Three emerging artists who could not be more different have won the third ricordilab international composers’ competition: Hannah Kendall, Alex Paxton and Diana Syrse. Ricordi Berlin will publish selected works by these composers and support them for three years in the further development of their careers.

These three exceptional musical voices from different cultural backgrounds and with courageous, extraordinary sound worlds inspire audiences and professionals alike. We are very excited about this collaboration!

Associated Partners

ricordilab owes a debt of gratitude to its network of associated partners that have agreed to feature the laureates during their tenure:

Bamberg Symphony, Musikkollegium Winterthur, Orchestre National d'Auvergne, Ensemble Mosaik, Riot Ensemble, Beethovenfest Bonn, Campus Grafenegg, Oper Frankfurt, Fondazione Haydn di Bolzano e Trento

Advisory Board

Ricordi Berlin was consulted by an advisory board of internationally renowned experts:

Heribert Germeshausen Intendant, Oper Dortmund; Paul Hughes Former Director, BBC Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, BBC Singers; Mark Sattler Dramaturg, Lucerne Festival; Julia Wolfe composer

The laureates

Hannah Kendall

Hannah Kendall, born in London in 1984, is based in New York City as a Doctoral Fellow in composition at Columbia University with Georg Friedrich Haas and George E. Lewis. She majored in vocal studies and composition at the University of Exeter and gained a master's at the Royal College of Music. Kendall is the recipient of the 2022 Hindemith Prize for music composition.
Known for her attentive arrangements and immersive world-building, Hannah Kendall's music looks beyond the boundaries of composition: "Conjuring evocative imagery within dramatic constructs form the main components of my compositional style. I sometimes draw on aspects of my African-Caribbean-European heritage; finding ways to garner a deeper understanding of how musical engagement through cultural discovery might influence my music's aesthetics." Her upcoming world premieres include shouting forever into the receiver for Ensemble Modern at Donaueschinger Musiktage 2022, ...I may turn to salt for the New Century Chamber Orchestra in California, May 2023, and a London Symphony Orchestra commission for autumn 2023.

Alex Paxton

Alex Paxton, born in Manchester in 1990, is a composer and improvising-trombonist. He studied jazz and composition in London at the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music. Awards include an Ivor Novello Composer Award and the Royal Philharmonic Society Composition Prize. His music has been released on labels including Listenpony and Everest Records, and, most recently, “Music for Bosch People” on Birmingham Record Company/NMC Recordings. Alex describes his music “like minimal but loads more notes like video-games but with more song like jazz but much more gay like old music but more current like yummy sweet but more stick like paint but more scratch like tapestry but filthily like prayer but more loud like loud groove and more rude like fingers and faces too but somehow more smelly like smelly things cooking with more chew and change like louder prayers that groove with like stinking-hot-pink in poo-brown but even more desperate-like than that like drums and Dream Musics …”
Upcoming projects include new commissions for Explore Ensemble, London Sinfonietta, Riot Ensemble, and two portrait albums: “ilolli-pop” on nonclassical in October 2022 and “Happy Music for Orchestra” on Delphian in 2023.

Diana Syrse

Diana Syrse, born in Mexico City in 1984, is a composer and a vocal artist. After studying voice and composition at Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, she completed a Master as composer-performer at the California Institute of the Arts, followed by a master at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München. Currently, she is finishing her PhD at the University of Birmingham. Among others, Syrse has won the Music Prize of the City of Munich and the Counterpoint of Tolerance Project of Los Angeles. She was also selected for residencies at the Banff Centre in Canada, at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris, and at the Deutsches Zentrum in Venice. Diana Syrse’s sonic language often incorporates voice, electronics and traditional instruments from Latin America to evoke powerful, theatrical images. In her urban soundscape, she deals with socially relevant issues and makes an artistic contribution to the discourses of our time. Diana’s upcoming projects include a commission by Los Angeles Master Chorale, a new work for the Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería, a new duo for the Sommets Musicaux de Gstaad, and a portrait concert with herself as a soloist in Mexico City with the Orquesta Escuela Carlos Chávez.

Media partner

ricordilab is supported by the media and streaming partner IDAGIO, the world’s leading streaming service for classical music.