2009 Student Composition Contest Winners

In conjunction with the Luna Nova Music, the Beethoven Club of Memphis sponsors a student composition contest that is open to academic composers worldwide up to the age of 30. Winners received a performance at Belvedere Chamber Music Festival and a recording of the work made by members of the Luna Nova Ensemble. The 2009 contest had 57 compositions submitted from eight countries. The winners are:

1st Prize
Brendan Faegre, Indiana University
www.brendanfaegre.com
The Circular Ruins (violin, cello, piano)
Brendan Faegre (b. 1985) is currently studying composition with Claude Baker while enrolled in the Master of Music program at Indiana University, where he previously studied with Michael Gandolfi. A native of Portland, Oregon, he graduated cum laude from the University of Puget Sound in 2007 with a degree in music and a minor in philosophy. There he studied composition with Robert Hutchinson and percussion with Amy Putnam. He has also studied composition with Gregory Youtz and participated in master classes with composers such as Sven-David Sandström, Julia Wolfe, Dana Wilson, and Roberto Andreoni.
Brendan’s life journey thus far has taken him through the roles of tabla disciple of Pandit Ramdas Palsule; private instructor of percussion, music theory, and composition; jazz ensemble coach; radio host; professional jazz drummer and symphonic percussionist; lecturer on Hindustani Classical music; Alaskan carpenter; and now composition student and Associate Instructor of Music Theory at Indiana University. This versatile background has equipped him with many compositional tools to use while crafting his works. Fascinated by analogies between music and other artistic disciplines (carpentry included), Brendan is always pursuing a more diverse tool-belt, currently so through studying electronic music with Jefferey Hass and John Gibson.

2nd Prize
Peiying Yuan, University of Missouri, Kansas City
www.myspace.com/yuanpeiying
Five Elements (flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano)
Peiying Yuan is currently pursuing a M.M. (Composition) degree from the University of Missouri – Kansas City, where she studies with Chen Yi, James Mobberley, Paul Rudy, Zhou Long and Kohei Mukai. In July 2007, she was part of the first cohort of students to graduate from the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, National University of Singapore where she received her B.M (Composition) degree with first class honors. Her composition teachers included Kawai Shiu and Ho Chee Kong. Peiying composes in the acoustic and electronic medium, including pieces written for traditional Chinese instruments. Her compositional focus is centered on finding new ways of expressing circularity and cyclicity in music. She is inspired much by Oriental philosophies and concepts. Peiying's music has been heard at various festivals throughout Asia such as the Asian Composers League Festival and Conference (Bangkok 2005, Seoul 2009) and the Ensemble TIMF Academy (2008).
Peiying is active as a composer, conductor, performer and technical assistant. She is an active member of the Kansas City Electronic Music and Arts Alliance. Peiying holds a DipABRSM with distinction in piano performance from the Associated Board of Royal School of Music. She also performs on the sheng (traditional Chinese mouth organ).

3rd Prize
Elizabeth Lim, Juilliard School of Music
www.lizlim.com
Piano Trio: Introduction and Dance (violin, clarinet, piano)
Elizabeth Lim is currently a first-year graduate student at the Juilliard School, where she is studying composition with Dr. Samuel Adler. Her principal teachers in composition over the years have included Julian Anderson, Brian Ferneyhough, Joshua Fineberg, and Elliott Gyger, among others. Elizabeth received her undergraduate degree from Harvard University, where she graduated magna cum laude with highest honors and was awarded the 2008 Louis Sudler Prize in the Arts, the John Green Fellowship in Composition, and the Paine Traveling Fellowship. Last spring, Elizabeth was named an Emerging Composer-in-Residence with the Berkeley Symphony for their 2008 season, during which three of her orchestral works were read and performed by as part of the Berkeley Symphony's "Under Construction" concert series. Elizabeth was also the recent recipient of the 2007-2008 Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra's Peer-to-Peer Commissioning Composition Competition, and as the winner of the 2007-2008 Bellevue Youth Symphony's Young Composer's Competition. More recently, Elizabeth received second prize and the Audience Award at the First National Iron Composers Competition, hosted by Artsaha!, and a 2008 ASCAPlus Award.