Who’s Who?

The Young Composers Challenge is the brainchild of Stephen Goldman, an Orlando philanthropist who is also a trained composer. With assistance from the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra and other local composers, Mr. Goldman was able to realize his vision in 2004 when the first annual Young Composers Challenge was held.

The Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra is Central Florida's resident orchestra, appearing in more than 115 performances each season. As a fully professional ensemble, the Orlando Philharmonic engages the talents of more than 80 professional musicians from around the globe. As an educational resource, the Orlando Philharmonic annually performs 32 Young People's Concerts for over 60,000 Orange, Seminole, and Volusia County public and private schools and home school students at the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre.

Christopher Wilkins: On September 19, 2005, the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra's Board of Directors announced the appointment of Christopher Wilkins as Music Director. For ten seasons, Mr. Wilkins was Music Director of the San Antonio Symphony, and since 2001 has served that orchestra as Music Director Emeritus. He was Music Director of the Colorado Springs Symphony from 1989-1996, and is currently Artistic Advisor to the Opera Theatre of the Rockies in Colorado Springs. He served recently as resident conductor of the Youth Orchestra of the Americas, helping in the formation of that orchestra in its inaugural season, and subsequently leading it on tours throughout the Americas.

Challenge Judges

Dan Crozier - Rollins College: Dan Crozier's compositions have been performed in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Boston, Toronto, Syracuse, at Washington's Kennedy Center, the Aspen Music Festival, the Oregon Bach Festival Composers' Symposium, and by the Bach Festival Society of Winter Park, and have been recorded by MARK Records as well as for broadcast by the Belgian Radio and Television Network. He has received ASCAP Special Awards awards annually since 1996, an ASCAP Foundation Young Composer's Grant, and first prize in the National Opera Association Chamber Opera Competition. Daniel Crozier has worked with Eliot Newsome, Jean Eichelberger Ivey, and John Harbison. He holds the Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Peabody Conservatory of the Johns Hopkins University and has served on the faculty at the Peabody Preparatory, Radford University, and is currently Assistant Professor of Theory and Composition at Rollins College.

Keith Lay - Full Sail University: By the end of High School, Keith Lay had written works for symphonic band, piano, chorus and jazz orchestra. By 29, he earned a Master of Music Composition. Presently, he is a Course Director of the Music History department at Full Sail. Recorded works include "Earth Caoine" with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, released last year on Richard Stoltzman's "Reflections" CD. In 2002, his work "On the Playground" for Violin and String Orchestra won the 6th Riverside International Composer's Competition and was given a performance in NY, Washington DC and at Lincoln Center by the Riverside Symphony in 2004. Lay is the recipient of a Florida Artist Fellowship, two United Arts of Central Florida Professional Development Grants, a grant from the Margaret Fairbanks Jory Copy Assistance Program.

Christopher Marshall - University of Central Florida: Christopher Marshall is an Adjunct Professor of Composition and Composer-in-Residence at the University of Central Florida. Marshall is a New Zealander, born in France and educated in Australia who worked several years in Samoa. He was twice appointed to a two year term of the Mozart Fellowship in Otago, NZ (1994-1995) and was Fulbright Composer-in-Residence at the Eastman School, NY (1996-1997). His works, commissioned by such groups as the Verdehr Trio, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, the choirs of Stanford and Yale, and the Guildhall Symphonic Wind Ensemble have been performed in such venues as Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, and the Barbican in London. His music is published by Alliance Music, EC Schirmer, C Alan Publications, Subito and Maecenas, and self-published under the name Vaia'ata Print. Recordings of his music on several respected American labels have met with critical success.

Stephen Goldman studied music composition at Interlachen Institute for the Arts, and in 1974 received a BS in Physics from the University of Florida. Mr. Goldman has composed many pieces in both popular and classical styles. In 1997 he received the Composers Guild’s 1st place award for orchestral composition for Quicksilver’s Salvitude. Mr. Goldman's compositions have been performed by the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, the Güyr Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Hungarian Symphony Orchestra. Goldman was CEO and founder of Distributed Processing Technology, a developer and manufacturer of intelligent storage controllers for the computer industry. In 2000, Mr. Goldman retired from DPT to pursue philanthropic interests. He currently serves on the boards of the Orlando Museum of Art, the Orlando Science Center, and the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra. Mr. Goldman also serves on the Dean's Advisory Councils for the University of Central Florida College of Arts and Humanities and the College of Sciences. Mr. Goldman is a Trustee of United Arts of Central Florida.