announcing one found sound’s 2025 emerging composer award!
This annual award focuses on the performance of new music by aspiring young composers under the age of 30. This award emphasizes works by young composers from historically excluded groups. Selected from an annual call for scores, the winning composition is performed by One Found Sound and the composer receives a $1,000 cash prize.
The 2025 Emerging Composer Award is now open for applications! The deadline for submissions is 11:59PM PDT on Sunday, June 1, 2025.
The winner of the 2025 Emerging Composer Award will receive:
A $1,000 cash prize
A performance of the winning composition by One Found Sound
A $500 travel stipend to attend the performance of their work
A live recording of the performance
Eligibility
Composer must be no more than 30 years of age on April 1, 2023
This award emphasizes young composer from historically excluded groups.
Application Requirements
Scores must be submitted in PDF form.
Scores must be accompanied by a live or MIDI recording.
Compositions must be no more than 10 minutes in length.
Our orchestra consists of the following: 20 strings (5 first violins, 5 second violins, 4 violas, 4 cellos, 2 basses) + 2 2 2 2 - 2 2 0 0 (two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, two bassoons, two horns, two trumpets) + 2 percussion + 1 harp. Preference will be given to works scored for mid- to large-size ensembles.
Compositions may not use piano.
Winning compositions will be performed without a conductor. We urge applicants to keep this in mind when submitting works.
Application Process
Application deadline: June 1, 2025 at 11:59PM PDT
Winning composition will be announced in July 2025
Submit your application online at onefoundsound.org/emerging-composer-award
No application fee
To download a PDF version of our application click here and email your application and supplemental materials to emergingcomposeraward@onefoundsound.org
Questions? Contact: emergingcomposeraward@onefoundsound.org
One Found Sound’s Emerging Composer Award is generously supported by The Richards Family.
past winners
2024
Ty Bloomfield / FLUX//DRIVE
The world premiere of Hydrosphere will take place on April 5, 2025
The music of Chicago-born composer Ty Bloomfield is characterized by its intimate and patient soundscapes, jazzy undertones, hidden melodies, and emotional complexity. His recent works, focused on conveying social dynamics, have been based on topics such as companionship, love, competition, and hostility.
Driven by the excitement of collaborating with a wide range of artists, he has collaborated with and been performed by the JACK Quartet, the Unheard-Of//Ensemble, Lati2de, clarinetist Berginald Rash, and FLYDLPHN among many others. Bloomfield is a Dorothy Greenwald Fellow at the University of Michigan where he is pursuing a master’s in music composition under the guidance of Bright Sheng and Michael Daugherty.
2024 honorable mention / Sami Seif
2023 finalists / Bobby Ge, Yifeng Yvonne Yuan , Logyn Okuda, Kerwin Petrus
2023
Sam Wu / Hydrosphere
The music of Sam Wu (he/him) deals with the beauty in blurred boundaries. Many of his works center around extra-musical themes: architecture and urban planning, climate science, and the search for exoplanets that harbor life.
Selected for the American Composers Orchestra's EarShot readings, winner of an ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award, Sam Wu also received First Prize at the Washington International Competition.
Sam’s collaborations span five continents, notably with the orchestras of Philadelphia, New Jersey, Minnesota, Sarasota, Melbourne, Tasmania, and Shanghai, New York City Ballet, Sydney International Piano Competition, the Lontano, Parker, Argus, ETHEL, and icarus Quartets, conductors Osmo Vänskä, Case Scaglione, and Benjamin Northey, and sheng virtuoso Wu Wei.
From Melbourne, Australia, Sam holds degrees from Harvard University and The Juilliard School, and is a DMA candidate at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music. His teachers include Tan Dun, Anthony Brandt, Pierre Jalbert, and Chaya Czernowin.
Click here to learn more about Sam and his muisc!
Performed live on April 27, 2024 at Swedish American Hall in SF
2023 honorable mention / Sami Seif
2023 finalists / Atiq Ahsan , Ty Bloomfield, Ryan Qiu
2022
Estevan Olmos / Mi Cultura Lejana
"This piece is meant to evoke a sense of nostalgia and yearning for one's own 'distant culture.' Hence the name, Mi Cultura Lejana, which translates to 'my distant culture.' As a U.S. born Mexican-American, I have witnessed firsthand how in the United States, Mexican culture slowly fades from generation to generation. My parents' grasp on Mexican culture is slightly different than my grandparents' which begs the question, at what point are we still Mexican? If my family traditions are lost, are we still Mexican?
“I do not claim to have answers to these questions, but what I do know is that many other people in the United States can relate to this. As a country of immigrants and natives, we all have a distant culture that we come from. Some are more connected to it than others but it is still there. Although this piece is specifically about my distant culture, I hope many others can relate to it as well (not just Mexican-Americans)." - Estevan Olmos
Performed live November 12, 2022 at Heron Arts in SF
Film directed and created by Max Savage
Imagery inspired by conversations with Estevan
Audio recorded & mixed by Scott Padden
2022 honorable mention / Yi-Fan Chen
2022 finalists / Sami Seif, Kian Ravaei, Willie Cornish Jr.
2021
Joel Hoo / Ecosystem
"Ecosystem is a manifestation of the multi-faceted landscape of natural wildlife in the world. From segments with harmonics imitating birdsongs and swarming pizzicato impersonating teeming fish in a pond, to entire sections of snap pizzicato emulating the sounds of small creatures in grass and lower harmonies representing majestic larger animals, this string quartet illustrates a portrait of the biosphere as a whole." - Joel Hoo
In the democratic and collaborative spirit of One Found Sound, this film blends many different layers of art and artistry into a unique, audiovisual ecosystem. Harmonizing the organic and synthetic, our live performance, images of the natural world, and footage of kinetic sculptures by artist Casey Curran are blended with AI technology to create a film that both embodies and celebrates the interconnectedness of all things.
Performed live December 11, 2021 at Heron Arts in SF
Film directed and created by Max Savage
Kinetic sculptures by artist Casey Curran
Audio recorded & mixed by Scott Padden
2021 honorable mention / Bobby Gee
2021 finalists / Eunike Tanzil, Kevin Rosacia, Sam Wu