Concert Artists Guild Announces Signing of Composer and ACO EarShot Alum Oswald Huỳnh
Photo credit: O’Neil Arnold
In celebration of 75 years, CAG is thrilled to announce the organization's first-ever composer signing: Oswald Huỳnh, identified through CAG’s new artist selection process and in collaboration with American Composers Orchestra.
New York, NY (October 14, 2025) – The Concert Artists Guild announced the organization’s first-ever composer signing. In celebration of 75 years, CAG collaborated with American Composers Orchestra to select an emerging composer whose voice is revolutionizing the orchestral sound world. Through a new artist selection process, CAG identified Oswald Huỳnh as their first signed composer.
“We are absolutely thrilled to honor Concert Artists Guild's 75-year legacy of supporting emerging artists by opening a new chapter and welcoming composers to our roster,” says Tim Mar, Chief Operating Officer for CAG. “Oswald has astounded us with his intensely captivating and brilliantly imaginative sound worlds, and we are delighted to support an artist who will clearly be an important voice in classical music for many years to come. We are so grateful to Melissa Ngan, Curtis Stewart, and the ACO team for helping us identify Oswald as CAG's first-ever composer, and we look forward to what lies ahead for all of us!”
An alum of ACO’s national EarShot composer advancement initiatives, Huỳnh was selected for the 2023 EarShot Readings in New York, for his work Gia Đình. In conjunction with his signing to the CAG roster, Oswald also joins the roster of EarShot Publishing, a partnership between the American Composers Orchestra and international leader in classical music publishing, Boosey & Hawkes. EarShot Publishing administers works on behalf of composers worldwide, advancing performances among orchestras across the US and internationally.
“I am deeply honored to be joining the Concert Artists Guild's roster as their first-ever composer, especially as they celebrate 75 years of championing musicians,” says Huỳnh. “CAG's artists, past and present, are engaged in such inspiring work and I am excited to contribute to that legacy. I am beyond grateful to CAG and the American Composers Orchestra for this incredible opportunity and their belief in my music.”
“Supporting composers is an essential part of CAG’s mission as we celebrate our 75th anniversary,” says CAG’s President, Tanya Bannister. “We are thrilled to welcome Oswald into the CAG family and to collaborate with the American Composers Orchestra in nurturing his distinctive and evocative musical voice. Together, we look forward to supporting Oswald’s growth and helping his work reach and inspire new audiences.”
Hailed by the Chicago Tribune as “a gifted writer for orchestra,” Oswald Huỳnh is a Vietnamese-American composer whose music navigates aesthetics and tradition, language and translation, and the relationship between heritage and identity. Huỳnh’s work is characterized by intricate contrasts of timbre and interweaving textures that are rooted in narrative, culture, and memory. His music has been described as “captivating and deeply imaginative” (Teddy Abrams), “planetary music” (The St. Louis American), and “oftentimes escaping the standards of orchestration” (Luigi Nono International Composition Prize).
“We are so excited to work with Oswald in this new way,” says ACO’s Artistic Director, Curtis Stewart. “As a participant in our EarShot Readings and Publishing programs, he has had finely crafted and culturally visionary works played all across the country by major orchestras. I can't wait to see what happens with this high powered team at CAG behind him.”
About Oswald Huỳnh
Laureate of the 2025 Frederic A Juilliard | Walter Damrosch Rome Prize in Musical Composition, Huỳnh served as Composer-in-Residence with the Louisville Orchestra (2024/25) and Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra (2023–2025). With performances across North America, Europe, and Asia, he has collaborated with artists and ensembles such as the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Oregon Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, Alarm Will Sound, North Carolina Symphony, American Composers Orchestra, Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, Chicago Composers Orchestra, Pacific Chamber Orchestra, Akropolis Reed Quintet, Music From Copland House, Tacet(i) Ensemble, Trio Sheliak, Quatuor Bozzini, Del Sol String Quartet, [Switch~ Ensemble], Fear No Music, IU New Music Ensemble, Nefelibata New Music Collective, deaf rabbit duo, Li-Chin Li, Megan Ihnen, Payton MacDonald, Yoshiaki Onishi, Leo Schlaifer, and more. He is the winner of the Luigi Nono International Composition Prize, New England Philharmonic Call for Scores Competition, Musiqa Emerging Composer Commission, IPO Classical Evolve Composer Competition, Black Bayou Composition Award, and has received recognition from the New York Youth Symphony, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Society of Composers, and ASCAP.
Huỳnh holds a Bachelor of Arts from Lewis & Clark College and a Master of Music from the University of Missouri. His principal teachers include Texu Kim, Gabriela Lena Frank, Carolina Heredia, Stefan Freund, and Michael Johanson.
About Concert Artists Guild
Concert Artists Guild empowers musicians and launches careers that are sustainable, unique, and relevant. Through performances and mentorship opportunities, we identify and develop young artists who will make an impact in the world through music. CAG enables artists to manifest a new definition of a professional musician: resilient citizen performers who engage with, respond to, and impact the world around them through music and service, galvanizing the fabric of society through the power of culture.
Since 1951, CAG has helped more than 550 young musicians launch careers. CAG Artists receive comprehensive management support, New York performances, concert bookings and professional career development and coaching.
Notable CAG alumni artists include GRAMMY-winning artists such as Imani Winds, Jennifer Koh, Joseph Lin (Juilliard Quartet), Eugene Drucker (Emerson Quartet); ensembles Pacifica Quartet, Los Angeles Guitar Quartet, and Eighth Blackbird; MacArthur fellow Claire Chase; pianists Barry Douglas and Michael Brown; clarinetists David Shifrin and David Krakauer; flutist Marina Piccinini; violinist Geneva Lewis; and groundbreaking ensembles such as the Brasil Guitar Duo, PUBLIQuartet, and Aizuri Quartet. Visit concertartists.org to learn more.
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American Composers Orchestra is grateful to the many organizations that make its programs possible including Arthur F. & Alice E. Adams Charitable Fund, Altman Foundation, Amphion Foundation, Benevity, Aaron Copland Fund for Music, BMI Foundation, BMI, Inc., Charity Navigator's Giving Basket, Cheswatyr Foundation, Edward T. Cone Foundation, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University, Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Ford Foundation’s Good Neighbor Committee, Give Lively, Francis B. Goelet Charitable Trust, Fromm Music Foundation, Steven R. Gerber Trust, G. Schirmer/Wise Music Foundation, The Hearst Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, The Adele and John Gray Endowment Fund, Jephson Educational Trusts, Jerome Foundation, MacMillan Family Foundation, Mellon Foundation, New Music USA’s Organization Fund, The New York Community Trust (Musical Arts Fund, Clara Lewisohn Rossin Trust, and Edward and Sally Van Lier Fund), Pacific Harmony Foundation, Paypal Giving Fund, Rexford Fund, Sphinx Venture Fund, TD Charitable Foundation, Turrell Fund, UKOGF Foundation, Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.
Corporate gifts to match employee contributions are made by Goldman Sachs, Deutsche Bank, Triton Container International Incorporated of North America, and Neiman Marcus.
Public funds are provided by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, Office of Brooklyn Borough President Reynoso, and the National Endowment for the Arts.
