2025 Call for Scores Winner
Cindi Hsu
Cindi Hsu’s music is noted for its richness in color, expressive melodic lines and open sincerity. Her music inspires to capture the essence of true human emotions and feelings, expressing wit and a sparkling sense of humor at times, as well as the capacity for expressions of deep pathos. Her “storytelling” composition style was instilled in her early childhood, as she loved the spur of the moment bedtime stories that her father made up and told her each night. Hsu’s music has been performed in Asia, Europe, and the United States, including Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall.
For More information, please visit www.CindiHsu.com
About “From the Twilight”
I love stories. I was greatly touched by the poetic beauty of a deeply mystical and metaphorical poem, “At the Twilight”, by the 13th-century poet Rumi. The poem uses the imagery of a moon appearing in the sky at nightfall, and descending to earth to convey the idea of a spiritual journey. I was inspired by the loveliness and profound meaning of this poem written in such simple words and phrases. The theme,“Songs of Earth, Sea, and Sky”, of this year’s call for scores opportunity excites me. Rather than to write about actual natural landscapes, I was inspired to compose a piece that references natural landscapes metaphorically to unfold a story. I hope I have set my music to reflect a sense of awe and wonder, and have captured the mystical atmosphere created by this remarkable poem.
2025 Call for Scores Honorable Mention
Umberto Galante
Umberto Galante is an Italian composer and clarinetist. He graduated in Clarinet, Composition, Band Instrumentation, and Music Education from leading Italian conservatories, studying composition with Luca Cori and refining his skills with Alberto Colla. His works have been awarded in several national and international competitions and performed at festivals across Europe. In addition to composing for solo instruments, ensembles, and choirs, he is active in audio production. He currently teaches in Turin (Italy) while pursuing an active career as a composer.
About “My First Summer in the Sierra”
The work draws inspiration from two excerpts from My First Summer in the Sierra by John Muir, interwoven with a third text that echoes its thought. Through three movements—Prayer, Song, and Revere—the composition unfolds as a spiritual and sensory journey into the relationship between humanity and nature. Prayer is both an invocation and an expression of gratitude, a devotional act that seals the deep connection with the landscape; Song is its ecstasy, a manifestation of wonder and celebration; Revere becomes reverence, a surrender to the vastness of creation, where the individual dissolves into the primordial harmony of the natural world.