Luna Composition Lab Releases New Short Film, Hannah Wolkowitz: An Ocean Escapade

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Luna Composition Lab Releases New Short Film,
Hannah Wolkowitz: An Ocean Escapade 

In Celebration of LunaLab@10, Film Follows 2023-24 Luna Lab Fellow Hannah Wolkowitz as she Embarks on a Journey to Compose for the Kronos Quartet. 

Featuring Appearances from Luna Lab founders Missy Mazzoli and Ellen Reid
and Top Composers Angélica Negrón and Dr. Dawn Norfleet 

Watch the Film 

“Initiatives like Luna Composition Lab… are changing the playing field.” – The New Yorker

Luna Composition Lab EPK

www.lunacompositionlab.org

 

New York, NY (February 12, 2026) –  In honor of Luna Lab@10, a multi-year celebration marking the organization’s tenth anniversary, Luna Composition Lab has released a new short film, Hannah Wolkowitz: An Ocean Escapade.

Featuring appearances from Luna Lab founders Missy Mazzoli and Ellen Reid and top composers Angélica Negrón and Dr. Dawn Norfleet,  the film explains the mission behind the organization and follows 2023-24 Luna Lab fellow Hannah Wolkowitz as she embarks on a journey to compose An Ocean Escapade for Kronos Quartet. 

In the film, Mazzoli shares, “I was the only female undergrad at Boston University studying composition… We still see this persistent lack of female and non-binary representation. Where does the system break down for women? What are we doing to change this? Young women and non-binary people just weren't applying to school to be a composer, so they couldn't see themselves doing this for a job.”

Angélica Negrón adds, “When you're composing, it's a very vulnerable position. You're making something out of nothing, and to be doing that from a space that you're not represented, it's really hard. [Luna Lab] is not only about representation in the program and in the concert halls, but it's also shaping the way young women and non-binary composers can have a sustainable career.” 

David Harrington, founding violinist of Kronos Quartet, says, “We're looking for wondrous, exciting music to play, for people who want to be supercharged by what music can bring. When I first saw Hannah's score, I thought, How are we gonna be able to do this?”

Watch the film now to follow Hannah on her journey from composition to the 2024 Luna Lab Festival to the world premiere.  WATCH NOW!

Founded in 2016 by composers Mazzoli and Reid, Luna Composition Lab began as a bold and necessary intervention: a commitment to support young composers who are female, nonbinary, or gender-nonconforming from the very beginning of their artistic lives – not as exceptions, but as the future of the field. Across the 2025-26 and 2026-27 seasons, Luna Lab@10 will feature nearly 75 world premieres by 50 Luna Lab alumni, commissioned and performed by leading ensembles and presenters across the United States and abroad, including the Kronos Quartet, Imani Winds, International Contemporary Ensemble, Sandbox Percussion, The Metropolitan Opera, LA Opera, Louisville Orchestra, Music Academy of the West, Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, New York Festival of Song, Norway’s Arctic Chamber Music Festival, and many more to be announced.

As Luna Composition Lab embarks upon its tenth season, it continues to see the tangible, long-term results of this important work. Alumni of the fellowship program have gone on to receive national awards, attend the nation’s top colleges and conservatories, and earn commissions from renowned chamber ensembles and orchestras. 75% of the program’s alumni in college are studying composition, and 100% are involved in music. Mentor composers have included luminaries such as Valerie Coleman, Reena Esmail, Laura Karpman, Jessie Montgomery, Gabriela Ortiz, and Jeanine Tesori.

The first commission performed to launch Luna Lab@10 was Hannah Wolkowitz’s Breaking Boundaries, which received its world premiere by the La Jolla Symphony & Chorus on January 31 and February 1. 

Hannah writes, “Breaking Boundaries began with a simple inspiration: the jelly beans in my grandparents’ candy cabinet. Every time we visited, we made a beeline for those colorful candies, eager to taste each flavor (well, except for the buttered popcorn and black licorice). I decided to bring that memory to life by using real jelly beans in mason jars as percussion instruments - ‘jelly bean shakers.’ Over time, the idea of jelly beans took on a deeper meaning, symbolizing childhood itself: bright and full of joy. From there, the piece grew into a reflection of my own journey from childhood to adulthood, and exploring how those two worlds clash, blend, and ultimately coexist.”

Hannah Wolkowitz (age 19) is a composer and saxophonist from Chesterfield, Missouri. She is a first-year student at the University of Michigan, where she is pursuing a double major in saxophone performance and music composition, with a minor in performing arts management and entrepreneurship. Highlights as a saxophonist include performing her music at the MTNA National Conference and U.S. Navy Band International Saxophone Symposium, and performing as a soloist with various orchestras in the St.Louis area.

In addition to her 2024 composition, An Ocean Escapade, for Kronos Quartet, Hannah was selected as the grand prize winner for the Hierax Call for Scores with her piece, Freylekh Soul (July 2025), wrote Unleashed for the Bergamot Quartet as a part of the Wildflower Composers Festival (July 2025), and was a winner of the Ballora-Wang Young Composer Award for An Ocean Escapade (May 2025). She was selected as the Senior Composition Winner for the state of Missouri in the Music Teachers National Association (MTNA) competition with her composition Euphoria (Oct 2024), which was also selected for programming at the 2025 International Music by Women Festival and the 1st Biennial Heidelberg New Music Festival and Symposium in March 2026. Hannah was selected as an NPR From the Top Fellow (August 2024) and the winner of the 2024 International Young Composers Competition at the Community Music School of Webster University. In 2023, she won the top prize in the COMP competition with Strawberry Shortcake. In 2022 and 2023, Hannah composed two prize-winning pieces at Indiana University’s Jacobs Composition Academy.

About Luna Composition Lab
Founded in 2016 by acclaimed composers Missy Mazzoli and Ellen Reid, Luna Composition Lab provides mentorship, education, and resources for young female, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming composers ages 13 to 18. Luna Composition Lab is the only initiative of its kind in the United States and has achieved international recognition as a program that not only celebrates underrepresented voices but also shapes music’s future by providing a support system for continued success.

Luna Composition Lab’s signature program – the Luna Lab Fellowship – offers six young composers one-on-one mentorship with acclaimed professional composers annually. Mentors guide fellows in the composition of a new piece of music that is premiered by a professional ensemble as part of a weeklong festival in New York City. This festival includes professional development activities, masterclasses with inspirational figures, networking events, and more.

In addition, Luna Lab offers a series of experiential group composition courses – Adventures in Sound – that support female, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming musicians who are interested in creating their own music. This class is geared toward those who are just beginning their compositional journeys and may not be quite ready for a fellowship because of limited access to music education and associated resources. Adventures in Sound utilizes its own curriculum and composition workbook that foregrounds examples by female and nonbinary composers. From notation and music theory to applied and hands-on compositional practices, students come away with a renewed sense of the possibilities for what composition can be.

Each year, Luna Lab also presents a series of free, public, online Luna Lab Masterclasses with a wide range of celebrated artists and ensembles to provide access to programs for music students and viewers around the globe and showcase works in progress by Luna Lab fellows. 

All composers who have completed one of Luna Lab’s programs enter an active alumni community through which they continue to access organizational resources and provide support to one another throughout their careers. This provides a lasting avenue for female, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming individuals, still very much in the minority in the classical music industry, to connect, seek solutions for the unique challenges they face, and grow together.

This season, Luna Lab continues its signature programs and celebrates the announcement of Luna Lab@10 – a celebration that will take place over the course of the 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 seasons to honor the longevity and impact of both Luna Lab and the annual Luna Lab Festival, which launched in 2017. Luna Lab@10 will feature performances of newly commissioned works by 50 of the organization’s alumni by prominent artists and ensemble partners around the world, including the Kronos Quartet, Imani Winds, Louisville Orchestra, Cabrillo Festival, Arctic Chamber Music Festival, and more. Additionally, the multi-year celebration will include professional development sessions, community connection opportunities, and celebratory high-profile performance opportunities at the 2026 and 2027 Festivals.

Learn more at www.lunacompositionlab.org.

For more about Luna Composition Lab, view the EPK here.

LUNA LAB@10 Calendar of Events

2025-2026 SEASON

February 20, 2026: Arctic Chamber Music Festival [Live and Streamed Online] (Svalbard, Norway)
Performance of work by Maya Miro Johnson (17-18) 

March 8, 2026: loadbang (New York, NY)
World premiere by Carolina Bragg (17-18) at The Crypt at the Church of the Intercession 

March 22, 2026: River & Rail Theatre (Knoxville, TN)
World premieres by Madeline Clara Cheng (19-20), Yuri Lee (18-19), and Sage Shurman (19-20) 

May 2, 2026: Hypercube/Ensemble Ipse (New York, NY)
World premieres by Abby Harris (18-19) and Aliya Salmanova (17-18) at The DiMenna Center 

May 17, 2026: Madison Youth Choirs [Live and Streamed Online] (Madison, WI)
Performance of work by Violet Barnum (16-17) 

June 1, 2026: New York Festival of Song (New York, NY)
World premieres by Alicia Erlandson (21-22), Elisa Kain Johnson (21-22), and Devon Lee (21-22) 

June 4, 2026: International Contemporary Ensemble (New York, NY)
World premieres by 2025-26 Fellows at Carnegie Hall 

July 10, 2026: Music Academy of the West (Santa Barbara, CA)
World premiere by Mia Turakhia (24-25) 

July 18, 2026: Greenwood Music Camp [Live and Streamed Online] (Cummington, MA)
World premiere by Hannah Chen (22-23) at the New Barn and streamed online 

July 28, 2026: Cabrillo Festival (Santa Cruz, CA)
World premiere by Zoe Verduin (24-25) 

2026-2027 SEASON

September TBC: Present Music (Milwaukee, WI)
World premieres by Zola Saadi-Klein (20-21), and Olivia Bennett (19-20) 

October 8, 2026: Salon de Virtuosi (New York, NY)
World premiere by Elaina Stuppler (22-23) 

October TBC: ~Nois Quartet (Chicago, IL)
World premiere by Peyton Nelesen (23-24) 

January TBC: Ensemble for These Times (San Francisco, CA)
World premieres by Ilaria Hawley (23-24), Peyton Nelesen (23-24), and Ebunoluwa Oguntola (19-20) 

January 16, 2027: Young People’s Chorus of New York City (New York, NY)
World premieres by Moon Cove (16-17) and Zola Saadi-Klein (20-21) 

February 26-27, 2027: Louisville Orchestra (Louisville, KY)
World premiere by KiMani Bridges (19-20) 

February TBC: Arctic Chamber Music Festival (Svalbard, Norway)
World premieres by Lucy Chen (22-23) and Alisha Heng (20-21) 

May TBC: ~Nois Quartet (Chicago, IL)
World premiere by Olivia Bennett (19-20) 

June 11, 2027: Denver Chamber Music Festival (Denver, CO)
World premiere by  Andromeda Wen 

June TBC: Commissions from The Sarah Gibson Foundation, Presented by Luna Lab (New York, NY)
World premieres by composers to be confirmed 

June TBC: Nief Norf (Knoxville, TN)
World premiere by 5 composers to be confirmed 

July TBC: Sandbox Percussion (New York, NY)
World premiere by composer to be confirmed 

Dates To Be Announced

Chatter (Albuquerque, NM) | World premiere by Faith Wesley (25-26)

Cincinnati May Festival (Cincinnati, OH) | World premieres by Moon Cove (16-17), Christabelle Kirkham (25-26), and Azalea Twining (20-21)

Decoda (New York, NY)

Ensemble New SRQ (Sarasota, FL) | World premieres by Chloe Kirk (25-26) and Andromeda Wen (25-26)

ensemble oktopus (University of Music & Theatre, Munich, Germany) | World premiere by Marvel Jem Roth (23-24)

Imani Winds (New York, NY) | World premiere by Andromeda Smith (22-23)

Kronos Quartet / Kronos Performing Arts Association (San Francisco, CA) | World premieres by KiMani Bridges (19-20), Madeline Clara Cheng (19-20), Maya Miro Johnson (17-18), and Lili M. Namazi (22-23)

LA Opera (Los Angeles, CA)

New Music Concerts, MAKEWAY Program (Toronto, Canada)

Northwest Boychoir (Seattle, WA)

San Francisco Girl’s Chorus (San Francisco, CA) | World premieres by Joanna Moutouama (18-19) and Haeon Lee (23-24)

The Hess Collective (New York, NY) | World premiere by Yuri Lee (18-19)

The Little Orchestra Society (New York, NY)

The Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Program Recital Series (New York, NY) | World premiere by Azalea Twining (20-21)

Uniting Voices Chicago (Chicago, IL) | World premieres by Cecelia Olszewski (21-22), Rachel Mugemancuro (21-22), and Gabriella Cariddo (21-22)

VAMP (Austin, TX) 

More Partners to be Announced! 

Film Credits:
Archival footage courtesy of Kronos Quartet
Kronos Festival 2024 Trailer produced by Robert Edridge-Waks
Produced by Big Pup Films
Director: Vincent DeLuca
Cinematographer: TinNgai Chan
Sound Mixer and Post Sound: David Bennett

Made possible by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation 

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