Call for scores

Announcing the selected scores for 2026

STARE AT THE SUN IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THE SELECTED COMPOSITIONS FROM OUR 2026 call for scores. Our thanks to all who applied, and congratulations to the composers whose works were selected!

The selected works will be  workshopped and performed in winter 2026.

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Anuj Bhutani: Oaks and Roses

Described as “a force multiplier with more talents than time” (PATRON Magazine), “with a special gift for taking the personal and making it universal” (Beth Morrison, Opera Wire), Anuj Bhutani is a quickly emerging composer, performer, vocalist, and producer whose music is “alternately celestial and dark” (John Schaefer, WNYC New Sounds), and often features acoustic instruments and electronics, narrative depth, and genre-fluidity. He’s won Chamber Music America’s Classical Commissioning Grant, an ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award, and been selected for American Composer’s Orchestra’s Earshot, residencies at Loghaven and Atlantic Center for the Arts (2x), among others.

Brandon Chase di Noto: The Blue Bird

Brandon Chase Di Noto is an American conductor, vocalist, & composer. He is currently a member of the Department of Music faculty at Azusa Pacific University where he directs the Bel Canto Women’s Choir & teaches courses in choral music, conducting, musicology and vocal arts; and the Assistant Director of Sterling Ensemble Los Angeles. Di Noto has studied composition with Donald Crockett, Neal Desby, Veronika Krausas, Susan LaBarr, Victor Labenske, Z. Randall Stroope, Frank Ticheli & Dale Trumbore. Di Noto is currently pursuing a DMA at the USC Thornton School of Music, where he also serves as a Teaching Assistant.

Edward lu: November Night

Described as having "a captivating, vivid imagination," Edward Lu writes music that jitters, smears, soars, and treads the line between realism and abstraction, molding evocative sonorities and thoughtfully crafted structures into his creations— often reflecting the natural world, visual art, architecture, imaginative spaces, and everyday objects. Drawn to organic evolution, he takes simple musical fragments and morphs their construction over time into something elaborate and intricate, and vice versa. Through his music, he hopes to create immersive, profound, and transformative experiences that spark wonder and joy in his audience and fuel an appreciation for the beautiful things all around.

Adrian Wong: Sunshower

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Adrian Wong creates engaging and moving music full of imagery, drama, and unapologetic conviction. Adrian takes inspiration from a wide array of subjects, from the climate crisis to matters of identity, as well as the smaller things in life, from the lullabies his mother sang to the tastes and textures of his favorite foods. Adrian’s commissions include works for the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra, NOEMA, Cong Quartet, and Young New Yorkers’ Chorus, among others. He serves on the Musical Studies Faculty and is the Coordinator of Community Partnerships at the Curtis Institute of Music.