The New England Philharmonic announces Elijah Daniel Smith as the Winner of the 2022 Call for Scores Competition.
Photo: Colin Mohr
BOSTON — The New England Philharmonic is pleased to announce that Elijah Daniel Smith has been chosen as the winner of the NEP’s 37th annual Call for Scores Competition. Smith’s Wraith Weight (2021) will be performed by the NEP in the upcoming 2022 – 2023 season.
After careful review of the more than 160 submissions by composers around the globe, NEP Composer-in-Residence Eric Nathan selected a list of 14 finalists and ultimately chose Smith’s submission as the winning work. The New England Philharmonic is one of only a few orchestras of its size in the country with a Composer-in-Residence program that holds an annual Call for Scores. Since the competition’s inception in 1985, the NEP has presented dozens of Boston and world premieres of works by living composers – continuing its mission of presenting the “music of our time.”
Praised by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra as a “rising star,” composer Elijah Daniel Smith is quickly establishing himself as one of today’s leading young composers. His music, which has been described as “an extended flirtation with chaos” (Chicago Tribune) and as “a compilation of sounds that defy their source” (Picture This Post) ranges from orchestral compositions to multimedia and interdisciplinary collaborations. Smith’s affinity for dense and complex textures, rhythmic ambiguity and fluidity, and rich gravitational harmonies shines through in all of his creations. Smith’s music has been premiered and performed by world renowned ensembles such as The Chicago Symphony Orchestra for MusicNOW, Mivos Quartet, Sō Percussion, Sandbox Percussion, Contemporaneous, ~Nois, DITHER, Ensemble Linea, Ecce Ensemble, Fuse Quartet, Earspace, and the Peabody Symphony Orchestra. Upcoming commissions and projects include new works for Bergamot Quartet, saxophonist Julian Velasco on behalf of the Luminarts Cultural Foundation, and Copland House for Cultivate.
Smith is currently pursuing his PhD in Music Composition at Princeton University as a President’s Fellow after earning a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Composition from the Boston Conservatory in 2017, and a Master of Music degree in Music Composition from the Peabody Institute of The Johns Hopkins University in 2020.
About the New England Philharmonic: Embarking on its 46th season under the direction of recently named Music Director Tianhui Ng, the NEP is internationally renowned for its daring programming encompassing both contemporary and traditional works. The volunteer orchestra has earned nine ASCAP awards for Adventurous Programming and was named Best Local Musician(s) of the Year in 2016 by The Arts Fuse. The orchestra’s illustrious past includes the installation of three landmark programs. The NEP became the first orchestra of its size to support a Composer-in-Residence (1985), introduce a Call for Scores program (1985), and establish a Young Artist Competition (1994), legacies that endure today. The NEP’s 2021-22 season comprised an opening concert conducted by Composer-in-Residence Eric Nathan, followed by four “audition concerts,” each featuring one of the finalists for Music Director who had the opportunity to conduct the ensemble through an entire concert cycle. In July, the NEP board announced that finalist Tianhui Ng would take the helm as the next Music Director.
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