Henri Lazarof International Commission Prize, 2026
Seventh Annual Henri Lazarof International Commission Prize, 2026
Henri Lazarof once said, “The world is big enough for all kinds of composers… I try to always write for new instrumental forces — to search out the limits of the performer and one’s own limits as a composer.” The Henri Lazarof International Commission Prize will provide support to composers attempting to do the same today.
Baldwin Giang wins 7th Annual Henri Lazarof International Commission Competition
Baldwin Giang (b. 1992, Philadelphia) is an internationally performed composer, pianist, and multimedia creator and was the recipient of the Samuel Barber Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome. He was also composer-in-residence for the Louisville Orchestra from 2024-2025. His work aims to empower communities of audiences and performers by creating concert experiences that are opportunities for collective wonder and judgment. Described as "taut and cohesive...challenging and rewarding" (Cacophony), “intensely evocative” (Midbrow), and a “multimedia masterpiece [多媒体力作]” (Central Conservatory Alumni Association News), Baldwin’s music has been performed in venues such as Carnegie Hall, Symphony Center in Chicago, and the Smithsonian Museum (DC).
He has received commissions from the National Sawdust Ensemble, Metropolis Ensemble, New York Youth Symphony, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Grossman Ensemble, Loadbang, Playground Ensemble, Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, Vital Strategies, Fondation Maurice Ravel, Extended Music Collective, Music from Copland House, and Mendelssohn Chorus of Philadelphia. Additional collaborators have included the New Jersey Symphony, Albany Symphony, Ensemble Intercontemporain, International Contemporary Ensemble, Riot Ensemble, New European Ensemble, Ensemble Garage, orkest de ereprijs, JACK Quartet, Spektral Quartet, Arditti Quartet, Longleash, Ekmeles, Sandbox Percussion, Da Capo Chamber Players, Blackbox Ensemble, ChamberQUEER, Quince Vocal Ensemble, Rage Thormbones, So Much Hot Air, Ensemble But What About, Metallicum, unassisted fold, and Verdant Vibes.
The international and domestic festivals that have presented his work include: IRCAM’s Manifeste (France), Ecole d’arts Americains de Fontainebleau (France), Concours International de Piano d’Orléans (France), Gaudeamus Muziekweek (Netherlands), 24th Annual Young Composers' Meeting (Netherlands), Spoleto Festival dei Due Mondi (Italy), Festival Contrasti (Italy), Ostrava Days (Czech Republic), Klexos (Spain), Tanglewood, Aspen Music Festival, Princeton’s Edward T. Cone Institute, and Yale in Norfolk’s New Music Workshop.
In addition to the Henri Lazarof International Commission Prize, Baldwin has been awarded a Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, ASCAP’s Morton Gould Young Composer and Leo Kaplan Awards, Fondation Maurice Ravel’s Prix Ravel, Musica Prospettiva Competition’s First Prize, Gaudeamus Award nomination, and a Fulbright Arts Fellowship (Taiwan). He has been invited to give lectures on his compositions at Yale University, University of California-Davis, University of Washington-Seattle, University of Louisville, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Spazio Supernova (Rome). He is a composer-in-residence at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris for summer 2026. Additionally, he was composer-in-residence at Mahler Lewitt Studios in Spoleto, Italy in 2024.
Baldwin is a graduate of Yale University, earning a B.A. with Honors in both Music and Political Science, the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, earning a M.A. as a Regents Fellow, and the University of Chicago, earning a PhD as a Division of Humanities Fellow. He currently resides in Seattle and serves as Assistant Professor and Director of New Music and Creative Innovation at Pacific Lutheran University.