Young composers

ASCAP Foundation President Marilyn Bergman has announced the recipients of the 2009 ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer Awards. The young composers will be recognized at the 10th Annual ASCAP Concert Music Awards at The Times Center in New York on May 21, 2009. This year 39 composers, from 10 to 30 years of age, were selected from amongst 680 applicants. Established in 1979, with funding from the Jack and Amy Norworth Memorial Fund, The ASCAP Foundation Young Composer Awards program grants cash prizes to young Concert Music composers up to 30 years of age whose works are selected through a juried national competition. These composers may be American citizens, permanent residents, or students possessing US Student Visas.

Morton Gould, a Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, served as President of ASCAP and The ASCAP Foundation from 1986 – 1994. Gould, an eminent and versatile American composer, was a child prodigy whose first composition was published by G. Schirmer when he was only six years of age. To honor Gould’s lifelong commitment to encouraging young creators, the annual ASCAP Foundation Young Composer program was dedicated to his memory, following his death in 1996.

The award-winning composers share prizes of approximately $45,000, including the Leo Kaplan Award, in memory of the distinguished attorney who served as ASCAP Special Distribution Advisor, the Charlotte V. Bergen Scholarship for a composer 18 years of age or younger, and grants from The ASCAP Foundation Jack and Amy Norworth and Morton Gould Funds. Jack Norworth wrote such standards as "Shine On Harvest Moon" and "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." The Awards are also sponsored by Sibelius, the music notation software company, which generously awards the recipients with free software.

The 2009 Morton Gould Young Composer Award recipients are listed with their current residence, and place of origin: Victor Agudelo of Memphis, TN (Medellin, Colombia); Andy Akihoof New York, NY (Columbia, SC); Juhi Bansal of Pasadena, CA (Chandigarh, India); Ryan DeNardis of Aliquippa, PA (Hopewell, PA); Simon Fink of Chicago, IL (Carrboro, NC); Sean Friar of Princeton, NJ (Santa Monica, CA); Ruby Fulton of Baltimore, MD (Cherokee, IA); David Kirkland Garner of Durham, NC (Atlanta, GA); Michael Gilbertsonof Dubuque, IA; Ted Hearne of New Haven, CT (Chicago, IL); Leo Hurley of Winston-Salem, NC (Rollinsford, NH); Shawn Jaegerof Chicago, IL (Louisville, KY); Christopher Kapica of Carmel, NY; Elizabeth A. Kelly of Rochester, NY (New York, NY); Missy Mazzoli of Brooklyn, NY (Abington, PA); Clint Needham of Bloomington, IN (Texarkana, TX) Andrew Norman of New Haven, CT (Grand Rapids, MI); Sam Pluta of New York, NY (Rockeville, CT); Gitty Razazof New York, NY (Tehran, Iran); Steven Rice of Rochester, NY (Lawrence, KS); Steven Snowden of Austin, TX (Walnut Shade, MO); Paul Swartzel of Durham, NC (Raleigh, NC); Christopher Trapaniof Paris, France (New Orleans, LA); Jude Vaclavik of New York, NY (Houston, TX); Lu Wang of New York, NY (Xi’ an, China) and Daniel Wohl of Brooklyn, NY (Paris, France).

The youngest ASCAP Foundation composer Award recipients range in age from 10 to 18 and are listed by state of residence: Preben Antonsen, age17 (CA); Yuri Boguinia, age 17 (CO); Eleanor Bragg, age 12 (MA); Graham Cohen, age 10 (AZ); Dmitri Gaskin age 13 (CA); Peng-Peng Gong, age 16 (NY); Jay Greenberg, age 17 (NY); Yeeren I. Low, age 12 (PA); Nicholas Mariscal, age 16 (AZ); Hilary Purrington, age 18 (MA); Murray Skolnick, age 13 (MA); Allegra Gabriella Smith, age 17 (CA); and Conrad Tao, age 14 (NY).

The following composers received Honorable Mention: Abbie Betinis of St. Paul, MN (Stevens Point, WI); Lisa Coons of Philadelphia, PA (Macon, MO); Daniel Thomas Davis of Brooklyn, NY (Waxhaw, NC); Osnat Netzer of Cambridge, MA (Israel); Spencer Topel of Hanover, NH (Denver, CO); and Jie Wang of New York, NY (Shanghai, China).

In the youngest category, the following composers received Honorable Mention: Gabrielle Haigh, age 16 (OH); and Jeremiah Klarman, age 16 (MA).

The ASCAP composer/judges were: Samuel Adler, Eve Beglarian, Steven Burke,
Daniel Felsenfeld, Charles Fussell, Michael Gordon and Melinda Wagner.