Initiated in 1998 by the Cork International Choral Festival and the Arts Officers of Cork City and Cork County Councils, Composer in the Classroom is designed to offer music students and their teachers the opportunity to work, in their own classrooms, with professional composers throughout the school year. The scheme is designed to complement the general music studies curriculum at senior cycle and has proved of special interest to students taking the higher elective in composition in the new Leaving Certificate syllabus. In recent years, the remit of the scheme has successfully extended to include students with little or no musical training, encouraging musical creativity and experimentation. Students are required to listen to a wide range of music, analysing and discussing various elements. For the teacher, this residency provides an opportunity to work alongside a professional composer, discussing and developing approaches to creative composition in the classroom. The residency culminates in a seminar held as part of the Cork International Choral Festival. Compositions, created by the participating students are performed. The Composers in the Classroom Scheme is supported by the Arts Council.

Schools participating in 2007 were:

Bishopstown Community School, Bishopstown, Cork
Music Teacher: Noreen O' Sullivan

St. Aidan's Community College, Dublin Hill, Cork
Music Teacher: Hilary Williamson

Loreto Secondary School, Fermoy, Co. Cork
Music Teacher : Marjorie Moran

Coláiste Choilm, Ballincollig, Co. Cork
Music Teacher: Catherine Janeczek - Frost 

Regina Mundi College 
Music Teacher: Rosemary Beecher

Composers in Residence
Irene Buckley
Louise McCarthy
John Spillane
Ann Cleare