The Austin Symphony in Texas and the Lexington Philharmonic in Kentucky have each announced winners for recent young-composer competitions. In Austin’s competition for Texas-based composers aged eighteen and younger, first prize of $3,000 went to Matthew Thomas for Andromeda, second prize ($2,500) to Alan Mackwell for A Belgian and his Friend, third prize ($2,000) to Austin Ali for Larger Than Life, and fourth prize ($1,500) to Maximilien Hein for The Sorcerer’s Garden. Those four works will be performed during the Austin Symphony’s June 18 concert, along with works by eight other competition finalists. In the Lexington Philharmonic’s competition for emerging composers, three works were selected for a performance on April 16: Ben Goldberg’s Declaration, David Cortello’s November Variations, and Stephen Baillargeon’s Scherzo from Symphony No. 2. The three composers’ works were performed by the Central Kentucky Youth Orchestra, bolstered by members of the Lexington Philharmonic. The three winning composers, ranging from undergraduate to doctoral students, received coaching from Lexington Philharmonic Music Director Scott Terrell and Israeli-born composer Avner Dorman, the orchestra’s composer in residence.
Posted April 20, 2016
