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Chiayu was born in Banciao, Taiwan. She was the winner the Sorel Organization’s 2nd International Composition Competition, the 7th USA International Harp Composition Competition, ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer’s Awards, the Maxfield Parrish Composition Contest, and the Renée B. Fisher Foundation Composer Awards, among others. Her works have been performed by the Detroit Symphony, San Francisco Symphony, Toledo Symphony, American Composers Orchestra, Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, Aspen Music Festival Contemporary Ensemble, Eighth Blackbird, and Prism Quartet. A graduate of the Yale University School of Music and the Curtis Institute of Music, Chiayu is currently a PhD candidate at Duke University.
Visit Chiayu online at chiayuhsu.com.
The Winning Work
Chiayu's composition, Among Gardens, is a beautiful, impressionistic single movement work. The composer herself says of the music:
"Among Gardens" was inspired by the various scenes at Duke Gardens in Durham, North Carolina, as experienced at different times of day. The Duke Gardens are divided into three sections, each a different kind of garden: the Terraces, the Blomquist Garden of Native Plants, and the Culberson Asiatic Arboretum. Besides the beautiful flowers, landscaped plants, and ponds in the gardens, I have also tried to depict in my music people strolling or talking, birds singing, and small wild creatures, which inhabit the scene. During a nice summer day, the Duke Gardens is a real carnival!