Winner of the inaugural Léon Goossens Prize announced
We are pleased to announce that Piyawat Louilarpprasert is the winner of the inaugural Léon Goossens Prize for emerging composers. Piyawat’s piece for solo oboe Black Soaring Birds was selected by the judges, Nicholas Daniel and Cheryl Frances-Hoad. Piyawat will receive £500 prize money as well as having his winning composition published by Composers Edition. Black Soaring Birds will be premiered by James Turnbull on 16th April 2016 as part of a day long celebration of oboe repertoire at the Colyer-Fergusson Hall, University of Kent (more information here: http://www.oboeshop.co.uk/oboe-in-concert.html). Piyawat’s composition will also be recorded and released for Oboe Classics.
Piyawat Louilarpprasert is current studying for his Masters in composition with Dai Fujikura and electronic music with Gilbert Nuono at the Royal College of Music with The Charles Stewart Richardson Scholar Award.
The judges also decided to award a special commendation to Tom Floyd for his composition for oboe and piano entitled Strange Stars. Tom’s composition will also be published by Composers Edition.
The Léon Goossens Prize was founded in 2015 by oboist James Turnbull to encourage emerging composers to write for the oboe. It is part of a larger project to promote existing oboe repertoire and encourage new compositions to be added to the repertoire. For more information please visit www.newoboemusic.org
About Piyawat Louilarpprasert
Piyawat Louilarpprasert is a new generation Thai composer who is interested in exploring the behaviour of the 
sonorities to create the composition, which is also observing the characteristics and personalities of noises to manifest the sound world within musical structure. Moreover, he composes both collaborative acoustic and electro-acoustic works. He has been searching for the originality of sound and exploring the individual characteristics of his collaborators (both musicians and non-musician) to bring music closer to people.
Louilarpprasert’s music has been accepted and performed in more than 15 countries in Asia, Europe as well as the United States of America. He has participated in festivals such as, 47th Darmstadt New Music Festival (Germany), World Saxophone Congress (France), Saxfest (Vienna), VIII Mallorca Festival (Spain), Mozart of Tomorrow (Newcastle), London National Portrait Gallery (UK), Thailand International Composition Festival (Thailand), Dian Red Kechil Composers Residency (Singapore), Asian Composer League (Japan), Work in Progress (Korea) and University of Kansas City Composition Workshop (United States). The ensembles and orchestras that performed his compositions, for instance, Ensemble Trio Surplus, Ensemble Mozaik, ASEAN Contemporary Ensemble (ACME), University Cincinnati Chamber Players, newEar, Tacet(i) ensemble, University of Philippines Symphonic Band, Mahidol Wind Orchestra, Thailand Philharmonic Orchestra, Princess Galyani Vadthana Youth Orchestra, Stockport Youth Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia, RCM Wind Orchestra and many more.
He has received composition awards such as, Léon Goossens Prize, 1st prize Princess Galyani Vadthana Youth Orchestra Call for Score, 1st Prize Asia-Pacific Saxophone Composition Award, 1st prize Mahidol University Composition Award, 1st Prize SEADOM Composition Award, Awarded 2013 Young Composers in Southeast Asia Competition and Grand Prize for Young Thai Artists Awards 2013. Recently, his orchestral work, On the Juxtaposed Circles, the Universe Dissolves has been selected for Stockport Youth Orchestra’s 60th Anniversary and Workshop and it would be performed in July 2016.
He has graduated his Bachelor’s degree in composition and conducting from College of Music, Mahidol University with Valeriy Rizayev and Pamornpan Komolpamorn. Presently, Piyawat is studying Master in composition with Dai Fujikura, and electronic music with Gilbert Nuono at Royal College of Music, London with The Charles Stewart Richardson Scholar Award.
