Congratulations to Robinson PhD student Jingyu Chen who was awarded first prize in the Toru Takemitsu Composition Award 2024 with her composition Nebula.

The Tokyo Opera City Cultural Foundation judges commented: 
“This piece is very beautifully scored ... It’s a very interesting skill to almost be sentimental but not quite. And that’s a really hard thing to do, and she does it really well. There was something very touching, and actually quite moving about some of the chords. I loved harmony … and I think the last section is very special, the final bars are beautifully paced”.

Jingyu was honoured to win the competition:
"Thank you so much Tokyo Opera City Cultural Foundation. I really want to say how much this means to me. I think, as every musician in this concert hall knows, this is so much more than a competition. It is a symbol of all of the hard work, the passion, the frustrated and the helplessness, but also the beauty that goes for everything in music.
I was often inspired by Mist, Dawn, Leaves, Dust... and through all of this nature, that’s why the saying from Toru Takemitsu is so meaningful to me: “Composition gives proper meaning to the natural streams of sound that penetrate the world.”
As one of the world’s top composition competitions, the Toru Takemitsu Composition Award brings composers and those lovers of contemporary music from all over the world together, and in particular allows young composers such as us to have this kind of opportunity to perform with professional conductor, Mr. Sugiyama, and the professional Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra. This is exactly what young composers need.
It's such an honour to be here! Thank you".

Congratulations from Robinson College, Jingyu.