Carlos Surinach Commission

The Carlos Surinach Commission funds the creation of new works by former winners of the BMI Student Composer Awards for premiere with leading contemporary orchestras, chamber music groups, and classical soloists throughout the nation.

Established in 2003 through a generous bequest from the late classical composer Carlos Surinach, the Commission is often awarded in partnership with Concert Artists Guild (CAG), a nonprofit organization founded to discover, nurture, and promote young musicians. The program selects a performer with a proven commitment to contemporary music, who then chooses a composer to create the commissioned work.

Past recipients of Carlos Surinach Commissions include Pulitzer Prize winner Kevin Puts and Carlos Carrillo for the American Composers Orchestra; David Schober for marimba virtuoso Makoto Nakura; Gregory Spears for trumpeter Brandon Ridenour; David Hertzberg for violinist In Mo Yang; Dameun Strange for flutist Adam Sadberry; Jessica Meyer for violist Jordan Bak; Nina C. Young for guitarist Jiji; and David Hertzberg for pianist Domenic Cheli.

Carlos Surinach (1915-1997) was among the 20th century’s premier composers for the dance. He was also a celebrated composer of colorful orchestral music and a renowned conductor. As a conductor, he held posts at the Barcelona Philharmonic and the Gran Teatro del Liceo, before moving to the United States from his native Spain in 1951. Surinach’s scores have been regularly featured by some of the world’s most renowned dance companies, including Martha Graham and the Joffrey Ballet, and his impressive catalog of orchestral, choral, and chamber music is performed regularly throughout the world.