Galaxy was originally a piano piece that I wrote when I was 15. I still vividly remember the stunning star-lit sky over Akaroa Harbour that inspired this piece. The overwhelming beauty of something so distant seems to evoke a sense of wonder and melancholy within me.

–Salina Fisther

In February 2022, the Australian composer Nigel Butterley (1935-2022) passed away, and this small remembrance piece was written with him in mind. Nigel was a teacher, a mentor, and a friend, and his passing an enormous loss. The piece, originally for string quartet, was orchestrated in 2025, the year in which Nigel would have turned 90. The line “swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;” comes from one of Nigel’s favourite poems, ‘Pied Beauty’ by Gerard Manley Hopkins. Although Nigel was particularly known for his vocal music and affinity with text, he felt that Hopkins wasn’t suitable for setting to music, in part because of its intricate linguistic texture and own internal music. So rather than setting the words to music, I’ve tried to set music to the words – to find something swift, slow, sweet, sour, adazzle, and dim. The poem praises all things “counter, original, spare, strange”, and I hope that the piece does the same, forging its own austere, strange, and beautiful ‘internal music’ for these words.

–Chris Williams

I. Allegro Vivace e Con Brio               
II. Allegretto Scherzando
III. Tempo Di Menuetto
IV. Allegro Vivace

Salina Fisher (b.1993) is an award-winning New Zealand composer whose works are frequently performed worldwide. Drawing from her background as a multi-instrumentalist of mixed Japanese heritage, her highly evocative music often involves collaborations, notably with taonga pūoro practitioners. She finds lyricism in unusual timbres and extended tonalities, and has been noted for her “extraordinary sense of colour and texture” (New Zealand Herald).

In 2024, her pieces Kintsugi, Rainphase, and Heal were selected by celebrated

US choreographer Jessica Lang as the score for her new ballet Black Wave, premiered by Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle. That same year, she was named one of New Zealand Listener magazine’s “50 Most Inspiring People”. Her 2023 work Papatūānuku co-composed with taonga pūoro musician Jerome Kavanagh Poutama and commissioned by Auckland Philharmonia, has been programmed by New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, and Thessaloniki State Symphony Orchestra for 2025.

Her works have been commissioned by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia, International Contemporary Ensemble, Alexi Kenney, NZTrio, Marmen Quartet, Australian National Academy of Music, Duo della Luna, New Zealand String Quartet, and Chamber Music New Zealand among others. Her music has been performed or programmed by the New York Philharmonic, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Helsinki Philharmonic, Juilliard Orchestra, Hannover Staatsoper, A Far Cry, Brodsky Quartet, Land’s End Ensemble, Stroma, and the symphony orchestras of Atlanta, Brazil, Castilla y Léon, Dallas, MDR Leipzig, Melbourne, Seattle, Shanghai, Toledo, Ulster, the National Symphony Orchestra (USA), and the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Canada), often under the direction of conductors Gemma New and Tianyi Lu. Her work has been performed at venues and festivals including Wigmore Hall, Tanglewood Music Festival, Philharmonie Berlin, Pierre Boulez Saal, The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, and ISCM World Music Days. She has held Composer-in-Residence roles with New Zealand School of Music – Te Kōkī, At the World’s Edge Festival, Chamber Music Festival of Lexington, University of Kentucky Symphony, and NZSO National Youth Orchestra.​

Salina won the SOUNZ Contemporary Award in 2016 and 2017, and has received awards from The Arts Foundation (New Generation Award), FAME Trust (Mid-Career Award 2025), Creative New Zealand / Edwin Carr Foundation, Composers Association of New Zealand (Trust Fund Award), APRA Art Music Fund, Canberra International Film Festival (Best Score – International Category), and NZSO Todd Young Composers Award (2013, 2014). She studied composition and violin at New Zealand School of Music – Te Kōkī, and received a Fulbright scholarship to complete a Master’s at New York’s Manhattan School of Music where she was awarded the Carl Kanter Prize for Orchestral Composition. 

Salina particularly enjoys collaborating with other artists, including practitioners of taonga pūoro, ceramics, poetry, and film. She performed as a casual violinist with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in 2012-2016, and more recently worked as an orchestrator on their projects with Te Reo metal band Alien Weaponry and singer-songwriter Ria Hall. Salina also enjoys performing and improvising on violin and koto, notably with Ao alongside Jerome Kavanagh (taonga pūoro) and Neil MacLeod (electronics), and also as part of Wellington’s composer-performer string quartet, Moth Quartet. She lectured in composition and orchestration at New Zealand School of Music – Te Kōkī, Victoria University of Wellington, as Teaching Fellow in Composition (2020-2023) and has mentored emerging composers through AWE Festival and NZSO National Youth Orchestra.​

Australian composer Chris Williams’ alluring and evocative music draws his listeners in through its sonic invention and subtle craft. It is music of expressive power and delicate detail.

He has been commissioned by The Song Company, ANAM, the Tasmanian and Melbourne Symphony Orchestras, and Carnegie Hall. He was twice featured at the Gaudeamus Muzeikweek in the Netherlands, and was an invited composer at the Takefu International Music Festival in Japan.

In addition to concert music, Chris’ Theatre Music credits include ‘Cosi’, for the Melbourne and Sydney Theatre Companies; the Australian Premiere of ‘A Doll’s House, Part 2’, for the Melbourne Theatre Company; and ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and ‘Cloud Nine’, for the Sydney Theatre Company.

Chris studied composition at the University of Oxford, Sydney Conservatorium of Music, and is currently a PhD candidate at Duke University.

He is a represented Artist at the Australian Music Centre and is represented by Aurora Artists’ Management.

Active as a composer, conductor, and collaborative connector, Peter Askim is the newly appointed Music Director of the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra, adding to existing roles as Artistic Director and Founder of The Next Festival of Emerging Artists, Conductor of the Raleigh Civic Symphony and Chamber Orchestra, and Director of Orchestral Activities at North Carolina State University. Known for his visionary programming, dynamic musicianship, and commitment to amplifying the voices of living composers, he has forged a career that bridges artistic innovation with mentorship and community engagement.

In addition to his titled roles, Askim has conducted the American Composers Orchestra, Vermont Symphony Orchestra, Knoxville Symphony, and APROARTE Orchestra (Portugal), among others. His conducting has been described as “much energy, which must be infectious” (Cultural Voice of North Carolina) and his programming as “some of the most fascinating and inventive in the area” (Indy Week). He is a passionate advocate for the music of our time and a champion of underrepresented voices in the concert hall, frequently bringing new works to life through close collaboration with composers and performers. 

Askim has commissioned and led world premieres by Lisa Bielawa, Christopher Cerrone, Richard Danielpour, Brett Dean, Aaron Jay Kernis, Leilehua Lanzilotti, Allison Loggins-Hull, Tift Merritt, Jessica Meyer, Nico Muhly, Rufus Reid, Jeff Scott, Nahre Sol, Curtis Stewart, Matthew Evan Taylor, Christopher Theofanidis, Liliya Ugay, Aleksandra Vrebalov, and Paul Wiancko, as well as concertos written and performed by guitarists Richard Thompson, Jeff Peterson, and Yvette Young. In 2022, he conducted the American premiere of Florence Price’s Ethiopia’s Shadow in America, continuing his advocacy for historically overlooked voices in American music.

His work as a conductor was featured on HBO and National Public Radio, where he was spotlighted at the podium for folk-rock legend Richard Thompson’s original soundtrack for the World War II documentary The Cold Blue. He has collaborated with leading artists including the Kronos Quartet, Miranda Cuckson, Matt Haimovitz, Pamela Z, Vijay Iyer, Jennifer Koh, Curtis Stewart, Nadia Sirota, Sō Percussion, Jeffrey Zeigler, Seth Parker Woods, Ksenija Komljenović, the bluegrass band Balsam Range, and actor Harry Shearer (The Simpsons, This Is Spinal Tap).

As a composer, Askim has been praised by The Strad as “a modern master.” His works have been commissioned and performed by the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, Honolulu Symphony, Stavanger Symphony Orchestra, Cantus Ansambl Zagreb, and the American Viola Society, as well as by ensembles such as ETHEL, the Aizuri Quartet, and cellist Jeffrey Zeigler. Bass World described his music as “an epic journey,” reflecting his deep lyricism and rhythmic vitality. 

Through his work with the Raleigh Civic Orchestras, Askim has redefined the role of the community symphony, pioneering collaborative, multimedia concert events that explore pressing social and environmental themes, as well as local history. Since 2015, each concert has featured a newly commissioned world premiere – over 40 to date – including projects on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s North Carolina “I Have a Dream” speech, the Women’s Suffrage Movement, and the Voting Rights Act, as well as a groundbreaking virtual reality collaboration for orchestra. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Askim spearheaded a series of distance-collaboration premieres that harnessed technology to unite musicians across states and continents. Under his direction, the Raleigh Civic Orchestras have received national recognition for innovation and diversity in programming, with grants from New Music USA and the Women’s Philharmonic Association.

Askim’s work as a mentor and community builder is most visible through The Next Festival of Emerging Artists, which he founded in 2013. A trailblazing arts-immersion program, the Festival serves as an incubator for early-career string players, composers, and choreographers (ages 20-30), focusing on artistic development, entrepreneurship, and new work creation. To date, it has supported over 250 emerging artists, providing professional development and high-level performance opportunities with leading soloists and composers. The Festival has been staged at National Sawdust, Roulette, (le) Poisson Rouge, Kaufman Music Center, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and PS21/Center for Contemporary Performance, and was presented by the American Composers Orchestra’s 2023 SONiC Festival in New York City.

Recognizing the challenges faced by young artists during the pandemic, Askim pivoted the Festival to an online format, offering free workshops, masterclasses, and career resources that reached artists worldwide. His leadership reflects a deep belief that artistic excellence and generosity of spirit go hand in hand.

Earlier in his career, Askim served as Music Director and Composer-in-Residence of the Idyllwild Arts Academy Orchestra, where he built one of the nation’s leading pre-professional orchestral programs for young musicians. He was previously a member of the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra and taught at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, where he directed the Contemporary Music Ensemble and taught composition and theory.