Finalist at the 2nd Saad Haddad Composition Competition

I am pleased to announce that I was selected as a finalist in the 2nd Saad Haddad Composition Competition.

The competition was organized by the award-winning American composer and content creator, Dr. Saad Haddad. The call for submissions requested new works for string quartet. I submitted my piece, Rondò All’Americana (Rondo in the American Style), which had been previously adapted for string quartet for a performance opportunity, though it was originally conceived for saxophone quartet.

The competition received a high level of interest, with a total of 142 submissions. My piece was one of only five works ultimately selected for the final round.

During the review process, Dr. Haddad noted that the work’s character felt distinctly suited to a saxophone quartet, impressively guessing its original instrumentation. Recognizing this astute observation and agreeing with his assessment, I have since decided to revert Rondò All’Americana to its original formation for saxophone quartet.

The judging panel for the competition also included the distinguished American composers Bobby Ge and Dr. Katherine Balch. It is a profound honor to have received this recognition from such esteemed musical figures.

As part of the finalist award, I received a one-year subscription to Nkoda, and I look forward to a one-on-one mentoring session with Dr. Haddad.

You can watch the video here.