44th Annual Young Composers’ Competition
Final ratings & Winners January 31, 2025
First Place: Rocky Ledge for Solo Cello by Stella G. Gitelman Willoughby
Second Place: Scenes past a window pane for Solo Alto Saxophone by James A. Devor
Congratulations to our winners
Stella G. Gitelman Willoughby (b. 2000) is an ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award winner and a national and international award-winning composer from Cambridge, Massachusetts. She writes for solo instruments, voice, chamber ensembles, and symphony orchestra. Valuing the unique qualities of each instrument and performer, her works highlight their unique sound. Stella works collaboratively with musicians, dancers, filmmakers, performance and fine artists. She has completed commissions for concert programs, recording projects, music festivals, dance, film, audition repertoire, performance and public art installations, student musicians, and to accompany historical and liturgical texts. Her compositions are licensed in the US and around the world. Stella graduated from Berklee College of Music summa cum laude and is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. Please visit: https://www.stellagmusic.com/.
James A. Devor (b. 1998) is an American composer, sound artist and double bassist whose music draws on his own wide-ranging musical background. His music grapples with rapidly-changing human emotions and attempts to sort through the natural chaos of the world. When writing, he focuses on the act of collaboration between the composer, performers and audience. While his catalogue includes solo, chamber, and large ensemble compositions, James has a particular affinity for art song and vocal music. His recent compositional interest is in how live electronics can enhance and supplement the sound of musicians in real time.
His mini-opera, Fairies Found and Lost, premiered during Opera from Scratch 2024. James has also been a participant in MNSong – Source Song Festival, New Music on the Point, and European American Musical Alliance. He completed his Master of Music in music composition at The Hartt School – University of Hartford, studying composition with Keen Steen and Robert Carl and double bass with Robert Black. James has also studied privately with composers Libby Larsen and Daron Hagen, and has most recently received his Artist Diploma from OAcademy as a 2024 cohort member of the Gabriela Ortiz Composing Studio. Find more at: www.jdevormusic.com
Questions regarding the Contest can be sent to Dr. Alan Goldspiel, NACUSA 2024 Young Composers’ Competition Coordinator (NACUSA Vice President and NACUSA Mid-South Chapter President) using the following form.
