Fifty-five
original
compositions
were
entered
for
the
opportunity
to
be
played
by
the
Columbus
Symphony
Orchestra
(CSO).
Six
were
chosen.
One
of
the
winning
works
is
by
BW
composition
senior
Nabil
Abad
of
Mentor,
Ohio.
Abad's win is part of CSO's new composition competition launched in the summer of 2018, a collaboration with the Johnstone Fund for New Music. The "SCORE with the Columbus Symphony!" competition features the compositional talent of Ohio. To enter, composers need a tie to Ohio - current student, alumni of an Ohio school, Ohio resident or native.
CSO Music Director Rossen Milanov was on the panel of judges and will be conducting the winning works in a special concert titled "SCORE! Happy Hour" on January 9, 2019. Abad's composition, "Discord," is slated to open the free concert.
In addition to this honor, Abad was a composition fellow at the Norfolk New Music Workshop in Connecticut in the summer of 2018. He has participated in workshops and performances with the Kenari Saxophone Quartet, the Cleveland Chamber Symphony and the Baldwin Wallace Symphony Orchestra.
Abad also was named the Alabama Orchestra Association Composition Contest 2019 winner for the same composition. He is planning to begin graduate studies in the fall.
