BMI Foundation Announces 73rd Annual BMI Composer Award Winners

BMI Foundation, Inc. and BMI announced the recipients of the 73rd annual BMI Composer Awards on May 28th at Joe’s Pub in New York City. The awards, which celebrate excellence in composition, were presented to six emerging composers by BMI Foundation President and BMI Executive Director of Classical Deirdre Chadwick and renowned composer and Chair of the Composer Awards Ellen Taaffe Zwilich.

The 2025 award winners included:

• Daixuan Ai – Recipient of the Ellen Taaffe Zwilich Award for most outstanding score – Age 26, student of Han Lash and Clint Needham
• Alan W. Mackwell – Age 27, student of Dr. Carter Pann
• Benjamin T. Martin – Age 26, student of Augusta Read Thomas
• Paul Novak – Age 26, student of Augusta Read Thomas
• Cole Reyes – Age 26, student of Julia Wolfe and Dr. Roshanne Etezady
• Jason Zhang – Recipient of the Carlos Surinach Award for the youngest winner of the competition – Age 22, student of Dr. Evan Chambers

One composer also received an honorable mention in the competition: Luke Soneral, a 16-year-old student of Eric Ewazen at Julliard Pre-College.

In addition to the awards, BMI Foundation announced a new partnership in 2025 with American Composers Orchestra (ACO) and International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) so that each organization will perform one winning orchestral work and one winning chamber work, respectively, in an upcoming concert. The selected winning pieces for this year’s performances were announced at Wednesday’s celebration as Unfurling Dances by Benjamin T. Martin, which will be performed at an ACO EarShot Reading, and seven dreams about my body by Paul Novak, which will be performed at an ICE concert.

The evening also featured a performance by Ekmeles of excerpts from Gospel Oak, a 2024 BMI Composer Award-winning score composed by John William Griffith; and a performance by David Fulmer, Joshua Rubin, and Conrad Tao of Trio, a 2024 BMI Composer Award-winning score composed by Ziyi Tao.

The BMI Composer Awards recognize superior ability in music composition with annual awards totaling $20,000. This year, nearly 650 applications were submitted to the competition from young composers around the world, and all works were judged anonymously. Preliminary judges for the 2025 awards included composers Jennifer Jolley, Daniel Temkin, and Alyssa Weinberg; final judges were Kristin Kuster, David Robertson, and Curtis Stewart. BMI, in collaboration with the BMI Foundation, has awarded over 600 grants to young composers throughout the history of the competition.

About the Award Winners

Daixuan Ai - Silent Theater for sinfonietta
Daixuan Ai is a Chinese-American composer, performer, teacher, and interdisciplinary artist known for her innovative fusion of traditional and modern, Eastern and Western musical styles. Born in Hunan, China, DAIX started her music journey at the age of three when her parents put her in front of a piano for the first time. Somehow she knew then that she would devote her life to music. DAIX’s compositions have been performed by prestigious ensembles such as the Chicago Symphony Civic Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Albany Symphony Orchestra, Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, and Indiana University New Music Ensemble. DAIX’s works often explore themes of identity, violence, healing, and social justice, and she has been recognized for her efforts to raise awareness about racial injustice and promote racial equity.

Alan W. Mackwell - Rail Dynamics for string trio and fixed media
Described as “an original composer with new ideas and a command of complex symphonic writing”  (BroadStreet Journal), New Zealander-American Alan Mackwell (b. 1998) is a BMI award-winning young composer and performer based in Boulder, Colorado. In his work, Alan seeks to explore a unique blend of atmospheres inspired by his experiences in the Permian Basin, northern New Mexico, and Appalachian North Carolina using a highly resonant and bluegrass-influenced musical language as well as the utilization of original field recordings. He earned his BM at the Boston Conservatory and earned his MA at Tufts University. Alan is currently pursuing his DMA at the University of Colorado Boulder where he teaches an Intro to Music Technology course.

Benjamin Martin - Unfurling Dances for large ensemble
Benjamin Martin (he/they) (b.1998) is a composer, singer, and musical collaborator based in Chicago, IL. Benjamin takes great joy in writing bespoke works which serve to illuminate and amplify the unique gifts of a wide array of individual artists. While interested in all manner of expressive media, their love of the human voice and the written word is often at the center of their compositional orbit. Benjamin received a BM from Oberlin Conservatory in Composition with a minor in Vocal Performance. While attending, they were the recipient of the 2022 Walter E. Aschaffenburg prize in Composition. They are currently pursuing their PhD at the University of Chicago, where they study with Augusta Read Thomas.

Paul Novak - seven dreams about my body for sextet
The “spellbinding” (Washington Post) music of Chicago-based composer Paul Novak immerses listeners in shimmering and subtly crafted musical worlds full of color, motion, light, and magic. His recent projects engage with dreams and memory, queer identity, climate change and the natural world, and psychosomatic illness. Novak’s recent commissions include projects with American Composers Orchestra, Balourdet Quartet, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, and Kinetic; other recent collaborators include the Austin Symphony, Orlando Philharmonic, Reno Philharmonic, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and DanceWorks Chicago. He has received awards from the Barlow Endowment, ASCAP, BMI, American Academy of Arts and Letters, and more. Originally from Reno, NV, he completed his undergraduate studies at Rice University, and is currently a PhD student at the University of Chicago.

Cole Reyes - burnt sienna for chamber orchestra
Cole Reyes (b. 1998) is a composer, educator, and arts administrator whose creative exploration delves into the intersection of individual human experiences and the broader world. Recently, his work has been performed by the United States Marine Band Chamber Orchestra, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, BlackBox Ensemble, and Contemporaneous. He is co-founder of Telos Consort, a professional chamber ensemble based in New York City dedicated to the performance and curation of new music that features saxophones, strings, and piano. He holds bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and music from Washington University in St. Louis and a master’s degree in composition from New York University. He is currently pursuing doctoral studies at the University of Michigan.

Jason Zhang - like Clockwork, perpetuum for string quartet
Jason Zhang is a composer, pianist, and programmer from Michigan whose work seeks to connect the dots and draw squiggly lines between seemingly disparate disciplines, ideas, and places. He is studying at the University of Michigan, under Roshanne Etezady, Evan Chambers, Michael Daugherty, and Bright Sheng. He has worked with ensembles such as the Contemporary Directions Ensemble at the University of Michigan, TEMPO, Hub New Music, and the Bergamot Quartet. In his free time, Jason enjoys doing crosswords, trying to do handstands, and reading short stories.

Luke Soneral - Maamawi for orchestra (honorable mention)
Luke Soneral is a 16-year-old composer from Waconia, Minnesota. During the school year, Luke attends Juilliard Pre-College, where he studies with Dr. Eric Ewazen. In addition to composition, Luke plays piano and bass with the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies. Luke has had compositions performed by professional groups like the Minnesota Orchestra and the Minnesota Sinfonia, and has had premieres in venues such as the Kennedy Center in D.C. and the Dr. Phillips Center in Orlando. Luke will participate in NYO-USA’s student composer apprenticeship program at Carnegie Hall this summer. Outside the arts, Luke enjoys reading and playing sports.