Meet the Winners!

The following composers were selected from a pool of 416 total submissions in the 2023 Idiosyncrasies Call for Scores. Their work spans a wide array of styles, influences, and backgrounds, and has proven to be at the highest caliber of new music today. It is my absolute honor to have the opportunity to work with these artists and bring their music to life. See and hear their winning works at Bryan Recital Hall in Bowling Green, Ohio in Spring 2024 (exact date TBD).

Paul Novak

entwining

The "spellbinding" (Washington Post) music of Chicago-based composer Paul Novak immerses listeners in shimmering and subtly crafted musical worlds full of color, motion, light, and magic. Rejecting grandiose narratives, his work is driven by a love of small things - miniature forms, delicate soundscapes, and condensed ideas - and guided by a sense of empathy for the performers playing his music. Novak has received honors from the Barlow Endowment, American Academy of Arts and Letters, ASCAP Foundation, Red Note Competition, League of Composers, Lake George Music Festival, and National Association of Composers of the USA, among others. Recent commissions include projects with American Composers Orchestra, Music from Copland House, Lynx, Blackbox Ensemble, and Kinetic Ensemble; other recent collaborators include the Austin Symphony, Sandbox Percussion, Ekmeles, Quince, Left Coast Ensemble, and Quatuor Diotima. He is a PhD student at the University of Chicago.

Gunter Gaupp 

Is This/This Is It

Gunter is a composer and music teacher based in Memphis, Tn who’s work combines interests in noise composition and genre music. His recent work utilizes folk melodies, chaotic textures, and improvisation to explore themes of grief and interpersonal connection. Recent premieres include collaborations with NexBloom, Lizzie Knatt, Loadbang, and Liminal Space Ensemble. Additionally, Gunter’s work has been recognized in calls for scores by TEMPO Ensemble, Ann DuHamel, Boston New Music Initiative, and the American Prize. In addition to composing, Gunter teaches music at Memphis Rise Academy High School.

Maxwell Lu 

Dissociations

Maxwell Lu is an undergraduate composer studying with Andrew Norman at the Columbia-Juilliard Exchange. His music is inspired by aesthetics from minimalism to impressionism, jazz, spectralism, electronic music, and film. As a concurrent computer science student, he constantly looks for ways to create traditional concert music with new sounds and environments inspired by nature, art, physics, poetry, and philosophy, as well as electronic, algorithmic, and analysis tools in composition.

His projects range the breadth of his interests, from orchestral works to film scores to interdisciplinary projects in data sonification and science communication. He has been recognized in awards and programs including the BMI composer awards, Arthur Friedman Prize, Gena Raps Competition, the American Prize, the National Youth Orchestra, and the ASCAP Morton Gould Awards.

Ng Yu Hng

I came, I slept I, departed

Ng Yu Hng is a Singaporean composer whose works explore musical time, liturgy and intertextuality.

His music has been performed internationally, in 14 countries across Europe, Asia and the Middle East. He has worked with notable ensembles including: the Singapore Chinese Orchestra, Black Pencil Ensemble, CHROMA, Lontano, Meitar Ensemble, Fretwork Viol Consort, Hill Quartet, Philomel, and by soloists such as George Fu, Richard Uttley and Juan Cerezo among others. His pieces were also featured at prestigious festivals and concert venues, including: the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Schokland (Netherlands), CEME New Music Festival (Israel), Esplanade Concert Hall (Singapore), New Music Days Festival (Switzerland), Miyoshimachi Cultural Center (Japan), and Cambridge University (UK) among others.

He read his Master’s degree at the Royal Academy of Music with Morgan Hayes, supported by the Countess of Munster Trust Scholarship. Previously, he studied at King’s College London, achieving the Purcell Prize in Music.

Horacio Fernández Vázquez 

Prelude & Bossa Nova No. 2

In the vibrant tapestry of contemporary Latin music, Horacio Fernández shines as a visionary Mexican composer and producer. Breaking genre boundaries, he crafts fiery Latin Trap anthems like "FLARE" and embraces lush orchestral ballads as seen in "Rebeldes".

His innovative contributions to the classical music canon such as his Latin suite for orchestra “Tumbao” and “Cumbia Concerto”, his first major concerto, have been performed by leading artists such as Zlatomir Fung, Juilliard Orchestra, Tengku Irfan, Arkai, Tony Glausi, Kevin Zhu, David Allan Miller, The Albany and Oregon Symphonies, William Leathers and Lucía Gutiérrez.

His seamless integration of urban music into orchestral compositions has carved a distinctive niche in the global music landscape. A native of Mexico, his journey transformed when he joined Juilliard in 2018, refining his craft and collaborating across Jazz, Classical, and urban music. Explore his music on streaming platforms and discover merchandise and sheet music at horaciofernandezcomposer.com.