We’re so excited to feature our three 2025 Call for Scores Winners for this Women’s History Month blog post! You can meet the three composers during our annual festival which this year will feature programming May 29th - June 1st in Madison.
I had a chance to zoom with Lingbo Ma, Stella G. Gitelman Willoughby, and Jennifer Margaret Barker and loved seeing the camaraderie already forming among this year’s incredible cohort of Call For Scores winners. In the span of a short call we learned that Stella and Lingbo are based in the same city (Boston) and that Jennifer can see a stunning castle out her window in her home in Scotland!
Winning piece: Ocean of Glass for flute, clarinet and piano.
Jennifer began piano lessons at the age of five and proceeded to pick up violin and oboe throughout her childhood. Her parents nurtured her and her siblings musical interests, at one point driving the four of them between nine different instrument lessons in total! Her first steps into composition were guided by the renowned Scottish composer, John Maxwell Geddes at the end of her undergraduate studies. Piano was Jennifer’s main love at the time, taking her through a Masters in Piano Performance and remaining her main identity even as she completed her doctoral degree in composition. But composition kept drawing her in.
“Being a keen sewer who designed my own patterns and clothes, as well as a knitter and painter, the idea of being able to ‘paint’ and ‘design’ in music was extremely appealing to me.”
Jennifer is an artist of many skills with her passions outside of composing including: gardening, sculpture, crafts, and creating music videos with her husband, cameraman John Anthony Palmer. She is deeply inspired by the natural environment and sees her compositions as emerging from that love.
“It is always my hope that audience members will connect to my music through the passion of the musicians; that they will gain great satisfaction from the shape of the musical line and phrases as well as the harmonic soundscape; and that they will enjoy the combination and interplay of instrumental/vocal colors and textures. I also hope that they feel like they have participated in an evocative and inspiring journey.”
We are so honored and excited to welcome Jennifer to this year’s festival and present to you all Ocean of Glass.
Winning piece: Dance Unleashed for violin, cello and piano.
Lingbo also began her studies at the piano, improvising from an early age to explore all of the possibilities the instrument provided. She would change the chords or endings of pieces that she was practicing and ask her Mom which version sounded better. Stemming from these explorations, she first began composing short piano pieces and songs.
“I love how music is so intangible and yet incredibly powerful. It has the ability to speak for you, to speak to you, and evoke a wide range of emotions - whether soothing, overwhelming, relief or terrifying. The possibilities within music are endless, offering constant opportunities for exploration.”
Lingbo cites many sources of inspiration for her work including literature, painting, weather, scenery in nature and mood. But she is also interested in sound itself and all of the ways that she can continue to shape and grow it. She also enjoys solving jigsaw puzzles and finds satisfaction in the patience and attention to detail required for both composition and puzzles.
“There’s a unique satisfaction in finding the right piece, and much like finishing a musical work, it’s incredibly rewarding to see the final picture come together.”
We can’t wait to present Lingbo’s work Dance Unleashed for violin, cello and piano at the festival!
Winning piece: The Air Around Us for voices and piano.
Stella has been captivated by music from the very beginning. Bedtime classical CDs would keep her awake, intrigued and fascinated by the musical language. Her musical training also began with piano lessons, starting at the age of 3, followed by violin. Even before she could read or write, she was composing.
“My parents heard me improvising and my mother placed blue painter’s tape on each of the keys, labelling them A – G. When I played a note, I yelled it out to my mother (not a musician) who wrote down the letter on notebook paper. If it was up an octave, she drew an arrow up. If it was down an octave, she drew an arrow down. I was about four years old and had just started taking piano lessons.”
From middle school on, Stella knew she wanted to be a composer. She deeply values the individual sounds of each instrument and the musical intuitions of each artist.
“I relish dialogues with musicians about their instrument, and their passion and respect for what makes their instrument important to them. This process always inspires me, and makes my compositions better and makes me a stronger composer.”
“Through my music I hope to bring beauty and joy to others, for even one person to feel less alone and feel more connected, and to inspire a conversation. It is most important to me that listeners take something away from my music, that it touches them, that they have feelings, form an opinion, and/or engage in conversation.”
Much of Stella’s music is inspired by one of her other passions, her interest, research and knowledge of the Middle Ages and Renaissance. The Air Around Us is no exception as many of her stylistic choices for the piece were based on 11th and 12th century liturgical music. We look forward to hearing the work live in May!
It was such an honor to meet these three talented composers and we look forward to presenting their compositions live in May!
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Article by Keeley Brooks
Keeley Brooks is a senior at Yale University, majoring in music and studying violin with Wendy Sharp. She is currently working on her thesis, an oral history on violin pedagogue Dorothy DeLay that will be housed as a public archive at Yale’s Oral History of American Music. In addition to playing in the ensemble, Keeley has loved exploring various administrative roles in the Yale Symphony Orchestra from Head Librarian, to co-Social Chair to President for the 24/25 school year. This past summer, Keeley took her first steps into composition while working for the Forest Products Laboratory in Madison where she wrote a piece that incorporates field recordings from a prescribed burn. She hopes to premier the piece at Yale in April of 2025. When Keeley isn’t participating in music, she enjoys teaching fitness classes, spending time exploring outside with friends and family and baking.
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