ISCM Young Composer Award

The ISCM Young Composer Award has been presented each year since 2002. At every ISCM World New Music Days Festival, an international jury is constituted from the ISCM membership. This jury presents an award to a composer under the age of 35 whose work is performed at the current festival. The winner gets a monetary prize and a commission for a new piece to be performed at a future edition of the ISCM World New Music Days.

Past winners of the award are:

2019 - Jug K. Marković (RS)

Work: "Nirvana"

Serbian composer Jug K. Marković (b. December 25, 1987) has been selected as the recipient of the 2019 ISCM Young Composer Award for his 2017 Nirvana for mixed choir which was performed by the Latvian Radio Choir under the direction of Kaspars Ādamsons on May 6, 2019 at Jaani kirik (St. John’s Church) in Tartu, Estonia during…

2018 - Michael Seltenreich (IL)

Work: "Sparks & Flares"

ISCM Young Composers Award for his 2010 flute-clarinet-violin-‘cello-piano-percussion sextet Sparks & Flares which was performed by the Ensemble Tempus Loquendi under the direction of Jiao Yang at the Central Conservatory of Music’s Prince Mansion Concert Hall during the 2018 ISCM World New Music Days (WNMD) hosted by the Beijing Modern Music Festival in Beijing, China. This award, which was initiated…

2017 - James O'Callaghan (CA)

Work: "subject/object"

Immediately following the end of the final concert of the 2017 ISCM World New Music Days at the Vancouver Playhouse on 8 November 2017, Music On Main Artistic Director David Pay and ISCM Executive Committee member Kjartan Ólafsson announced from the stage that Vancouver-born, Montréal-based composer James O’Callaghan (b. 1988) is the winner of the…

2016 - Yejune Synn (KR)

Work: "Zoetrope"

On April 1st 2016 at the final concert of the 2016 ISCM World Music Days in Tongyeong, Yejune Synn was announced to win the 2016 ISCM Young Composer Award with Zoetrope for orchestra. The jury expressed its appreciation in the following words:”Zoetrope combines fine orchestration, original musical development and a personal style that is convincing  from beginning to end. The work…

2015 - Nuno Costa (PT)

Work: "Pater Noster"

On 2 October 2015, at the final concert on of the ISCM World Music Days in Ljubljana, Slovenia, the winner of the 2015 ISCM Young Composer Award (supported by Music on Main) was announced. It is the aim of the ISCM to promote exposure, research, and performance of contemporary music on an international scale, and…

Stefan Prins

2014 - Stefan Prinz (BE)

Work: "Piano Hero #1"

On 12 October 2014, at the final concert on of the ISCM World Music Days in Wrocław, Poland, the winner of the 2014 ISCM Young Composer Award (supported by Music on Main) was announced. It is the aim of the ISCM to promote exposure, research, and performance of contemporary music on an international scale, and…

2013 - Yasunoshin Morita (JP)

Work: "The History of Songs & Words"

Yasunoshin Morita wins ISCM Young Composer Award 2013. The Japanese composer Yasunoshin Morita has won the ISCM Young Composer Award 2013 for The History of Songs & Words. The work for choir was performed as part of the 2013 ISCM World Music Days on November 13 in the Mittlerer Saal of the Urania Observatory in Vienna…

Eric Nathan

2012 - Eric Nathan (US)

Work: "Walls of Light"

The American composer Eric Nathan has won the ISCM-IAMIC Young Composer Award 2012 for Walls of Light. The work for flute, clarinet, piano, violin, violoncello and percussion was performed as part of the 2012 ISCM World Music Days in Belgium. For a number of years now, the International Association of Music Information Centres (IAMIC) has teamed…

Chiu-Yu Chou

2011 - Chiu-Yu Chou (TW)

Work: "String Quartet nr. 1"

The winner of the ISCM-IAMIC Young Composer Award 2011 is Chiu-Yu Chou (Taiwan) for her String Quartet nr. 1., performed by the ‘Song String Quartet’ on the 13th of April. The award is inaugurated by the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) is presented to a selected composer under 35 whose work is featured in the annual ISCM…

Katia Beaugeais

2010 - Katia Beaugeais (AU)

Work: "Soundbox"

Katia Beaugeais wins the Iscm-Iamic Young Composer Award 2010 with Soundbox for solo Saxophone Now in its ninth year, the International Society for Contemporary Music presents the special award for young composers. The award was inaugurated in 2002 and is presented each year to a selected composer under 35 whose work is featured in the…

Diana Rotaru

2008 - Diana Rotaru (RO)

Work: "Shakti (Sakti)"

Diana Rotaru (1981, Romania) received the Prize for Shakti” (or Sakti) concerto for saxophone and orchestra performed on October 27 by Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra.The award was inaugurated in 2002 and will be presented each year to a selected composer under 35 whose work is featured in the annual ISCM World Music Days.The award consists of a special commission…

Nicholas Casswell

2007 - Nicholas Casswell (GB)

Work: "Triplicity"

Nicholas Casswell wins the ISCM-IAMIC Young Composer Award 2007Nicholas Casswell (1974, UK) received the Prize for Triplicity, performed on November 28 by the Luxembourg Sinfonietta conducted by Marcel Wengler during the ISCM-ACL World Music Days 2007 which took place from 22nd November to 2nd December in Hong Kong. For the sixth time the International Society for…

Helena Tulve

2006 - Helena Tulve (EE)

Work: "Sula (Thaw)"

At the ISCM World New Music Festival from 14 to 29 July 2006 in Stuttgart, the ISCM-CASH Young Composer Award 2006 was awarded to Helena Tulve (Estonia, 1972). She received the prize for Sula (Thaw) for large orchestra and didgeridoo, a composition performed on July 14 by the SWR Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by…

2005 - Sampo Haapamäki (FI)

Work: "Signature"

At the ISCM World New Music Days, which took place in Zagreb, Croatia from 15 to 24 April 2005, the ISCM-CASH Young Composer Award 2005 was awarded to Sampo Haapamäki (Finland, 1979). He received the prize for Signature, a composition performed on April 20 by the Sewdish KammarensembleN, conducted by Ivo Nilsson. The ISCM-CASH Young Composer Award…

Leilei Tian

2004 - Leilei Tian (CN)

Work: "Sâdhana"

At the end of the ISCM World New Music Days, which took place in several cities in Switzerland from 3 to 12 November 2004, the ISCM- CASH Young Composer Award 2004 was awarded to Leilei Tian (China) for her orchestra work Sâdhana. The ISCM – CASH Young Composer Award consists of a money prize of 10.000…

2003 - Matthew Bieniek (AU)

Work: "Fleshold"

Bieniek represented Australia at the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) World Music Days festival in 2003, held in Slovenia, where his clarinet solo Fleshold: at the crossing over was awarded the international ISCM-CASH Young Composer Award and a commission to write a work for the International Gaudeamus Music Week 2005. Matthew Bieniek (b.1976) is…

2002 - Thomas Adès (GB)

Work: "Arcadiana"

Thomas Adès was born in London in 1971.  Renowned as both composer and performer, he works regularly with the world’s leading orchestras, opera companies and festivals.  His compositions include three operas : the most recent of which The Exterminating Angel premiered at the 2016 Salzburg Festival and subsequently has been performed at the Metropolitan Opera,…

2019 - Jug K. Marković (RS)

Work: "Nirvana"

Serbian composer Jug K. Marković (b. December 25, 1987) has been selected as the recipient of the 2019 ISCM Young Composer Award for his 2017 Nirvana for mixed choir which was performed by the Latvian Radio Choir under the direction of Kaspars Ādamsons on May 6, 2019 at Jaani kirik (St. John’s Church) in Tartu, Estonia during…

2018 - Michael Seltenreich (IL)

Work: "Sparks & Flares"

ISCM Young Composers Award for his 2010 flute-clarinet-violin-‘cello-piano-percussion sextet Sparks & Flares which was performed by the Ensemble Tempus Loquendi under the direction of Jiao Yang at the Central Conservatory of Music’s Prince Mansion Concert Hall during the 2018 ISCM World New Music Days (WNMD) hosted by the Beijing Modern Music Festival in Beijing, China. This award, which was initiated…

2017 - James O'Callaghan (CA)

Work: "subject/object"

Immediately following the end of the final concert of the 2017 ISCM World New Music Days at the Vancouver Playhouse on 8 November 2017, Music On Main Artistic Director David Pay and ISCM Executive Committee member Kjartan Ólafsson announced from the stage that Vancouver-born, Montréal-based composer James O’Callaghan (b. 1988) is the winner of the…

2016 - Yejune Synn (KR)

Work: "Zoetrope"

On April 1st 2016 at the final concert of the 2016 ISCM World Music Days in Tongyeong, Yejune Synn was announced to win the 2016 ISCM Young Composer Award with Zoetrope for orchestra. The jury expressed its appreciation in the following words:”Zoetrope combines fine orchestration, original musical development and a personal style that is convincing  from beginning to end. The work…

2015 - Nuno Costa (PT)

Work: "Pater Noster"

On 2 October 2015, at the final concert on of the ISCM World Music Days in Ljubljana, Slovenia, the winner of the 2015 ISCM Young Composer Award (supported by Music on Main) was announced. It is the aim of the ISCM to promote exposure, research, and performance of contemporary music on an international scale, and…

Stefan Prins

2014 - Stefan Prinz (BE)

Work: "Piano Hero #1"

On 12 October 2014, at the final concert on of the ISCM World Music Days in Wrocław, Poland, the winner of the 2014 ISCM Young Composer Award (supported by Music on Main) was announced. It is the aim of the ISCM to promote exposure, research, and performance of contemporary music on an international scale, and…

2013 - Yasunoshin Morita (JP)

Work: "The History of Songs & Words"

Yasunoshin Morita wins ISCM Young Composer Award 2013. The Japanese composer Yasunoshin Morita has won the ISCM Young Composer Award 2013 for The History of Songs & Words. The work for choir was performed as part of the 2013 ISCM World Music Days on November 13 in the Mittlerer Saal of the Urania Observatory in Vienna…

Eric Nathan

2012 - Eric Nathan (US)

Work: "Walls of Light"

The American composer Eric Nathan has won the ISCM-IAMIC Young Composer Award 2012 for Walls of Light. The work for flute, clarinet, piano, violin, violoncello and percussion was performed as part of the 2012 ISCM World Music Days in Belgium. For a number of years now, the International Association of Music Information Centres (IAMIC) has teamed…

Chiu-Yu Chou

2011 - Chiu-Yu Chou (TW)

Work: "String Quartet nr. 1"

The winner of the ISCM-IAMIC Young Composer Award 2011 is Chiu-Yu Chou (Taiwan) for her String Quartet nr. 1., performed by the ‘Song String Quartet’ on the 13th of April. The award is inaugurated by the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) is presented to a selected composer under 35 whose work is featured in the annual ISCM…

Katia Beaugeais

2010 - Katia Beaugeais (AU)

Work: "Soundbox"

Katia Beaugeais wins the Iscm-Iamic Young Composer Award 2010 with Soundbox for solo Saxophone Now in its ninth year, the International Society for Contemporary Music presents the special award for young composers. The award was inaugurated in 2002 and is presented each year to a selected composer under 35 whose work is featured in the…

Diana Rotaru

2008 - Diana Rotaru (RO)

Work: "Shakti (Sakti)"

Diana Rotaru (1981, Romania) received the Prize for Shakti” (or Sakti) concerto for saxophone and orchestra performed on October 27 by Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra.The award was inaugurated in 2002 and will be presented each year to a selected composer under 35 whose work is featured in the annual ISCM World Music Days.The award consists of a special commission…

Nicholas Casswell

2007 - Nicholas Casswell (GB)

Work: "Triplicity"

Nicholas Casswell wins the ISCM-IAMIC Young Composer Award 2007Nicholas Casswell (1974, UK) received the Prize for Triplicity, performed on November 28 by the Luxembourg Sinfonietta conducted by Marcel Wengler during the ISCM-ACL World Music Days 2007 which took place from 22nd November to 2nd December in Hong Kong. For the sixth time the International Society for…

Helena Tulve

2006 - Helena Tulve (EE)

Work: "Sula (Thaw)"

At the ISCM World New Music Festival from 14 to 29 July 2006 in Stuttgart, the ISCM-CASH Young Composer Award 2006 was awarded to Helena Tulve (Estonia, 1972). She received the prize for Sula (Thaw) for large orchestra and didgeridoo, a composition performed on July 14 by the SWR Stuttgart Radio Symphony Orchestra, conducted by…

2005 - Sampo Haapamäki (FI)

Work: "Signature"

At the ISCM World New Music Days, which took place in Zagreb, Croatia from 15 to 24 April 2005, the ISCM-CASH Young Composer Award 2005 was awarded to Sampo Haapamäki (Finland, 1979). He received the prize for Signature, a composition performed on April 20 by the Sewdish KammarensembleN, conducted by Ivo Nilsson. The ISCM-CASH Young Composer Award…

Leilei Tian

2004 - Leilei Tian (CN)

Work: "Sâdhana"

At the end of the ISCM World New Music Days, which took place in several cities in Switzerland from 3 to 12 November 2004, the ISCM- CASH Young Composer Award 2004 was awarded to Leilei Tian (China) for her orchestra work Sâdhana. The ISCM – CASH Young Composer Award consists of a money prize of 10.000…

2003 - Matthew Bieniek (AU)

Work: "Fleshold"

Bieniek represented Australia at the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM) World Music Days festival in 2003, held in Slovenia, where his clarinet solo Fleshold: at the crossing over was awarded the international ISCM-CASH Young Composer Award and a commission to write a work for the International Gaudeamus Music Week 2005. Matthew Bieniek (b.1976) is…

2002 - Thomas Adès (GB)

Work: "Arcadiana"

Thomas Adès was born in London in 1971.  Renowned as both composer and performer, he works regularly with the world’s leading orchestras, opera companies and festivals.  His compositions include three operas : the most recent of which The Exterminating Angel premiered at the 2016 Salzburg Festival and subsequently has been performed at the Metropolitan Opera,…