Luna Composition Lab’s mission is to close the gender gap in the field of music composition. Founded in 2016 by composers Missy Mazzoli and Ellen Reid, Luna Lab provides mentorship and resources for young female, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming composers. Luna Lab aims to achieve a broad, lasting, and positive impact in the field of music by empowering and emboldening the next generation of musicians and creative leaders.

Luna Composition Lab’s signature program—the Luna Lab Fellowship—offers six young composers one-on-one mentorship with acclaimed professional composers annually. Mentors guide fellows in the composition of a new piece of music that is premiered by a professional ensemble as part of a weeklong festival in New York City. This festival includes professional development activities, masterclasses with inspirational figures, networking events, and more.

In addition, Luna Composition Lab offers a series of group composition courses—Adventures in Sound—that support young female, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming musicians who are interested in creating their own music. From notation and music theory to applied and hands-on compositional practices, students come away with a renewed sense of the possibilities for what composition can be.

Luna Composition Lab continues to see the tangible, long-term results of its important work. Alumni of the fellowship program have gone on to receive national awards, attend the nation’s top colleges and conservatories, and have been commissioned by renowned chamber ensembles and orchestras. 75% of the program’s alumni in college are studying composition, and 100% are involved in music. In the 2022–2023 season, 100% of alumni of the fellowship program have been offered professional commissions.