Kai Kubota-Enright announced as grand prize winner of Graham Sommer Competition

Kai Kubota-Enright, a master’s student in the USC Thornton Composition program, is the grand prize winner of the third edition of the Graham Sommer Competition for Young Composers.  She was awarded $18,000 for her new work for chamber ensemble, ”spatial communication of dripstone.” The Concert and Prize Gala was held on  May 18, 2025, at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec.

Drawing from Western and Japanese influences, Kubota-Enright’s music explores the relationship between sound and spatial environments, as well as how these various elements interact with personal memories and subjectivities. She currently studies under Thornton Composition program faculty member Camae Ayewa (Moor Mother).

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Photo courtesy of McGill University.