G. Schirmer & Associated Music Publishers, part of Wise Music Group, is proud to announce that composer Anchi Wang-Hall has been awarded the 2026 G. Schirmer Prize for Luna Composition Lab for their piece Negative Spaces. Honorable mention goes to Chloe Kirk for her piece A Foreign Form; both pieces were premiered by International Contemporary Ensemble.
Awarded since 2019, the G. Schirmer Prize recognizes outstanding works by composers participating in Luna Composition Lab, a program for young female, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming composers created by Missy Mazzoli and Ellen Reid. Celebrating its 10-year anniversary in 2026, Luna Composition Lab supports aspiring young composers through year-long mentorship, performance opportunities, and recordings of their work. The G. Schirmer Prize is given annually to one Luna Lab Fellow and offers financial support, developmental resources, and publishing industry advising.
“We offer our sincere congratulations to Anchi and look forward to staying connected with them as they pursue their creative work and studies in composition,” writes G. Schirmer Executive Vice President Peggy Monastra. “The selection committee particularly appreciated Anchi’s keen instinct for musical gesture, which help make the piece’s investigation of negative space via dovetailed phrases and moments of silence distinctly effective. The harmonic language is attractive but not saccharine, varied but still cohesive, and the formal development is natural and expressive.
The entire cohort this year was exceptionally strong in individuality, creativity, and craft. We are equally happy to highlight Chloe and her work via an Honorable Mention.
Luna Composition Lab is a model organization providing mentorship, community, training, and inspiration in the development of young composers. Their programs impact and uplift the lives of dozens of composers through their fellowship residency, the annual festival, their series of collaborative commissions for graduates, and the online program Adventures in Sound. Here's to the next decade!”
2026 G. Schirmer Prize Winner
Anchi Wang-Hall
Negative Spaces (2026)
A striking chamber work scored for clarinet, percussion, and piano, Wang-Hall’s winning work investigates the many possible meanings of negative space. As the composer notes, negative space “can reveal things that it implies or outlines, reflecting clarity and contrast. Or it can be a sign of something missing, reflecting discomfort. These ideas are embodied in this piece by scattered musical fragments that are missing context, or that have their contexts added or taken away from them.”
Ellen Reid and Missy Mazzoli offer their warm congratulations on Negative Spaces: “As Artistic Directors of Luna Composition Lab, we are delighted when a Luna Lab Fellow emerges from our program with a clarity of voice like Anchi Wang-Hall. Anchi’s work Negative Spaces struck us with its deft orchestration, timbral nuance, and great attention to detail. Every note of this work was essential. We are certain that Anchi’s work will continue to speak to listeners as they continue on their compositional journey.”
Anchi Wang-Hall (age 18) is a composer, performer, and scholar currently based in Bloomington, Indiana. Their work is currently inspired by their own life experiences and the potential for intersection between music, visual art, and poetry. Anchi is also excited by how individuals interact with different parts of their personalities, and how humanity interacts with nature (specifically, wild birds). Anchi was a 2026 Finalist for the ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer award and was a 2026 national finalist for the MTNA Composition Competition. Anchi currently studies composition, piano, and music theory at Indiana University, and is grateful to their mentors, who have included Don Freund, Juhi Bansal, and David Nelson Tomasacci.
“Before I joined the Luna Composition Lab community, every other composition-centered community I’d been a part of came with the quiet yet ever-present discomfort caused by being one of the only non-men in the room, if not the only one. Through Luna Lab, I found a community of musicians and creatives that I can always look up to and always feel like my whole self belongs with. I could not be more grateful to Luna Lab for their continued support of my work and artistic career!” —Anchi Wang-Hall
2025 G. Schirmer Prize Honorable Mention
Chloe Kirk
A Foreign Form (2026)
The selection committee found Chloe’s musical language immediately communicative and approachable without sacrificing sophistication or artistic individuality. Her notational practice is also detailed, thoughtful, and mature.
Chloe Kirk (age 18) is a Los Angeles–based pianist, cellist, and composer. She is a fellow of the LA Philharmonic Composer Fellowship Program, and has written a wide range of works, ranging from full orchestra to solo bassoon, with performances by members of the LA Philharmonic, the Worcester Chamber Music Society, and student ensembles. She is also interested in the science of music and conducts independent research on its effects on neuroplasticity, cognitive function, and early childhood development. Her work includes interdisciplinary projects in dance and screen scoring. She plans to continue her studies at UCLA this fall.
About Luna Composition Lab
Luna Composition Lab’s mission is to close the gender gap in the field of music composition. Founded in 2016 by composers Missy Mazzoli and Ellen Reid, Luna Composition Lab provides mentorship and resources for young female, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming composers. Luna Composition Lab is the only initiative of its kind in the United States. It has achieved national recognition as a program that not only celebrates underrepresented voices but also shapes music’s future by providing a support system for continued success. Luna Lab’s signature program—the Luna Lab Fellowship—offers six young composers one-on-one mentorship with acclaimed professional composers annually. Mentors guide fellows in the composition of a new piece of music that is premiered by a professional ensemble as part of a weeklong festival in New York City. In addition, Luna Lab offers a series of group composition courses—Adventures in Sound—that support young female, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming musicians who are interested in creating their own music. Alumni of the fellowship program have gone on to receive national awards, attend the nation’s top colleges and conservatories, and have been commissioned by renowned chamber ensembles and orchestras.
For more information visit lunacompositionlab.org.
About G. Schirmer
Part of Wise Music Group’s international network of publishing houses, G. Schirmer, Inc. is the oldest continuously active North American classical music publisher. Through its international network of publishing houses, including Chester Music, Edition Wilhelm Hansen, Alphonse Leduc, and Edition Peters, the Group represents works by many of the most important creators from the 20th and 21st centuries, including Mark Adamo, Samuel Barber, Daniel Catán, John Corigliano, Donnacha Dennehy, Ludovico Einaudi, Duke Ellington, Julius Eastman, Gabriela Lena Frank, Charles Ives, George Lewis, Gian Carlo Menotti, Missy Mazzoli, Nico Muhly, Sergei Prokofiev, Kaija Saariaho, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Dmitri Shostakovich, Sarah Kirkland Snider, Bright Sheng, Tan Dun, Joan Tower, and John Tavener, among many other noted composers.
For more information, please contact your local Wise Music Promotion Team; Contact Us.