After reviewing 450 submissions from all over the world, the PRISMS committee is excited to announce that Arnau Brich’s Supra Temps Amalgamat, for autotune soprano, ensemble, and electronics, was selected as the winner of the 2026 call for scores.
The committee also selected ten honorable mentions, whose works will be presented at this year’s festival:
- Maria Vittoria Agresti, BK, for three percussionists
- Amy Brandon, Threads, for string quartet
- Josiah Tayag Catalan, Rift, for saxophone quartet
- Vera Ivanova, Panic, Melancholy, for fixed audio
- Jia Yi Lee, Impetus, for brass quintet
- Matthew Huang Mailman, do not derail the train of thought, for saxophone quartet
- Robert McClure, Flora, for alto and tenor saxophones
- Marco Molteni, Lacquer, Jelly & Gum (Achilles' first dream of Glory) (ePWsM 09), for fixed audio
- Jordan Nobles, 50 Crows, for mixed chamber ensemble
- Ben Zucker, Massumi Distributions (for 5)
photo credit: Marta Brichs
Arnau Brichs is a composer and electronic musicain from Barcelona, Catalonia. His music explores a wide range of expression, from intimate piano and synthesizer pieces to the vast forces of symphonic orchestras. His classically inspired compositions blend acoustic instruments with experimental electronics, both digital and analogue. He studied at the Royal Academy of Music (London) as a full ABRSM scholar with Rubens Askenar and Helen Grime, graduating with a first-class honors. He has been recognized internationally with the orchestral prize "ÉLAN 2024" in Paris – where he unanimously won the jury, orchestra and audience prizes, the “2027 Roche Young Commissions” (Lucerne Festival, Switzerland) or the "Eric Coates Prize" (UK). He has been Composer in Residency at the IRCAM during the 2024-25 academic year, where he recently premiered “Jeux Invisibles”, a concerto for full orchestra and electronics. His music has been championed and commissioned by the likes of the Orchestre national d’Île-de-France (Paris), Ensemble Recherche (Germany), Uusinta Ensemble (Finland), Locrian Chamber Players and Bent Frequency (USA), Vertixe Sonora (Spain), Gran Teatre del Liceu Opera House (Barcelona) and the Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra (Switzerland).
2026 CALL FOR SCORES:
ASU’s PRISMS Festival seeks pieces relating to our 2026 theme of Compress/Release. One selected composer will receive a prize of $650, and their piece will be performed on February 28 or March 1, 2026, in Tempe, AZ. The concert will also be video-recorded and live-streamed on YouTube.
Pieces must be 15 minutes or less. Instrumentation may be any of the following (or subsets of the ensembles):
- String quartet (plus electronics if desired)
- Saxophone quartet (plus electronics if desired)
- Saxophone duo (plus electronics if desired)
- Brass quintet (plus electronics if desired)
- Percussion ensemble (plus electronics if desired)
- Open instrumentation (plus electronics if desired)
- Fixed-media works (audio and/or video)
Electronics can use up to four channels of audio, and may include video.
Composers must have the rights to use all materials in their pieces, including text, visuals, etc. Submitted pieces may not be under an exclusive performance contract with any performer or ensemble.
The selected composer is required to attend the festival; PRISMS can offer lodging and local transportation. The winner will give a talk and may participate in a roundtable during the festival.
Selection will be made by the PRISMS Committee. This competition has no entry fee, no age or geographic limit, and no restriction on whether pieces have been performed, published, or awarded in the past. Composers are free to submit one piece per category.
If you have any questions, please email prisms@asu.edu
Deadline for application: December 1, 2025.
Winners will be announced in January 2026.
Please click here to apply.
See our past winners from 2024 and 2023.