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Mon 1 Jul, 2024
Debut Sounds 2024: Sound in Motion
In June 2024 our five LPO Young Composers debuted five thrilling new works for dance, all under the mentorship of the award-winning LPO Composer-in-Re...
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Young Composers
The LPO Young Composers programme aims to support the progression of talented orchestral composers.
Mentored by the LPO’s Composer-in-Residence, the Young Composers spend a season with the LPO, each creating a new work for chamber orchestra that is performed by Foyle Future First musicians and LPO players at the Debut Sounds public showcase concert at the Southbank Centre’s Queen Elizabeth Hall.
Creating a new work for the LPO
The LPO’s Composer-in-Residence (Tania León in 2024/25, Sir George Benjamin in 2025/26) provides expertise and guidance in a series of seminars , guiding the compositional process. Over the season, Young Composers create a new work of around eight minutes for a chamber orchestra of LPO players and Foyle Future Firsts (the Orchestra’s scheme for early-career orchestral players).
Structure of the year
As well as touchpoints with the Composer Mentor, there is a three-hour work-in-progress rehearsal in the spring – a chance for composers to experiment with new ideas, talk to players and receive feedback in a constructive and inquisitive environment. This is followed by further workshop-rehearsals leading to the final concert performance in the summer.
During the year, composers also have the chance to attend concerts, observe rehearsals, meet guest composers and get involved with the LPO’s wider education work.
What is the theme this year?
For the 2024/25 programme, the Young Composers created new works inspired by the theme of memory. We were delighted to collaborate with five poets from the Southbank Centre’s New Poets Collective, who wrote new poems on the same subject. The world premieres took place at our Debut Sounds concert on 2 July 2025 at the Queen Elizabeth Hall.
How do I apply?
Applications for the LPO Young Composers Programme 2026/27 will open in early 2026.
LPO Young Composers 2025/26
Meet the composers
Seyoung Oh is a South Korean composer and singer based in Glasgow, Scotland. She translates diverse experiences in her life into music – often through exploration of texture and timbre to create dramatic effects as a whole. She writes for various vocal, instrumental forces and electronic sounds for the concert hall, film and stage.
Seyoung has enjoyed composing for ensembles such as London Sinfonietta, Hebrides Ensemble, Scottish Ensemble, Soprano Stephanie Lamprea and University of Glasgow Chapel Choir. Her music was commissioned for the opening night concert of Nordic Music Days Festival 2024, Plug Festival and St Andrews Intersections concert.
She won the Craig Armstrong Prize in 2024 which allowed her to write the piece ‘Anatomy of Naturophilia’ and she was selected as a finalist for the Royal Over-Seas League Composition Award 2025.
Seyoung completed a Masters in composition at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland under the tutelage of Stuart MacRae and Rūta Vitkauskaitė.
Margot Pommellet (b.2001) is a French composer and flautist based between Paris and London, balancing her artistic path with an interest in cultural and public policy, shaped by her studies at Sciences Po Paris. She began composition in Nogent-sur-Marne with Mathieu Cepitelli and Sua Perrin, before continuing with André Serre-Milan at the Conservatoire of Reims.
She graduated in 2025 from the Royal College of Music, where she studied flute and composition as a scholar with Catherine Kontz and Mark-Anthony Turnage. Her work draws on other art forms – particularly painting – and diverse cultural references, approaching composition as a space for personal exploration. She aims to make contemporary music accessible while developing a personal voice that engages performers and audiences.
Recent projects include a sound installation at Kew Gardens for the Sounds of Blossom festival and a commission for the Anniversary tour of les Concerts de Poche. Her music has been performed across France and the UK notably by Augustin Dumay, Léa Hennino, Marc Coppey, Jonathan Fournel, and the Fidelio Trio.
Edward Mascall-Robson is a Japanese-British composer and performer, currently based and active between London and Tokyo.
He studied composition at the Royal Academy of Music with David Sawer, before completing a Master’s degree at the Conservatoire de Paris (CNSMDP) in the composition class of Gérard Pesson. At the Conservatoire, he also studied and practiced electroacoustic composition with Yan Maresz, Luis Naón, and Grégoire Lorieux.
Originally trained in traditional Japanese music, he studied the koto with Curtis Patterson and is a member of the Sawai Koto Institute. He has performed and collaborated internationally, has had his performances broadcast on national radio, contributed to CD recordings, and been sampled for software instruments. The instrument still remains a core part in his work – he has written numerous pieces involving the koto and other Japanese instruments.
Scottish composer George Stevenson has worked with musicians of the London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Russian National Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, Psappha Ensemble, Berkeley Ensemble and BCMG NEXT.
His orchestral piece ‘False Summit’ was performed by the LSO through the Panufnik Scheme. This led to another LSO commission entitled ‘Vanishing City’ which was premiered at the Barbican under Ryan Wigglesworth, with a further performance conducted by Gianandrea Noseda.
Most recently, George was featured on a new recording of works commissioned by Psappha in partnership with NMC. His music will also be included on a 2025 album of LSO commissions. Later this year, Clare Hammond and Britten Sinfonia will give the premiere of George’s piano concerto at Kings Place.
Michael Taplin is a composer based in London. He has worked with some of the UK’s leading ensembles including the London Symphony Orchestra (through the Panufnik Scheme) and the Philharmonia (as a recipient of the Royal Philharmonic Composers’ Prize). His music has also been performed in several prestigious international festivals including the Archipel Festival in Geneva, Switzerland, ISCM World Music Days’ in Vancouver, Canada and at the Gaudeamus Muziekweek. He is also the recipient of multiple prizes including the RPS Composers’ Prize and 1st Prize for his orchestral work, Selvedge, at the 2023 Toru Takemitsu Composition Award for young composers. His music has been broadcast on Swiss Radio Espace 2, BBC Radio 3 and NHK Japanese Radio.
Michael previously studied at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and the Royal College of Music, London. He is currently about to complete his PhD in composition at Cambridge University.
Watch previous Debut Sounds performances
Contact us
If you have any questions about our Young Composers programme please contact Lowri Thomas, Education & Community Project Manager on 020 7840 4203 or [email protected]
[email protected]
The LPO Young Composers programme 2025/26 is generously supported by the Jerwood Foundation and the Art Mentor Foundation Lucerne
LPO Young Composer Alumni
Joy Nkoyo
Niamh O’Donnell
Jorge Ramos
Zach Reading
Daniel Soley
Jasper Dommett
Eliana Echeverry
Zhenyan Li
Phoenix Rousiamanis
Crystalla Serghiou
Jakob Bragg
Philip Dutton
Zakiya Leeming
Matt London
Tayla-Leigh Payne
Conrad Asman
Alex Ho
Yunho Jeong
Rafael Marino Arcaro
Angela Elizabeth Slater
Robin Haigh
Sun Keting
Geoffrey King
Paweł Malinowski
Alexander Tay
Maciej Bałenkowski
Joshua Brown
Daniel Davis
Sylvia Lim
Aileen Sweeney
Clare Elton
Andrzej Karalow
Ashley John Long
Barnaby C Martin
Carlijn Metselaar
Lillie Harris
Laurence Osborn
Ailie Robertson
Neil Tòmas Smith
Karol Nepelski
Stef Conner
Nathan James Dearden
Yvonne Eccles
Alex Paxton
Hunter Coblenz
Michael Cryne
Lisa Illean
Katarzyna Krzewińska
Robert Peate
Jonathan Brigg
Sergio Cote
Peter Longworth
Paulina Załubska
Eugene Birman
Aleksandr Brusentsev
Arne Gieshoff
Edmund Hunt
Hannah Kendall
Daniel Kidane
Peter Yarde Martin
Stephen Willey
Mark David Boden
Laura Jayne Bowler
David Curington
Hollie Harding
Erick Flores
Blai Soler
Emily Wright
Mihyun Woo
Tristan Brookes
Isa Khan
Aaron Parker
Sasha Siem
Colin Alexander
George Lyle
Vlad Maistorovici
Oliver Weeks
Mica Levi
Jason Noghani
Steven Daverson
Gavin Higgins
Emma-Marie Lee
Caroline Rawlinson
Mark Simpson