2020-2021 Marvin Hamlisch International Music Awards
Nominees, classical composition (youth Division)
Matthew Caren, Palo Alto, California, United States
Matthew Caren is 17 years old and a current senior at Palo Alto High School. Film scoring brings together Matthew’s passion for creating original music with his interest in exploring and evoking human emotion through musical expression. Matthew makes music in a broad range of genres, equally at ease with jazz, orchestral, funk, rock, blues, gospel, and electronic music. As a pianist, Matthew enjoys improvisation as well as composition. He is honored to have received three First Place MTAC Composition/Film Scoring awards and been chosen multiple times for the Improvisation Honors Recital. He is active in jazz circles at the Community School of Music and Arts at Finn Center in Mountain View, CA, and has participated at the advanced levels of the Stanford Jazz Workshop, where he was recognized with an Outstanding Soloist Award. In addition to his focus on piano, Matthew is also a multi-instrumentalist who is self-taught in vocals, guitar, bass, drums and percussion.
Isabelle Kramar, Mequon, Wisconsin, United States
Born into a music-loving family, Isabelle Kramar’s musical journey began before she could even speak. She unofficially began to compose as an 11-month-old when her family gave her a bright red toy electric keyboard. Back then Isabelle would play random notes and create outlandish and contemporary melodies. She loved the toy piano so much that at age four, she began formal piano lessons. Later, as a third-grader, Isabelle fell in love with the cello. For both instruments, she is a recipient of several state and national level recognitions and awards and has been very active in several orchestras and ensembles including, the Milwaukee Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Cello Institute of Milwaukee's ICellisti and several independently formed chamber groups. For composition, Isabelle also holds several state and national level awards including First Place in the 2019 Wisconsin School Music Association (WSMA) Composition Project, a Superior rating in the 2019 Wisconsin Federation of Music Clubs (WFMC) Junior Composer Competition, and Finalist in the 2019 National Young Composer’s Challenge, Honorable Mention in the 2020 Wisconsin School Music Association (WSMA) Composition Project, and a Merit Award in the 2020 Wisconsin Federation of Music Clubs (WFMC) Junior Composer Competition. Isabelle realized how much she truly enjoys to compose and bring stories to life through music. She is continuing to explore the vast colors that a full symphonic orchestra has to offer, and the unique atmospheres created by a small chamber ensemble. Additionally, she has fallen in love with the exciting world of film scoring and hopes to continue to explore it moving forward.
Luca Pasquini, Denver, Colorado, United States
Luca Pasquini (b. 2004) is a composer/pianist from Denver, Colorado. Inspired by many different genres, Luca’s music seeks to discover the wonders of the world through modern classical music. He is currently studying piano and composition at Denver School of the Arts under Mitchell Alpaugh. He also is privately studying piano with Brad Marcotte and composition with Leanna Kirchoff and is a member of the Denver Young Artist Orchestra. At the DSA program, he has collaborated with Ben Thompson, as well as the members of Conrad Kehn's Playground Ensemble, and was chosen twice to be featured in the Playground Ensemble's Colorado Composer's Concert as the K-12 Winner. Luca was a Western Region winner in the National Federation of Music Club's Junior Composer Contest placing 2nd on the National Level. Recently he was a part of the 2020 Boston Conservatory at Berklee’s Summer High School Composition Intensive, studying with Jim Dalton, Jonathan Bailey Holland, and Mischa Salkind-Pearl.
Nathan Rihani, Potomac Falls, Virginia, United States
I am a 16-year old second generation Middle Eastern kid with a passion for debate, chess, and of course, piano composition. I only started composing about 6 months ago. In fact, this is only my second piece! I’ve been playing classical music on the piano for about 8 years now, and my deep appreciation for it is what motivated me to begin composing. I have a newfound passion and I intend to pursue it, and grow in it.
Noah Tan, Stevensville, Michigan, United States
Noah H. Tan (b. 2003) is a high school senior at The Culver Academies. He has been composing for six years and currently studies Music Composition at Indiana University, South Bend under Dr. Jorge Muniz. He has studied under Dr. Martin Amlin and Dr. Justin Casinghino of Boston University, and has had masterclasses with Nico Muhly and Dr. John Wallace. Mr. Tan’s work has been described as having “a strong compositional voice” with music that “ebbs and flows.” In addition, he has attended composition programs such as the Boston University Tanglewood Institute (BUTI) Young Artists Composers Program. Mr. Tan has received awards and recognition at the state, regional and national level from the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra, American Composers Forum, and the National Young Composers Challenge. His works have been performed by Ellie Jarrett Shattles, the Tanglewood Music Center New Fromm String Quartet, Vento Chiaro Wind Quintet, Triton Brass Quintet, and the BUTI Young Artists Orchestra. In the summer of 2020, Mr. Tan studied under David Dzubay of the Jacobs School of music, as well as attended the prestigious Screen Music Program, where he studied under Harry Gregson-Williams, Jeff Russo, Inon Zur, and Alison Plante.