The Song Post.
Retreats & camps/MacDowell

This one has closed. Entries closed September 10. The record stays up for next year’s calendar — the facts below are as we last verified them, Aug 11. See what’s open on this desk →

MacDowell Fellowship — Spring/Summer 2027.

with MacDowell — approximately 4,000 artists apply each year, and the FAQs state that on average one in every 20 applicants is offered a residency · listed Aug 11Verified · Aug 11
Closes
September 10
closed
Entry
$30 to apply; no residency fee
waivers available for financial hardship, plus need-based stipends and travel reimbursement grants
Your week
Up to eight weeks in a New Hampshire studio with room and board covered — the average stay is 30 days
Your rights
Nothing about rights in work created during the fellowship appears in the captured terms — the application pages and FAQs, captured August 11, 2026.

Music composition is one of seven named disciplines, and the Spring/Summer 2027 window closes September 10, 2026 — for residencies running March 1 to August 31, 2027. Applications opened August 17, 2026.

The economics are the plainest on this desk. A nonrefundable $30 processing fee accompanies each application, waivable on request for financial hardship or where sanctions make payment impossible. After that: “There are no residency fees, and need-based stipends and reimbursement grants are available” — support the FAQs describe as covering rent, utilities, childcare and lost income, plus travel and the shipping of materials. Nothing is asked of a Fellow for the residency itself.

Stays run up to eight weeks, averaging thirty days. The organizer publishes the odds rather than leaving them to be guessed at: approximately 4,000 artists apply each year, and on average one applicant in twenty is offered a residency. No document captured here says anything about rights in the work made during a fellowship.

The record
Source
MacDowell application page (macdowell.org/apply/apply-for-fellowship) and its application FAQs, both captured August 11, 2026.
Who can apply
Artists in “architecture, film/video, interdisciplinary arts, literature, music composition, theatre, and visual arts”, from all backgrounds and all countries. The stated sole criterion for acceptance is artistic excellence.
What it costs
“A nonrefundable processing fee of $30 (USD) is required with each application”, waivable on request for significant financial hardship or where economic sanctions prevent payment. Then: “There are no residency fees, and need-based stipends and reimbursement grants are available.” Captured August 11, 2026.
Your weeks
Residencies run March 1 to August 31, 2027 for this cycle, “up to eight weeks; the average stay is 30 days. There is no minimum length of stay.” A studio, room and board are provided.
Deadline
September 10, 2026, for residencies March 1 to August 31, 2027. The next window, February 10, 2027, covers September 1, 2027 to February 29, 2028.
Your odds
Published by the organizer rather than inferred: “Approximately 4,000 artists apply each year to MacDowell. On average, one in every 20 applicants is offered a residency.”
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Retreat

Opening Lines — four days of co-writing on a Tennessee lake

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Closes
November 13
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Entry
$1,799 shared, $2,199 private, $2,499 premium
Your week
Four days, daily masterclasses and assigned co-writing rooms
The camp page states nothing about rights or splits in songs written there — captured August 2, 2026.
Verified · Aug 2The record
Retreat

Yaddo residency — the winter cycle

with Yaddo
Closes
December 20
seven weeks
Entry
$35 to apply; room, board and a studio at no cost
Your week
Two weeks to two months in Saratoga Springs, with room, board and a studio
Nothing about rights in work created during the residency appears in the captured terms — the application page, captured August 11, 2026.
Verified · Aug 11The record