TORONTO, CANADA, May 29, 2025:
Musicworks is pleased to announce that Lyon-based composer Rocío Cano Valiño (photo by © Deni Ríos) has won first prize in the 2024 Musicworks Electronic Music Composition Contest for her stereo electroacoustic composition Intortus.
“I’m very happy that my work Intortus has received the first place in the 2024 Musicworks Electronic Music Composition Contest!” said Cano Valiño upon receiving the news. “It’s a great honour for me as a composer. I enormously admire Musicworks magazine for its contribution to music!”
An interview with Cano Valiño—who won first place in the 2020 EMC Contest for Okno—will appear in Musicworks 151, and Intortus is included on the Musicworks 151 CD. Musicworks is available via print or digital subscription, on select Canadian newsstands, and from our online shop.
The winner of the 2024 Marcelle Deschênes Prize in Electronic Music is Leah Reid (U.S.) for Jouer. All composer entrants to the 2024 edition of the EMC Contest who self-identify as female or non-binary are eligible for the Marcelle Deschênes Prize, which comes with a $300 cash prize and includes coverage in Musicworks 151 (Spring 2025) and other promotional opportunities.
“I’m deeply honoured to receive the 2024 Marcelle Deschênes Prize in Electronic Music. To be recognized in connection with Deschênes’ remarkable legacy is profoundly meaningful.” Reid said, upon receiving the news. “My sincere thanks to Musicworks, the contest jury, and Kevin Austin for supporting this vital platform for underrepresented voices in electronic music.”
More information about the contest winners and their compositions will be posted on musicworks.ca and promoted on our social channels throughout Summer 2025.
2024 Musicworks Electronic Music Composition Contest winners
First prize ($500): Rocío Cano Valiño (France / Argentina) for Intortus
Second prize ($200): William Northlich / BlipVert (U.S.) for Topaz 0.3nyV
Third prize ($100): Joan Tan Jing Wen (Singapore / Germany) for Study of Fragile Objects #1
Marcelle Deschênes Prize in Electronic Music / prix Marcelle Deschênes pour la musique électronique ($300): Leah Reid (U.S.) for Jouer.
The fourteenth edition of the annual contest received 148 entries from 23 countries, including Canada, the U.S. and U.K., as well as France, Japan, Taiwan, Brazil, and others.
We are grateful to William Blakeney and Kevin Austin for their generous ongoing support of the cash prizes that are awarded as part of the Musicworks Electronic Music Composition Contest.
Musicworks would like to thank Toronto-based composer and founder of the Digital North series Steven Webb and musicology professor at the University of Alberta Patrick Nickleson for their thoughtful listening as jurors of the 2024 EMC Contest.
