2024 Composition Competition Winner and Finalists
Winner: Kian Ravaei
California Suite for flute and piano
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Composer Kian Ravaei (b. 1999) takes tone painting to a new level, synthesizing diverse inspirations into evocative musical portraits. Whether he is composing a string quartet inspired by wonders of the natural world, electronic music that evokes the pulsating energy of a nightclub, or a symphonic poem that draws from the Iranian music of his ancestral heritage, he takes listeners on a spellbinding tour of humanity’s most deeply felt emotions.
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Ravaei has collaborated with sought-after artists such as pianist and cultural activist Lara Downes, Grammy-nominated violinist Tessa Lark, and New York Philharmonic clarinetist Anthony McGill. Chamber musicians have championed his works, leading to commissions from Chamber Music Northwest—where he served as a Protégé Project Composer-in-Residence—as well as Seattle Chamber Music Society and Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival. His rapidly expanding catalog has earned him notable honors such as a Copland House CULTIVATE Fellowship, a Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra Composer Teaching Artist Fellowship, a New Music USA Creator Fund Award, and a Barlow Endowment Commission.
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Born to Iranian immigrants, Ravaei maintains close ties to the Iranian community in his hometown of Los Angeles. Many of his works combine the ornamented melodies of Iranian classical music with the colorful harmonies of Western classical music. DJs know Ravaei as the go-to person for creating orchestral versions of dance songs. His orchestration of Wooli & Codeko's "Crazy (feat. Casey Cook)" has garnered over one hundred thousand plays across streaming platforms. It is no coincidence that many of Ravaei’s concert works contain a rhythmic vitality that evokes the energy of the dance floor.
Ravaei counts celebrated composers Richard Danielpour, Derrick Skye, and Tarik O’Regan among his teachers, and holds degrees in composition from UCLA and Indiana University. This fall, he will begin a C.V. Starr Doctoral Fellowship at The Juilliard School.
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Learn more about Kian Ravaei
Website: https://kianravaei.com/
Instagram: @kianravaei
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Finalist: Bonnie Cochran
Fantasie for flute and piano
While it was the pretty sound and shiny silver that drew me to the flute as a 10-year old, what’s kept me transfixed by the instrument and by music itself are the complexities and the connections. In music, there is always more to explore—deeper meaning to find, new nuances to untangle, and this exploration connects me to my own inner world and the world around me.
I’m fascinated with understanding how things work and what makes something beautiful. So shortly after I started on the instrument, I began tinkering with writing music because I wanted to figure out how music worked and how the magic happened. For me performing and composing feed each other and provide a loop of intertwined experience and inspiration—a loop that’s expanded with teaching.
Flutist/composer Bonnie Cochran can be heard on the soundtrack for the PBS American Experience episode, Edison, and also appears as the flutist in the HBO miniseries, Olive Kitteridge, and was featured on WCVB’s Chronicle for her community performance work with the Marlborough Cultural District Initiative. As a chamber musician, Bonnie has performed at the Ogunquit Chamber Music Festival, Assumption College, MIT and Harvard University. As a soloist, she has performed at NFA Flute Conventions in Nashville and Salt Lake City, and recently won the NFA Convention Performer Competition.
Bonnie’s compositions have been performed at Gore Place, Brookline Music School, the National Flute Convention and at Carnegie Hall. Her arrangement of Silent Night can be heard on Harpist Sarah Stuart’s Winter Wonderland CD.
With the Amaryllis Chamber Ensemble, Bonnie designs interactive programs that spark lively audience dialogue with the performers. As an orchestral performer, Bonnie has performed with Boston Theater Works, New Bedford Symphony and Boston Civic Symphony. She has also explored the flute choir literature as a member of Willow Flute Ensemble and the National Flute Association (NFA) Professional Flute Choir.
To cultivate the next generation of music lovers, Bonnie runs a twice yearly children’s concert series that incorporates dynamic age-appropriate activities to engage preschool-elementary school aged listeners. Bonnie also teaches lessons and clinics to middle/high school flutists and adults, and with her duo partner guitarist Bryan Wrenn, created the award-winning high school residency program InConcert— a hands-on exploration of music composition and performance.
Bonnie holds a Masters in Flute Performance from The Boston Conservatory and Bachelor of Arts degrees in Music and Religious Studies from Agnes Scott College.
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Learn more about Bonnie Cochran
Website: https://www.bonniecochran.com/
YouTube: @bonniecochran
Facebook: @bonniecochranflute
Instagram: @bonnie_cochran
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​Finalist: Jee Seo
On Fever for solo flute
Jee Seo (b. 1985) is a South Korean
contemporary classical music composer.
Over the last decade, his works have been
presented by numerous performers and
ensembles in more than 45 cities and
about 20 countries across four continents.
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His music was released by Ablaze Records,
Phasma Music and Deus Ex Musica, and
was broadcast by Estonian Radio (ERR),
Radiofabrik in Salzburg and Hawaii Public
Radio. Jee has been collaborating on a wide
range of projects with artists, dancers and
filmmakers, and his collaborative music
videos have been screened at the 31th
Girona Film Festival GIFF (Girona, Spain),
Echofluxx International Festival of
Experimental Film, Music, Dance and Poetry (Prague, Czech Republic), 10th Gujarat International Film Festival (Gujarat, India) and The Psychedelic and Transpersonal Film and Music Festival (New York, NY). He is currently a doctoral student at the Chopin University of Music in Warsaw.
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Learn more about Jee Seo
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100001889861142
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