Past PMEA Composition Program Awardees

Year

Level

Title

Instrumentation

Composer

School 

2023 HS “Fenway Goose Crossing” Small String Ensemble Malcom Chiang Pittsburgh CAPA 6-12
  HS “Resilience” String Orchestra Daniel Chu Spring-Ford SHS
  HS “Songs for the People” SATB Choir Jacob Picking Chambersburg Area SHS
  PMEA Level – Written for ES/MS Ensembles “The Gull” String Ensemble Clifford Hall Owen J. Roberts SD
  PMEA Member “Two Italian Songs” Concert Band Thomas Bassett Dallas MS
  Open Track “Fantasy for Orchestra” Orchestra Ethan Hsu Welsh Valley MS
2022 HS “Petty Grievances” Brass Ensemble Michelle Loalza Liberty HS
  HS “Five Stages of Grief” Saxophone Quartet David Miller South Williamsport Area JSHS
  PCMEA “Fuchsia Dream” Saxophone Quartet Dylan Opalinski Indiana Univ. of PA
  PMEA Level – Written for ES/MS Ensembles “Perturbance Dance” String Ensemble Sara Schmehl Carlisle Area SD
  PMEA Mbr “Aboard the Galleon” Wind Ensemble Jeffrey Hart Haverford HS
  Open Track “Midnight Duo” Two Cellos Mark Lancaster Lower Merion HS
           
2021 ES “Rondo for Two Horns” French Horn Duet Alexander Lauver Jefferson Hills Int School
  HS “Peace” SATB Choir Issac Detweiler Quakertown Community HS
  HS “Fredenwalde” Orchestra Aaron Kaufman Conemaugh Twp MS/HS
  HS “A Hero’s Journey” Flute, French Horn, Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello, Double Bass & Percussion Sierra Kunigus Palisades HS
  HS “Clarinet Quintet” Clarinet & String Quartet Eric Tao Strath Haven HS
  HS “Since Hushabye Never Lasts” Orchestra Brennan Wesley Hampton HS
  PCMEA “Echo” SATB Choir Geoffrey McKain Duquesne University
  PCMEA “Four Miniatures for String Quartet” String Quartet Dylan Opalinski Indiana Univ. of PA
  PMEA Mbr – written for ES/MS Ensembles “Sonbahar” String Orchestra with piano Sara Schmehl Carlisle Area SD
  PMEA Mbr – written for ES/MS Ensembles “The Conquistadors” Concert Band Devon Smeal West Mifflin Area SD
  Open Track “The March of the Hornets Symphonic Band Brendan Baig Emmaus HS
  Open Track “Sonata for Sax Alto Saxophone & Piano Thomas Bassett Music Educator, Dallas HS
  Open Track “I Will Not Forget” SATB Choir Aaron Caplea Slippery Rock University
  Open Track “Summer Episodes” Woodwind Quintet (with sax substitution for French Horn) Matthew Ceresini Music Educator, Hempfield HS
  Open Track “The Silent Choir” Body Percussion Pete Deshler Music Educator, Easton Area HS
  Open Track “Losing It” Solo Voice & Piano Mallory Fischer Villa Maria Academy
  Open Track “Jabberwocky” Solo Voice & Piano Tristan McQuiddy Lower Dauphin HS
  Open Track “The Strife Between Two Opposing Dreams” Strings, Brass, Percussion, Piano & Choir Chance Stewart Delaware Valley HS
  Open Track “A Time of Emergence” Orchestra Abby Zimmerman Delaware Valley HS
           
2020 MS “Altruistic Bloom” Viola, Harp & Glockenspiel Yandi Wen JP Liberati Int. School (Southern Lehigh SD)
  HS “King Arthur” String Quartet Christopher Palmer Rustin HS (West Chester SD)
  HS “I Made the Night Sky from Aluminum Foil” Trumpet, clarinet, piano, violin, viola & double bass Yanfei Wen Southern Lehigh HS
  PCMEA “String Quartet in D Major” String Quartet Nicholas McWilliams Bloomsburg University
  PMEA Mbr “Hollyhock” Percussion Ensemble Jake Olimpi Marple Newtown HS
2019 ES “Fireworks” Cello & Piano Alexander Lauver Gill Hall ES
  HS “Symphony No. 3, Mvt. 1” Orchestra Michael Kronengold Owen J. Roberts HS
  HS “Ave Maria” SATB Choral Maire Pasquinelli Canon-McMillan HS
  PCMEA “Waterfall” SATB Choral David Marques Indiana Univ. of PA
  PMEA Mbr “The Bridge” Concert Band Jeff Herwig Mercer Area MSHS

 

PMEA Mbr

“Final Days”

A Cappella Spiritual

Philip Parlock

Forest Hills JSHS

           

2018

MS

“Sunrise”

String Quartet

Mark Lancaster

Bala Cynwyd MS

 

HS

“Where Will I Go?”

4-Part Choir and Piano

Garrett Hoffman

Bethel Park HS

 

HS

“Fugue in G Minor”

Brass Quintet

Nathaniel Maxwell

Everett Area HS

 

PCMEA

“Brass Quintet No. 2”

Brass Quintet

Andrew Junttonen

Indiana University of PA

 

PMEA Members

“Furin Kazan: The Way of the Samurai”

Full Band

James DeVivo

Pleasant Valley HS

           

2017

MS

“Battle Time”

Full Band

Angelo Daddona

Whitehall-Coplay MS

 

HS

“Tarantella”

Full Band

Robbie Halpner

Upper Saint Clair HS

 

HS

“A Call to Courage”

Full Orchestra

Daniel DiMarino

Owen J. Roberts HS

 

PMEA Member

“Jazz Clones”

Jazz Ensemble

Ben Saylor

Indiana Area SD

           

2016

MS

“Moods”

Piano and Solo Violin

J. Oliver Choo

The Winchester-Thurston School

 

HS

“Scherzo Villano”

String Quartet

Daniel DiMarino

Owen J. Roberts HS

 

HS

“String Quartet No. 1”

String Quartet

Mitchell McVeigh

McDowell HS

 

PMEA Member

“Exultation for Band”

Concert Band

David C. Overholtzer

Perkiomen Valley HS

 

PMEA Member

“A Fleeting Moment”

Concert Band

Robert Traugh

Kiski Area SD

           

2015

ES

“Oberon’s Golden Falcon”

Piano and Solo Violin

Yanfei “Sophie” Wen

Joseph P. Liberati Int. School

 

MS

“Burst”

Piano and Solo Violin

J. Oliver Choo

The Winchester-Thurston School

 

HS

“Nefarioso”

String Quartet

Daniel DiMarino

Owen J. Roberts HS

 

HS

“Alleluia!”

Four-Part Choir

Jennifer Summy

Susquenita HS

 

HS

“Satanic Dance”

String Quartet

Jason

Vassiliou

Conestoga HS

 

PMEA Member

“Event Horizon”

String Quartet

Jude Gore

Connelsville Area SD

 

PMEA Member

“Nowell! Mortals, Awake”

8-Part Choir

Rebecca Rhodes

Brandywine Heights HS

           

2014

ES

“Violet”

Piano and Violin

Yanfei “Sophie” Wen

Southern Lehigh SD

 

MS

“If Only”

Piano and Trumpet

Robbie Halpner

Fort Couch MS

 

HS

“Lux Ex Tenebris”

String Quartet

Nathaniel Frank

Beaver Area HS

 

HS

“Chorale No. 1 in Db Major”

String Quartet

Andrew Herring

Central Dauphin HS

 

PCMEA

“Two Poems by Carl Sandburg”

Choral

Anne-Marie Hildebrandt

Penn State University

           

2013

MS

“Tempete”

Piano and Xylophone

Jacob

Bodinger

Selinsgrove Area MS

 

HS

“Maiden’s Dance”

String Quartet

Justin

Brown-Gnara

Fox Chapel Area HS

 

HS

“Farewell”

Brass Quintet

Winfield Carson

Lincoln Park Performing Arts CS

 

HS

“Starsept”

String Quartet

Christopher Lazzaro

Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School

 

PCMEA

“The Ohio River”

Full Band

Stephen Philip Harvey

Seton Hill University

           

2012

ES

“Sweet and Scary Dreams”

Instrumental (Piano)

Philip Baldassari

Regina Coeli Academy

 

HS

“L’ispirazione di Sebastian Anthony Russo”

Full Orchestra

Winfield Carson

Lincoln Park Performing Arts CS

 

HS

“Cimmerian Snowfall”

SSATBB, flute quartet & timpani

Alexander Chadwell

Cedar Cliff HS

 

HS

“String Quartet No. 1 “Elemental,” op. 15: IV. Salamandrae (Fire)”

String Quartet

Chason Goldfinger

Conestoga HS

 

HS

“Reflections”

Instrumental (Piano)

David C. Logue

Hollidaysburg Area SHS

 

PCMEA

“A Well Oiled Machine”

Instrumental (flute, clarinet, violin, violincello, piano)

Matt Carlson

Sunderman Conservatory at Gettysburg College