Composers Competition Winners
2024
Young Composers Division
Mr. Ian Gabriel Torres Corpuz is a licensed Professional Teacher, Choral Conductor, Composer, Music Educator, and Chorister. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Music Education and Choral Conducting and a Master of Arts in Music Education specializing in Music Composition at the Centro Escolar University-Conservatory of Music. Professionally, he works as a full-time Assistant Professor at the Centro Escolar University Conservatory of Music, the Philippine Women’s University School of Music, and the De La-Salle College of Saint Benilde Music Production. His influence extends beyond the classroom as a published composer under the Muziksea, a Singapore-based publishing company that champions Southeast Asian composers. As part of his commitment and service in the Philippine choral community, he serves as the Secretary General of the Treble Choir Association of the Philippines (TCAP), founded by Dr. Maria Theresa Vizconde-Roldan and Prof. Jude B. Roldan. He is also a member of the Philippine Choral Directors Association (PCDA), and a member of the Eastern Chamber Singers (ECS) under the hands of Ma’am Anna Tabita Abeleda-Piquero. Furthermore, he has won various prestigious composition awards and recognitions on both national and international levels.
Ian Gabriel Corpuz (Winner)
Laudate Dominum
Shane Scott Cook (Runner Up)
Shane Scott Cook is a composer and musician whose work often focuses on nature, loss, community and connection. His work draws from his eclectic musical upbringing as a classical percussionist, jazz singer, folk enthusiast and musical theater aficionado. Currently, Shane is Teaching Artist-in-Residence with the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music for the 2023-25 school years, and a 2024 Sounds Promising Young Composer Fellow with Salastina. Recent projects include works for Del Sol Quartet, Attacca Quintet, Duo Cortona, UT New Music Ensemble, the LYNX Project, and Consonance Chicago Choral Artists. Projectsoutside of classical music include contributing orchestrations to pop star Halsey’s summer 2023 string orchestra tour, arrangements for Orchid Quartet’s ongoing series of Los Angeles singer-songwriter showcases and digital releases, and recording his own songs for his forthcoming solo singer-songwriter EP.
How to Land
Honorable Mention
Leah Tracy (she/they) (b. 1999) is a composer and vocalist currently pursuing a Master of Music in Composition at University of Colorado Boulder, where she studies with Dr. Annika Socolofsky. Leah draws inspiration from the people and places around her, basing her compositions on current events, childhood recollections, vibrant stories, and nature. She has a particular interest in introducing beginner or intermediate singers to contemporary techniques, and often writes with a wide range of ability levels in mind. Leah was a 2023 Composer Fellow for the Choral Arts Initiative PREMIERE|Project Festival, and her choral music has been chosen for honors such as the San Francisco Choral Artists New Voices Project and the Chicago A Cappella HerVoice Competition. Her works have been performed by ensembles including Grammy Award-winning Kansas City Chorale, and by church, school, college, and community choirs throughout the United States. Leah is also an active performer, singing soprano with the Denver-based choir, Kantorei, and with CU Boulder’s contemporary music choir, Renova. She earned a Bachelor of Music in Composition from Bowling Green State University in 2021, where she studied with Dr. Elainie Lillios. (leah-tracy.com)
Leah Tracy - Hope Will Never be Silent
Open Division
Daniel Hughes is in constant demand as a conductor, accompanist, coach, and choral clinician. He serves as the Artistic Director & Conductor of The Choral Project —an internationally award-winning mixed-voice ensemble. Under his direction The Choral Project has received worldwide recognition, performing to standing ovation crowds in the United States, Mexico, Costa Rica, England, Scotland, Wales, and Spain. The ensemble has also received top prizes in international competitions throughout the world. They have recorded nine compact discs available through iTunes, Amazon.com, and CDBaby.
Hughes has collaborated with remowned performers such as mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, The King’s Singers, Canadian Brass, Lisa Vroman, Costa Rica’s Café Chorale, The Australian Voices, the critically-acclaimed San José Chamber Orchestra, and creative work with award-winning Broadway composer & lyricist Stephen Schwartz.
Hughes’s concert appearances include performances at Lincoln Center (New York City), Caulkins Opera House (Denver), Gusman Concert Hall (Miami), and Davies Symphony Hall (San Francisco). Hughes began studying piano and composition at the age of four. He has extensive training in piano and voice, and holds a Master of Arts degree in Conducting. 1st place (Conductor’s Choice Round), 2nd place (Required Pieces Round), and 3rd place (Folk Music Round) at the 2007 California International Choral Competition); 2nd place (Mixed Choir competition) at the 58th annual International Eisteddfod, Wales; 4th place (Small Ensemble Category) at the 35th International Choral Competition, Gorizia, Italy; the 2nd place award (ACDA National Student Conducting Competition); the Christina Cadena Memorial Accompanying Scholarship; and the California Arts Scholar Awards for piano and composition. He is also a recipient of Arts Council Silicon Valley’s 2013 Artist’s Laureate Award (“On Stage” category), The American Prize Award for Choral Direction, and a 2010 Silicon Valley Arts & Business Award for 20+ years of excellence in the arts in the San Francisco Bay Area. An accomplished composer and arranger with a catalogue of nearly 100 works, he has been a 2015 and a 2016 finalist in The American Prize Competition for Choral Composition. His works are published through Santa Barbara Music Publishing, Gentry Publications, National Music Publishing, and earthsongs, ArrangeMe.com, and MusicSpoke.com. Mr. Hughes’s biography is featured in Who’s Who in America. He maintains a private music studio in the Bay Area.
Daniel Hughes (Winner-Tied)
Leaf & Tree
John Muehleison (Winner-Tied)
John Muehleisen specializes in works for choir and solo voice. He has been composer- in-residence for Opus 7 Vocal Ensemble since 1996—having composed over 25 works for the group—and has been composer-in-residence for the Dale Warland Singers (2003–2004) and Choral Arts Northwest (2011–2012 and 2016–2017). He holds a B.Mus in Saxophone Performance from California State University, Sacramento; a M.Music in Composition from the University of Washington, and did doctoral studies in Composition, Music Theory, and instructional Systems Technology at Indiana University. John’s works have been performed and recorded by a wide range of professional, community, and university choirs in the US, Canada, Europe, and Asia by esteemed conductors including John Alexander, Anton Armstrong, and Craig Hella Johnson and have been featured at numerous national and regional ACDA, Chorus America, and AGO conferences. Recent major commissions include the 2023 cantata Pilgrim Beatitudes (libretto by Euan Tait) for Opus 7’s 30th Anniversary and Cantata Caffeinata (libretto by Tony Silvestri), commissioned by the American Guild of Organists for their 2022 National Conference. In addition to composing full-time, John maintains a composition teaching studio of 20 talented private students ranging from 16 to 80+ years of age, many of whom are successful published and commissioned composers in their own right. More details can be found on John’s website: johnmuehleisen.com/about/
Sing to Me!
Honorable Mention
Clark William Lawlor (b. 1980) is an award-winning composer, software engineer, cyclist, and pickleball enthusiast from Salt Lake City, Utah. After studying composiiton, choral education, and piano performance at the University of Utah in the early 2000s, Clark took a detour from music to pursue a career in business and software engineering. Following a nearly two-decade hiatus, he rekindled his passion for choral music in 2022 after joining a local choir. His first choral composition in over 20 years achieved international acclaim, launching a new chapter in his creative journey. Since then, Clark has been steadily building his body of work, earning multiple awards along the way.
Clark Lawlor - Alleluia
Young Composers Division
2023
Born in 1995, Aurélien Hallopeau is a French composer who currently mainly writes for choir, while keeping composing for other instruments. He also sings as a baritone in the chamber choir Ensemble vocal Évohé, directed by Fruzsina Szuromi.
Some of Aurélien Hallopeau’s choral works have been awarded prizes and premiered during international composition competitions, such as Petit Bestiaire (“1st Prize” of Eufonia-Bordeaux’s 2021 composition competition, France), and Gaudeat iuventus (“Best composition by a young composer” of the 2° Concurso de Composición Coral Cármina Nova, Spain). In January 2023, Analemme -a composition for choir, vibraphone and tubular bells setting scientific texts about the phenomenon of equinox- also received a prize during FestyVocal festival’s composition competition, France.
Aurélien Hallopeau’s compositions are as well regularly performed in Switzerland, such as in Geneva’s Cathedral in April 2022, with Surge amica mea, et veni -a choral piece commissioned by Ensemble vocal Évohé- and in Geneva’s Temple de la Madeleine in November 2022, with professional vocal ensemble L’Horizon Chimérique, conducted by Benoît Dubu. Other works were premiered in London, UK, as part of the London Festival of Contemporary Church Music, and of pianist Maria Marchant’s 7 notes in 7 days at 7pm project.
Aurélien Hallopeau (Winner)
Sub tuum praesidium
Riley Ferretti (b.2000) is a Japanese-American composer and vocalist whose music explores the idea of human connection through choral, instrumental, and electronic music. Her inspiration spans numerous sources, from poetry to nature to personal experiences. She recently graduated from the University Of Louisville with a B.M. in Music Composition, where she won the 2021-2022 KMEA Collegiate Composition Competition for her choral piece, The Oak, and received the Sixty-Second Annual Alumni Award. She is currently pursuing a Master's in Music Composition at the University of Florida, where she is concentrating on the connection between the voice and live electronics as well as the creation of unique textures in instrumental and vocal music.
Riley Ferretti (Runner Up)
A Prayer
Open Division
Ben Kaye-Skinner is a Nebraska-based composer, performer, and educator. Composing and improvising since age 7, Ben was able to flourish under many mentors who encouraged his creative work. He graduated with a degree in music education from Doane College and went on to teach for 14 years at Fillmore Central Public Schools in Geneva, Nebraska before stepping down to work on his MFA in Music Composition at Vermont College of Fine Arts.
His first work for wind ensemble was premiered in 2006 at age 19, and since then he has composed dozens of works for wind groups of all ages and instrumentations, as well as extensive custom arranging for high school bands and choirs for bands across Nebraska. Other credits include writing for and conducting the orchestra of the Colonel Mustard Amateur Attic Theatre and numerous instrumental performances, most often as a pianist.
The winning composition is a setting of Psalm 108, which was originally written while hand-washing dishes in January of 2009 and edited in 2022. A dishwasher was acquired in June of 2009 and since then his choral output has been far outpaced by instrumental works. Is it a coincidence? We may never know...
Ben Kaye-Skinner (Winner)
Sing Unto God
Motshwane Pege (Runner Up)
Motshwane Pege is a captivating composer and percussionist from Johannesburg, South Africa. He began composing during his time as a chorister at the Drakensberg Boys Choir School in KwaZulu-Natal. His interests in composition and percussion flourished during his high school years, where he was given numerous opportunities to arrange and compose new music for vocal and instrumental ensembles. One of his most notable works from this time is Mandela's Last Prayer, written for the Midlands Chamber Choir.
Motshwane then went on to pursue a Bachelor of Music degree in Composition and Orchestral Percussion at the University of Pretoria. Motshwane received notable commissions to compose for the TUKS Camerata, UP Ensemble Orchestra, UP String Quartet, and Dr Michael Barrett's Chamber Singers. In recent years, Motshwane has received invaluable masterclasses from celebrated choral composer Jake Runestad, who guided him in crafting more mature and impactful compositions.
At present, Motshwane teaches music and percussion at a number of schools in Johannesburg and Pretoria whilst being an active percussionist, performing with many ensembles in South Africa.
I Believe
2022
Young Composers Division
Stuart Beatch (Winner)
Stuart Beatch (b. 1991) is a Canadian choral composer currently living in Edmonton, Alberta. He received a Master of Music in Composition from King’s College London, studying with composer Rob Keeley, and is currently the composer-in-residence for The Fourth Choir. He is an Associate Composer with the Canadian Music Centre and a member of the Canadian League of Composers. In 2016, Beatch was selected to participate in the Theoartistry programme at the University of St Andrews, where he was mentored by Scottish composer Sir James MacMillan. and later accepted into the inaugural Choral Arts program at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.
His winning piece, "The Letter" sets a text from November 1958, written to British lawmakers as they debated the Wolfenden Report. This report formally suggested for the first time that homosexuality be made legal in the UK. Although this attempt was ultimately unsuccessful until 1967, with the passing of the Sexual Offences Act, there were many stirring moments in the 8-hour debate, including the reading of a powerful letter from an anonymous gay man. "The Letter" is the last movement of a larger work, "I am like many", commissioned by Senate House Library (London, UK) for their 2018 exhibition of queer texts, “Queer Between the Covers”.
The Letter
James Arthur Guy Jr. (Runner Up)
Born and raised in the bluffs of Memphis, Tennessee, composer/arranger James Guy has dedicated the past decade to honing his craft in ways that would be beneficial not only to himself but to other likeminded creators.
James received his bachelor's degree in music business from The University of Memphis in the summer of 2018. From 2017-2018 he worked as a student composer in collaboration with Blue TOM Records, the school of music's own record label, writing and conducting artist arrangements for both This Is Memphis festivals during those years. The last show James worked on at the university level was a Hip Hop Symphony entitled Music for Martin, written by a host of students to honor the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
He spent four years building a band program at Earle High School in Earle Arkansas, and credits all the opportunities he's had to his band directors from middle school through college. He vowed at some point to give back to the community that gave so much to him. He continues to write and aspires to build a career in film/commercial music.
See Me
Open Division
Jennifer Lucy Cook (Winner)
Jennifer Lucy Cook is a composer and lyricist based in Los Angeles. Jen specializes in musical comedy for the stage and screen, progressive choral music, and pop songwriting. Recent choral commissions include For You I Will Be An Island with Cantorum Chamber Choir, Time with Voces Ad Opus for Louisiana ACDA, and They Are Mother with the Utah Valley University Chamber Choir. About They Are Mother, Cook writes, "When I was working on the words for this piece, I consulted with my friend Reverend Alex Reegan, who is a trans man and interfaith minister, to create a text that embodies the energy of the feminine divine that is present in any gender."
Her theater commissions include Full House Theatre Co., British Youth Musical Theatre, and the Globe Theatre in London, and her musical recaps of the Bachelor recently went viral on TikTok. She earned a Master’s degree in Musical Theater Writing from Goldsmiths University in London and a Bachelor’s in Contemporary Music from Brigham Young University. Jen is mentored by renowned composer Eric Whitacre.
They Are Mother
Matthew Lyon Hazzard (Runner Up)
Matthew Lyon Hazzard is an award-winning Filipino-American composer, conductor, and singer. Praised for his “exquisite text-setting” and for creating “stunning landscapes of sound,” Hazzard’s music has garnered numerous accolades. He was named the winner of the 2021 California Choral Directors Association George Heussenstamm Composition Competition, the 2017 American Choral Directors Association Raymond W. Brock Student Composition Competition, True Concord’s inaugural Stephen Paulus Emerging Composers Competition, and several others. His music is performed by collegiate and professional ensembles around the world, including the Bob Cole Chamber Choir, the Metropolitan Chorus of Tokyo, the Choral Project, the Portland State Chamber Choir, and The University of Washington Chorale.
Hazzard earned his Masters in Music in Choral Conducting from the Bob Cole Conservatory at California State University Long Beach, and his Master of Arts in Teaching and Bachelor of Music in Music Composition from East Carolina University. Before pursuing his graduate studies, Hazzard taught at Greene Central High School (NC) for four years. His choirs received numerous awards, consistent superior ratings, and were invited to perform on the stage of Carnegie Hall under his leadership. Hazzard is now pursuing a DMA in Choral Conducting at the University of Houston.
Si Se Puede
Abby Gostein (Runner Up)
Abby Gostein has served as cantor of Temple Beth Shalom in Austin, TX since 2004. She is a published composer of Jewish liturgical music whose compositions have been sung throughout the United States as well as internationally. Several of her pieces have been selected for presentation at Jewish liturgical music festivals and at cantorial conferences, and she has produced a CD of her original compositions, entitled "Each Blessing.” Her composition, Vayarotz Likratam was performed by Chorus Austin at their Southwest Voices Concert in 2014.
Cantor Gostein holds a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Yale University, a Master's degree in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Texas at Austin, and a Master’s degree in Jewish Sacred Music from the Academy of Jewish Religion California, where she also received her cantorial ordination. She lives with her husband Michael, and is the proud mother of their two sons, Daniel and Aaron, who make their own beautiful music.
Da L’cha
Honorable Mentions
Brian Story - Courageous Messengers of Light
Ludwig Tuman - Cat’s Protector
2021
Young Composers Division
Daniel Reza Sabzghabaei - دانیال رضا سبزقبایی
(Winner)
Daniel Reza Sabzghabaei (دانیال رضا سبزقبایی) is a creator who aims to emphasize the malleability of time and how we experience it, not just in the concert hall but in everyday life as well. His work has been presented and commissioned by organizations including: Intimacy of Creativity Festival, the International Contemporary Ensemble, National Sawdust, JACK Quartet, Guerilla Opera, the Banff Centre, OPERA America, Music from Copland House, Beth Morrison Projects, the New York Festival of Song, TAK Ensemble, the Moab Music Festival, [Switch~] Ensemble, Pro Coro Canada, The Esoterics, Unheard-of//Ensemble, Young New Yorkers Chorus, Contemporaneous, loadbang, VocalEssence, TACET(i), Israeli Chamber Project, ICon Arts Festival, and the Busan Choral Festival. He holds degrees from the University of North Texas and the Peabody Conservatory. Daniel is currently a doctoral candidate and Sage Fellow at Cornell University. Learn more about Daniel Sabzghabaei.
Goli az Dast Beraft - گلی از دست برفت
Mattias Lundberg (Runner Up)
Mattias Lundberg writes for choir with a conductor’s perspective. While his academic focus is in Baroque music, his own compositions reflect a modern approach to form and harmony, gravitating towards rich, dense chords as the foundation for his choral settings. Mattias was born in Washington, DC to British and Swedish parents, and spent the pandemic working for Arts Laureate as an audio engineer for virtual choir projects.
Also a professional singer, he graduated from Haverford College in 2020 with a BA in Music, and is attending the Yale School of Music to pursue a MM in Choral Conducting.
Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal
Patrick Vu - I Believe
Dylan Trần - Dear Heart
Honorable Mentions
German Bárboza
Eric Choate
John Franek
Isaac Lovdahl
Finalists
2020
Young Composers Division
Sam Wu (Winner)
Sam Wu attended The Juilliard School for his M.M. in Composition, after receiving an A.B. in Music and East Asian Studies from Harvard University. Sam's piece "Sheng Sheng Man" was selected as 2020 our winner, but the piece could not be performed live due to COVID-19 restrictions. Chorus Austin recorded Sam's piece in June of 2021. See the recording here!
Learn more about Sam Wu.
Sheng Sheng Man
Rachel Lanik Whelan (Runner Up)
Rachel Whelan is currently a PhD student and teaching fellow in composition at the University of North Texas. Rachel's piece "How (this)" was selected as 2020 our runner-up, but the piece could not be performed live due to COVID-19 restrictions.Chorus Austin recorded Rachel's piece in June of 2021. See the recording here!
Learn more about Rachel Whelan.
How (this)
2019
Young Composers Division
Dr. Sarah Rimkus (Winner)
Dr. Sarah Rimkus, a doctoral graduate of the University of Aberdeen, was chosen as our 2019 winner from more than 80 submissions. Her piece Rough Country
(from her longer work, Failed Saints) was performed as part of Chorus Austin's "Southwest Voices" concerts on May 4-5, 2019 in Austin, Texas.
Learn more about Dr. Sarah Rimkus
Rough Country
2018
Young Composers Division
Darren Schmidt (Winner)
Darren Schmidt, an award-winning composer and performer from Baltimore, Maryland, was selected as our 2018 winner. His work, Set Me as a Seal, received its world premier performances as part of Chorus Austin's "Southwest Voices" concerts May 5 & 6, 2018 in Austin, Texas.
Learn more about Darren Schmidt
Set Me as a Seal
2017
Young Composers Division
Carlos Cordero (Winner)
Carlos Cordero, originally from Venezuela and a recent MM graduate of Moores School of Music at the University of Houston, was selected as our 2017 winner. His work, Seven Seconds of Love, received its world premiere performances as part of Chorus Austin’s “Southwest Voices” concerts May 20 & 21, 2017 in Austin, Texas.
Learn more about Carlos Cordero
7 Seconds of Love
2016
Young Composers Division
Michael Gaydeski (Winner)
Michael Gaydeski holds a master's degree in music composition and trumpet performance from Oklahoma City University and a bachelor's degree in music theory and composition from Indiana University. Chorus Austin presented the world premiere of Dreams in the Dusk at our "Southwest Voices" concerts on April 30 - May 1, 2016.
Dreams in the Dusk
2015
Young Composers Division
Francisco Carbonell(Winner)
Francisco Carbonnel is a graduate of the Conservatorio Profesional de Música de Valencia, where he studied music theory and composition. Since Chorus Austin's performance of this piece in 2015, O Magnum Mysterium has gone on to win 3rd prize in the International Composition Competition Musica Sacra Nova in 2016.
O Sacrum Convivium
2014
Young Composers Division
Dr. Joshua Fishbein (Winner)
Dr. Joshua Fishbein is a doctoral graduate of UCLA, and teaches on the music theory faculties at The Peabody Institute of John Hopkins University and and Towson University. Since winning our premiere Young Composer Competition award with A Prep School Boy, he returned to commission Sunset Symphony for Chorus Austin as a part of the Dale Warland Singers Commission, presented by Chorus America.