A piano trio composition by gay Pukekohe-born writer and composer Samuel Holloway has won the prestigious Asian Composer's League Young Composer's Competition in Hong Kong. Samuel Holloway The competition is judged by five composers from member countries - this year from Japan, Korea, Australia, Israel and Thailand. Since Kiwi composers have won the competition five times since 1998, Holloway says he felt the weight of history bearing down on him - "and it was especially pleasing to be able to continue this record. "It was a great honour to be selected as New Zealand's young composer representative for the festival in Hong Kong. This was an especially good festival to attend – bigger and better than usual – because it was a combined ACL [Asian Composers League] and ISCM [International Society for Contemporary Music] festival." Holloway's piece Stapes was performed by members of the Luxembourg Sinfonietta. "They were very fine musicians," he tells us. "Our rehearsal time was very limited and the performers' interpretation differed significantly from other performances of the work, so I was rather nervous about how the work would be received. "It was certainly a surprise to win, especially as the pieces from the other composers were so strong." Composing can be a lonely business, adds Holloway, "so it is great to be recognised, especially in an international competition. It's always good to win some money too. As part of the prize, I've also been invited to write a piece to be premiered at the 2009 Asian Composers League Festival in Korea." Holloway's newest works for 2008 include the piano prelude Terrain Vague, to be performed in the 2008 New Zealand International Arts Festival, and the large-scale chamber work 'Strange Loop', to be performed by new music ensemble Stroma. His work Malleus can be heard on Radio New Zealand Concert this coming Tuesday 19 December at 9pm, as part of the Sound Lounge programme.
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Sunday, 16th December 2007 - 1:13pm