2024 Young Composers’ Contest Winner

Viskamol Chaiwanichsiri

After an extensive review process, Viskamol Chaiwanichsiri (29), a DMA candidate at the University of Missouri - Kansas City, has been selected as the winner of the Austin Symphonic Band’s third annual Young Composers’ Contest. A panel of adjudicators selected him out of a field of 88 applicants.

In addition, five applicants were selected as finalists. These include (listed alphabetically):

• Franklin Hansen

• Adam Harrington

• Matthew Nell

• Connor Wooley

• Sam Wu

---

Viskamol Chaiwanichsiri

---

About Viskamol Chaiwanichsiri:

Viskamol Chaiwanichsiri (b. 1995) is a Thai composer, conductor, and music educator known internationally for blending traditional Thai soundscapes with contemporary styles, establishing him as a leading figure among emerging Asian composers. His works have been performed internationally by ensembles such as the Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra, Tacet(i) Ensemble, Meiden High School Symphonic Band (Japan), Lawrence University Symphonic Band (US), and at international festivals including Asian Saxophone Congress (China, 2024), World Saxophone Congress (Croatia, 2018; France, 2015), International Trumpet Guild (US, 2023), International Viola Congress (Thailand, 2023), International Double Reed Society (Thailand, 2023), Thailand New Music and Arts Symposium (2020), and the International Festival of Wind Orchestra Prague (2020). He is a founder of thaiwindcomposers.com, an online resource and community for wind music in Thailand.

Viskamol is currently in Kansas City, Missouri, where he is completing his DMA in Composition at University of Missouri - Kansas City, while enjoying cooking different dishes from whatever ingredients he can track down in the city. He is a member of ASCAP.

Website: viskamol.com

---

Music Director Dr. Kyle Glaser said:

We congratulate Viskamol on being selected as our third recipient of the ASB Young Composers' Contest. His exceptional artistry and musicianship were on full display in his application materials, and we are certain that his new work for the Austin Symphonic Band will be a significant addition to the wind band repertoire.

Viskamol Chaiwanichsiri’s new work will be premiered by the Austin Symphonic Band during the 2025-26 season.

---

Ryan Fillinger Wins ASB’s Young Composers’ Contest

Austin, TX

After an extensive review process, Ryan Fillinger (22), a student at the University of North Texas, has been selected as the winner of the Austin Symphonic Band’s second annual Young Composers’ Contest. A panel of adjudicators selected Mr. Fillinger out of a field of sixty-two international applicants.

In addition, six applicants were selected as finalists. These include (listed alphabetically):

• Tyler Arcari

• Kevin Charoensri

• Noah Hudson-Camack

• Julien Meisenzahl

• Jules Pegram

• Jonathan Ragonese

---

Ryan Fillinger

Ryan Fillinger (b. 2001) is an Oregon-born composer of wind ensemble, orchestral and chamber music. He currently studies as a music composition major at the University of North Texas (UNT) under acclaimed composers and faculty Dr. Sungji Hong and Dr. Kirsten Soriano, and film composer Bruce Broughton.

Ryan was the second-place winner of the Florida Bandmasters Association Young Composers Competition in 2021, and was a finalist in the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards in 2022. He has worked with various musicians and ensembles at UNT including the Wind Orchestra, the Wind Ensemble, the Symphony Orchestra, and chamber groups such as the Quasar Trombone Quartet and the Lotus Saxophone Quartet.

---

Comments from ASB’s Music Director:

Music Director Dr. Kyle Glaser said:

"The ASB is thrilled to have Ryan as our second Young Composers’ Contest winner. His fresh voice will undoubtedly craft a wonderful new addition to the wind band repertoire, and we very much look forward to collaborating with him on this project."

Addressing the selection process, Glaser continued:

“The size and scope of our contest grew this year, and the selection committee was extremely pleased with the quality and quantity of submissions. I would also like to recognize our six finalists, whose works deserved special commendation for their craft and artistry."

---

Acknowledgements:

The Austin Symphonic Band would like to thank Dr. Brett Richardson, Director of Bands at Texas Lutheran University, for serving as an outside reviewer for this contest.

Ryan Fillinger’s new work will be premiered by the Austin Symphonic Band at an indoor concert during the 2024-2025 season.

For further details about the Young Composers’ Contest, click here.

---

About the Austin Symphonic Band:

ASB (founded 1981) is nationally recognized as one of the finest community music ensembles in the country, acclaimed by audiences at the Midwest Clinic International Band, Orchestra and Music Conference, and the Texas Bandmasters Association Convention. The band received the John Phillip Sousa Foundation’s Sudler Scroll for outstanding achievement as a community band in 1994 and was named the “Official Band of the City of Austin” by the Austin City Council in June 1989.

The ninety-plus members of ASB come from all walks of life and unite in a common passion for making music. ASB presents three indoor season concerts each year and three free outdoor concerts: Mother's Day, Father's Day and Fourth of July.

---

Richard Floyd Named Music Director Emeritus; Receives Austin Tribute

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 4/24/2023

Richard Floyd Named Music Director Emeritus; Receives Austin Tribute

Austin, TX:

The Austin Symphonic Band has named Richard Floyd as Music Director Emeritus. Floyd was Music Director of the band for 35 years, from 1986 to 2021, and contributed to its artistic excellence and community outreach. The appointment was announced at the band’s concert on Sunday, April 23.

Coinciding with the concert, the City of Austin proclaimed April 23 Richard Floyd Tribute Day. The proclamation was presented by Council Member Alison Alter on behalf of Mayor Kirk Watson and the Austin City Council.

Richard Floyd is in his 61st year of active involvement as a conductor, music educator and administrator. He has enjoyed a distinguished and successful career at virtually every level of wind band performance, from beginning bands through high school and university wind ensembles to community bands. In 2014 Floyd retired as State Director of Music at UT Austin. He now holds the title Texas State Director of Music Emeritus.

He is a recognized authority on conducting, the art of wind band rehearsing, concert band repertoire, and music advocacy. As such, he has toured extensively throughout the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe as a clinician, adjudicator and conductor.

In 2002 he was the single recipient of the prestigious A.A. Harding Award by the American School Band Directors Association. The Texas Bandmasters Association named him Texas Bandmaster of the Year in 2006 and recognized him with the TBA Lifetime Administrative Achievement Award in 2008. He received the Texas Music Educators Association Distinguished Service Award in 2009 and was inducted into the Bands of America Hall of Fame and Texas Phi Beta Mu Hall of Fame in 2011. That same year, he was awarded the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic Medal.

In 2014, he was inducted into the National Band Association Academy of Wind and Percussion Arts and was honored with the Kappa Kappa Phi Distinguished Service to Music medal. Phi Beta Mu International Bandmasters fraternity named him the PBM 2022 Outstanding Contributor to the support and development of bands. That same year, the CBDNA Executive Board established The Richard Floyd CBDNA Distinguished Service Award in his honor and in recognition of his contributions and years of service.

In addition to being an acclaimed author on music-making, Floyd was named a Yamaha Master Educator in 2016 and remains active as a clinician and mentor.

Richard Floyd and Austin Symphonic Band

Floyd served over three decades as Music Director and Conductor of the Austin Symphonic Band. His leadership was instrumental in expanding the band’s presence from local to national levels. In 1989, ASB was the first community band to perform the Grand Finale Concert at the Midwest International Band and Orchestra Clinic in Chicago, and the band returned for appearances in 1997 and 2007. ASB was featured at the American Bandmasters Association Conventions in 1993 and 2006, and was invited to perform at the Western International Band Clinic in 2004. During his tenure, Floyd championed the band’s collaboration with professional guest performers and conductors, including Boston Brass, Rhythm & Brass, Jim Walker, Pat Sheridan, Tito Carrillo, Steve Williamson, Clint Foreman, Synaesthesia Saxophone Quartet, Frank Ticheli, and Peter Bay.

Through his 35 years of leadership, Floyd helped establish a firm foundation for community music-making, ensuring a sustainable future for generations to come.

---

ASB Announces Winner of Young Composers Contest

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 12/15/2022

ASB Announces Winner of Young Composers Contest

Austin, TX:

After an extensive review process, Dr. Christopher Lowry, 34, of Hoover, Alabama, has been selected as the winner of the Austin Symphonic Band’s inaugural Young Composers Contest. A panel of adjudicators selected Dr. Lowry out of a field of sixty applicants.

In addition, five applicants were selected as finalists. Those include (listed alphabetically):

• Amy Austria, 24, Austin, TX

• Harrison Collins, 23, Little Elm, TX

• JaRod Hall, 31, San Antonio, TX

• Dr. Shuying Li, 33, Roseville, CA

• Dr. Keane Southard, 35, Medina, OH

Christopher Lowry, DMA

Composer, Violist, Recording Engineer

About Dr. Christopher Lowry

A two-time prizewinner in the Lionel Tertis International Viola Competition and Grand Prize winner in the Lewisville Lake Symphony International String Competition, Dr. Christopher Lowry is emerging as one of the leading violists and composers of his generation. Equally active as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral player, Lowry has appeared as a soloist with orchestras in this country and abroad. He recently led a consortium of 20 violists to commission the first major Mexican viola concerto by Eduardo Gamboa, which he will premiere in 2023 with the Orquesta Sinfonica Sinaloa de los Artes.

In September 2022, Lowry joined the Alabama Symphony Orchestra as their new principal violist after serving three years as principal viola with the Amarillo Symphony Orchestra and nearly a decade as principal viola for both the Baton Rouge and Acadiana Symphony Orchestras. He is currently the violist of Lagniappe Trio and the Constantinides String Quartet, with whom he performed in Carnegie Hall in September 2019 and October 2022.

As a composer, Dr. Lowry has won prizes in an impressive number of composition contests, including the Sousa/ABA/Ostwald Composition Award, the Association of Texas Small School Bands Composition Competition, Dallas Winds Fanfare Competition, and many others.

His music has been recorded by the Brno Philharmonic (Ablaze Records) and performed by symphonies in such venues as Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Hall, the Kennedy Center, Chicago Symphony Hall, Schermerhorn Symphony Center, and the Ryman Auditorium.

Lowry holds both doctorate and masters degrees from Louisiana State University, where he studied viola with Elias Goldstein and composition with the late Dinos Constantinides. He holds a bachelors degree from Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music, where he studied viola with Kathryn Plummer and John Kochanowski, and composition with Michael Alec Rose, Michael Slayton, Michael Kurek and Stan Link.

Christopher Lowry resides in Hoover, AL, with his wife Casie and their orange tabby Ato.

For Christopher Lowry’s complete resume, click here.

---

Comments from ASB’s Music Director:

Music Director Dr. Kyle Glaser said:

"The Austin Symphonic Band is extremely pleased to be entering this creative partnership with Dr. Lowry. Christopher’s many accolades speak for themselves, and his creativity and musical skill are evident in his existing catalogue of works. ASB looks forward to bringing this new piece for band to life, and I am positive that this collaboration will bring about a substantive addition to the wind band repertoire.”

Addressing the selection process, Glaser continued:

“We were absolutely thrilled with the quantity and quality of applicants in our inaugural year. I would also like to recognize our five finalists, whose submissions deserved special commendation for their craft and artistry. This new endeavor by ASB helps us meet our mission of bringing new music to the community, and to see such excitement and eagerness by so many young composers who want to be a part of that is truly a wonderful thing.”

---

Acknowledgements:

The Austin Symphonic Band would like to thank Dr. Jason Nam, Associate Director of Bands at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, for serving as an outside reviewer for the contest.

Dr. Lowry’s new work will be premiered by the Austin Symphonic Band at an indoor concert during the 2023-2024 season.

For further details about the Young Composers Contest, click here.

---

About the Austin Symphonic Band:

ASB (founded 1981) is nationally recognized as one of the finest community music ensembles in the country, acclaimed by audiences at the Midwest Clinic International Band, Orchestra and Music Conference, and the Texas Bandmasters Association Convention. The band received the John Phillip Sousa Foundation’s Sudler Scroll for outstanding achievement as a community band in 1994 and was named the “Official Band of the City of Austin” by the Austin City Council in June 1989.

The ninety-plus members of ASB come from all walks of life and unite in a common passion for making music. ASB presents three indoor season concerts each year and four free outdoor concerts: Mother's Day, Father's Day, Fourth of July and Fall.

---