Meet Our 2023 Young Artist Composers!
Schubert Hernando
Schubert Hernando has a rich background in music, starting with his early classical piano training and later expanding his repertoire to include jazz and contemporary genres. His parents played a significant role in his musical development, introducing him to improvisation during his middle school years. After completing high school, Schubert pursued a Bachelor of Arts in Christian Studies at Ambrose University, and decided to continue his education in music at MacEwan University. As a composition major at MacEwan, Schubert draws inspiration from a diverse range of composers. Schubert seeks to emulate the evocativeness of composers like Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy, Joe Hisaishi, and Mahito Yokota. Composers such as Hans Zimmer and Kensuke Ushio inspire Schubert to explore technology and sound design as a compositional tool. With his education in music, Schubert plans to pursue various career paths. He aspires to establish an independent piano studio, to become a professional songwriter and producer, and to compose for film, television, and video games.
Gustav Knudson
Gustav Edward Knudson is an emerging composer and songwriter living in Vancouver, British Columbia. He is a recent graduate of the University of British Columbia with a Master’s degree in Composition. Gustav takes inspiration from many sources, such as poetry, the
environment, and past composers whom he admires like Igor Stravinsky and Olivier Messiaen. He has written several art songs based on poetry by Emily Dickinson and Wallace Stevens, and multiple works inspired by aspects of nature such as bats, foxes, birds, and the night sky. His recent compositions include Picturesque Nr. 2, “Canadian Rockies” written for Standing Wave Ensemble in Vancouver, and Floriography for mixed trio of flute, bass clarinet, & viola. Currently, Gustav is working on a new choral work for a contest sponsored by the vocal ensemble Voces8, and also planning to compose a piece for orchestra.
Kelly Yixuan Wang
YAC Online
Born and raised in Beijing, China, Kelly Yixuan Wang relocated to Ontario to pursue a master’s degree in music compositon at Western University. Her passion for contemporary and orchestral music blossomed during her bachelor’s studies in Vancouver. In 2018, she joined the Vancouver Pops Orchestra and Choir, where she served as an arranger and percussionist, undertaking commissions for orchestral arrangements used in film scoring and musicals. As a composer, Kelly’s interests include experimenting with texture, harmony, and aleatoric possibilities within ensembles. Her music is characterized by its spontaneity and intricacy, as it explores the individual relationships and interactions among performers, audience and conductors. Continuously engaged in introspection, she ponders her own existence and the role she plays on this planet at every moment of her journey.
Past Alumni
Participants of the Tuckamore Festival’s Young Composers Program have gone on to win national prizes, receive commissions and secure spots in top graduate programs across Canada and the USA! Check out our complete list of alumni and their accomplishments here:
2022
Chung Ki Peter Min, Zihan Zhao
2021
Kirsten Stewart, Athena Loredo, Hsiu-Ping (Patrick) Wu
2020
Michael Spiroff, Holly Winter, Taylor MacGillivray
2019
Leslie Opatril, Daniel Gardner, Robert Humber
2018
Leslie Opatril, Michael Maevsky and James Lowrie
2017
Stephanie Orlando, André McEvenue and Gavin Fraser
“My experience at Tuckamore was both fun and challenging. It was a very valuable week which pushed me in new directions as a composer.”
— Stephanie Orlando
“The Tuckamore Young Composers Program was exactly the kind of experience that is most useful to an early career composer. The daily masterclasses challenged and engaged me in new ways, and I greatly benefitted from the close rehearsal with the young artists—who produced an excellent recording of my piece. In addition, being able to workshop new material with Duo Concertante was just incredible.”
— Andre McEvenue
2016
Angelese Pepper, Gavin Fraser and Aiden Hartery
“This year’s Young Composers Program at the Tuckamore Chamber Music Festival was invaluable to me as a young composer. As a participant, I had the opportunity to work with the Festival’s very talented Young Artists, bringing my new piece to life while composing another a new work throughout the week.”
— Gavin Fraser
2015
August Murphy-King, Sarah Beth Cormier and Alexander Simon
2014
Jessica Blenis, Andrew Noseworthy and Jacquie Walker
2013
Brad Bonnell and Bekah Simms
2012
Bekah Simms and Colin Taylor
“This one week program has had a significant impact on my writing. I would recommend this program to any young composer interested in writing chamber music: at the end of the week, you will have better chops, better knowledge of string/piano chamber music, and a stellar recording of your piece.”
— Bekah Simms