Three SFCM Composition students will be hearing their voice(s) ring out in the city soon.

George Miller, Min Ju Kim, and Christian Jones have been selected as Composers-in-Residence with San Francisco Choral Artists (SFCA), an opportunity that arose from SFCA's work with students in SFCM's biennial Choral Composition Competition.  

This year's competition drew a record 17 submissions, enough to bring in a third guest ensemble to help realize the works: Alongside SFCA, the Nebula Consort and International Orange Chorale both participated, and three winners were named. First prize went to Luca Robady, who studies with Mason Bates; second to 2026 graduate Alex Malinas, who studied with David Garner, and third to Mukil Narayanan, who also studies with Garner. 

Jones, Kim, and Miller's commissions, meanwhile, were awarded independently by SFCA ."The singers and I really enjoy working directly with the Conservatory's talented composers on their music in preparation for the competition," SFCA Artistic Director Magen Solomon said. Miller and Jones both study with Composition Department Chair David Conte, while Kim is in Bates' studio. The students will compose pieces specially for the ensemble's concerts in December (Miller), March (Kim), and June (Jones).

San Francisco Choral Artists (Credit: John O'Donnell).

A choral project competition has been a part of the Composition Department since 1999, but Conte says, "Magen Solomon's initiative to commission three SFCM students every other year starting in 2022 offers a compelling new dimension to our project. The composing of an a cappella choral piece has long been understood to reveal immediately the strength of a composer's technique, and our department is committed to offering this fundamental skill to our composers."

SFCA and SFCM have a longstanding relationship, and several faculty members have had their work performed by the organization: Theo Popov, Max Marcus, Samuel C. Nedel, and Michael Kaulkin. Two previous composers compmission by SFCA, Peter Hilliard and Robin Estrada, have also won the Conservatory's Hoefer Prize, another of the competitions available to SFCM’s composition students.

SFCM also announced the winners of the 10th annual Kristin Pankonin Award: Julian Ossa, a composition student in Conte's studio; Jordan Riek, a mezzo-soprano studying with Susanne Mentzer, and composer Max Tafoya, studying with David Garner. Pankonin was a cherished collaborative pianist in the Conservatory community who died in July 2014 after battling cancer. Ossa, Riek, and Tafoya will have their winning works performed at SFCM in fall of 2026.

The Choral Competition at SFCM has been funded by Hannah and Sam Thomas, and more recently, David Chacko. The Pankonin Award was established by alumni Gordon Getty and Lisa Delan. 

Learn more about studying composition at SFCM.