Daniel Bartholomew-Poyser, among others.

The Emerging Black Composers Project is administered by the San Francisco Symphony; the San Francisco Conservatory of Music is a supporting partner to the program. 

Applications are accepted for the annual Emerging Black Composers Project between November and February. A call for applications will go out in November. Stay tuned for more information.