Salina Fisher wins NZSO Young Composers Award

Salina Fisher wins NZSO TODD Corporation Young Composers Award

It was a clean sweep for the talented 21-year-old musician when she was also named the winner of the Orchestra Choice Award, judged by New Zealand Symphony Orchestra players.

Salina says she is delighted her work Blushing Skies was selected as the winning composition by both the judges and NZSO players.

“Writing music is my greatest passion, and I know no better thrill than to create music and hear it performed live,” she says. “It is my ambition to contribute to the growth of classical music in New Zealand in the best ways that I can.”

It has been a good year for the young composer. Earlier this year, she was named the 2015 NZSO National Youth Orchestra Composer in Residence and she won the 2014 NZSM Composers Competition. Last year she was the overall winner of the NZSO TODD Corporation Young Composers Award, which was the first time she had been part of the programme. She is also a talented violinist, performing in the NZSO National Youth Orchestra since 2010 and being selected as Concertmaster for a number of seasons.

Salina says: “I’m definitely going to keep exploring composition, as well as taking private violin lessons. My dream for the future is to be able to balance playing violin in an orchestra with opportunities to compose.”

Salina, who won a cash prize of $750 for the Award, was born in Christchurch in 1993. She has completed a BMus at the New Zealand School of Music in Violin and Composition. This year she completed Honours in Composition.

The NZSO TODD Corporation Young Composers Award is open to young composers up to the age of 25. Nine composers from Auckland, Dunedin and Wellington took part in this year’s programme on 2-4 December, which this year celebrates its 10th anniversary.

The three-day event includes mentoring sessions and tutorials, workshops with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, and the opportunity to walk away with a recording of their work, courtesy of Radio New Zealand Concert. This year, entries were assessed by a panel of established New Zealand musicians including New Zealand conductor Tecwyn Evans, composer and mentor Victoria Kelly, and NZSO Section Principal Percussion Lenny Sakofsky.

This Award programme is made possible through the generous support of the TODD Corporation, and has enabled the recording of approximately 70 new works since the event’s inception in 2005. For more about the NZSO Todd Corporation Young Composers Awards click here >.

More about Salina Fisher

Click here to find out about the 2015 NZSO National Youth Orchestra concert which will feature Salina Fisher’s commission >

ENDS

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