Composers To Watch

In late April, four emerging composers participated in the Minnesota Orchestra’s Composer Institute, the first under Music Director Thomas Søndergård. Working closely alongside Thomas, Composer Institute Director Kevin Puts plus Orchestra musicians and staff, each composer had a chance to learn the ins and outs of working with professional orchestras while also developing their musical voices. Watch below to learn more about each of the 2025 Composer Institute participants and their music.

Elise Arancio channels the universal feeling of having a lot to say but struggling to express it in her piece Bite Your Tongue for Orchestra and Tape. Learn how she creates this feeling through her music and what it was like to bring it to life with a full orchestra for the first time.

Benjamin Webster reflects on the idea of change, in all the forms it takes in our lives, in his piece Autumn Movement—which opens with an unorthodox solo instrument.

For generations, composers have turned to poetry to find inspiration for their music. In star / mouth / ghost / sea, Soomin Kim takes the words of poet Franny Choi to paint a story against a unique sonic soundscape.

Portrait Through a Prism is composer Andrew Faulkenberry’s eclectic musical exploration of a distinct musical figure: a few notes that sounded “shimmery” and reflective, like light refracting through a prism. Explore Andrew’s process of building a work of musical metaphor.