“National Sawdust, the performance space in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, announced the winners of its first Hildegard Competition for rising female and non-binary composers,” writes Andrew Chow in Monday’s (2/19) New York Times. “The winners, Emma O’Halloran, X. Lee and Kayla Cashetta, will each receive $7,000, mentoring from prominent artists and a performance at National Sawdust on June 12. The winners were selected from 140 submissions…. The judges, all composers, were Paola Prestini, the co-founder and artistic director of National Sawdust; Du Yun … and Angélica Negrón. The judges, who will also serve as the winners’ mentors, sought to reward composers at the start of their careers, prioritizing artists who had never received a large commission, released a commercial recording or composed for a professional ensemble…. Ms. Cashetta is based in the Bay Area; X. Lee, in Los Angeles; and Ms. O’Halloran is Irish. On June 12, their works will be performed by the Refugee Orchestra, along with pieces by five runners-up. Since National Sawdust opened in 2015, it has been committed to presenting work by female composers and other underrepresented voices. Its current season includes fifteen female composers; a New York Philharmonic program there last month, for example, featured five works by women.”
Posted February 21, 2018
