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Composer Will Stackpole, winner of the 16th annual John Eaton Memorial Competition for his string quartet Palette, which will be performed on a concert in February 2024.

Winner of the 16th John Eaton Memorial Competition

Following a long and difficult deliberation during which adjudicators examined many highly qualified pieces, we are very happy to announce that the winner of the 16th annual John Eaton Memorial Competition is Palette for string quartet, by composer Will Stackpole. Mr. Stackpole’s work for string quartet was chosen from a field of outstanding finalist works, each worthy of recognition in their own right. However, we felt that Mr. Stackpole’s work best embodied the spirit of the competition and the New York Composers Circle.

The winning work will receive a performance on one of our concerts (soon to be announced) and Mr. Stackpole will receive a free one-year membership in the New York Composers Circle.

Because the competition garnered so many excellent works, we have also chosen two pieces as runners up. Orientalism for string quartet, by composer Sami Seif, and Struttura Assente, for string trio, by composer Kurt Nelson have been awarded honorable mentions and each composer will receive a free one-year membership in the New York Composers Circle. The great difficulty in naming these two runners up is a further reflection of the long deliberations undergone while reviewing this year’s competition entrants; there were a few other works not at all far behind the position.

Congratulations to all of the entrants in this year's competition. We look forward to next year’s edition of the John Eaton Memorial Competition, which will open on January 1, 2024.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

  • Salon #2: Sunday, October 22, 2023 — This is a VIRTUAL event only available via ZOOM. A link to join the call will be published the week of the event.



  • Wednesday, October 25, 7:00 PMVOICE OF DESTINY, Church of the Transfiguration "Little Church Around the Corner,” 1 E. 29th Street, New York, New York. Music by Cameron Wentz, Nina Siniakova, Thomas Parente, Hubert Howe, Debra Kaye, and Dana Richardson. Click HERE to see the program. Tickets will go on sale two weeks prior to the event. To purchase tickets, please click HERE.



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MEET OUR NEWEST COMPOSER MEMBERS

We would like to welcome the following composers as new members of the New York Composers Circle. Each brings a diverse background of experiences and musical eclectic to our ever-evolving roster of composers, which now stands at 63 members.

Galen Brown, Judith Lynn Stillman, Peter Traunmueller, and Los Angeles-based John Wineglass.

Also new to the ranks by way of complimentary one-year membership are 2023 Honorary Mentions in the John Eaton Memorial Competition Kurt Nelson and Sami Seif, and 2023 Winner of the John Eaton Memorial Competition Will Stackpole.

Welcome to the Circle!

Galen Brown

Judith Lynn Stillman

Peter Traunmueller

John Wineglass

Kurt C. Nelson

Sami Seif

Will Stackpole

TANIA LEÓN WINS THE PULITZER PRIZE

Tania León, the 78-year-old Cuban-born composer, won the Pulitzer Prize in Music on Friday for her orchestral work Stride. The Pulitzer jury described the 15-minute piece as a "musical journey full of surprise, with powerful brass and rhythmic motifs that incorporate Black music traditions from the U.S. and the Caribbean into a Western orchestral fabric." The two other finalists were Place, by Ted Hearne and Data Lordsby Maria Schneider, both recordings. 

Stride received its world premiere by the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center Feb. 13, 2020. The music was born out of Project 19, an ambitious commissioning program where 19 women composers were chosen to write music to mark the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote. León's inspiration was Susan B. Anthony, the women's rights activist and a prominent leader in the suffrage movement.

Reached by telephone Friday afternoon at her home in Nyack, N.Y., León said she was the first musician in her poor Havana family. Her success was a dream of her mother and, especially, her grandmother, who suspected that she was interested in music. "They created a dream and I grabbed the dream and went into the world, and here I am," León said.

Continue reading at NPR . . .  

Archives of Past Performances

We have meticulously documented past performances of New York Composers Circle through videos and photographs. To watch videos of past performances, please click the YouTube button below where you will find videos of every concert dating back to the 2013-2014 Concert Season, as well as special video performances such as The Dreamflower Sessions that stemmed from the recent lockdowns that precluded our ability to host live concert events. To view our photo gallery such as those at right, please click the Photo Gallery button below.

YouTube Videos

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