BMI Student Composer Award winners announced

Eleven young classical composers, ages 13 to 26, have been named winners in the 58th Annual BMI Student Composer Awards. Awards Chair Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, BMI President and CEO Del Bryant, and BMI Foundation President Ralph N. Jackson announced the decisions of the jury and presented the awards at a reception held May 14 at the Jumeirah Essex House Hotel in New York City.

The award-winners for 2010 are:

Andrew S. Allen (age 24, studies at the University of California San Diego)
Paul Michael Dooley (age 26, studies at the University of Michigan)
Michael-Thomas Alexander Foumai (age 22, studies at the University of Michigan)
Eric Guinivan (age 26, studies at the University of Southern California)
Matthew J. Hatty II (age 21, studies at Hillsdale College)
Yeeren I. Low (age 13, studies at the Juilliard School, Pre-college Division)
Igor Maia (age 21, studies at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague)
Matthew Peterson (age 25, studies at the Gotland Tonsättarskola)
Subaram Raman (age 24, studies at the University of Michigan)
Derrick Wang (age 26, studies privately in New York City)
Nina C. Young (age 25, studies at McGill University)

The BMI Student Composer Awards recognize superior creative talent and winners receive scholarship grants to be applied toward their musical education. In 2010, more than 500 manuscripts were submitted to the competition from throughout the Western Hemisphere, and all works were judged under pseudonyms. Cash awards totaled $20,000. The Carlos Surinach Prize, awarded each year to the youngest winner in the competition, went to Yeeren I. Low.

The distinguished jury members for the 2010 competition were John Luther Adams, Richard Danielpour, Mario Davidovsky, Cindy McTee, and Christopher Rouse. The preliminary judges were David Leisner, Shafer Mahoney and Bernadette Speach.

BMI has given 543 scholarship grants to young composers over the years. Many of the most prominent and active classical composers in the world today received their first recognition from the BMI Student Composer Awards. The BMI Student Composer Awards competition is co-sponsored by BMI and the BMI Foundation, Inc.