Samuel Holloway wins ACL Young Composer Competition

Samuel Holloway’s piano trio Stapes has won the Asian Composer’s League Young Composer’s Competition in Hong Kong.

This was the work chosen to represent New Zealand in the competition and continues an outstanding trend. In the last six competitions, the works from Kiwi composers have won four times, been placed third once and once received a High Commendation.

Chris Watson won in 2002 with Derailleurs for mixed ensemble. Dylan Lardelli took the top prize in 2003 with Four Fragments for large chamber ensemble and Chris Gendall was placed third in 2004 with Sweet Nothing for clarinet, violin, cello and piano. Alison Grant won in Bangkok, Thailand with her octet Fission . This is the second ACL Festival for 2007. In February New Zealand hosted the Asia-Pacific Festival that included the ACL Conference and in the Young Composer’s Competition Robin Toan’s Le Marteau du Destin was awarded a Highly Commended.

It is also the second ACL award for Samuel this year. Also at the February event he was awarded the Irino Prize for the best work presented at the Festival by a composer from the host country. His orchestral work Fault was part of the NZSO’s Pacific Dreaming concert.
(Courtesy of SOUNZ, the Centre for New Zealand Music)