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Six composers selected for the Luxembourg Composition Academy 2026

08.09.26

Guitarist and composer Jessica Ackerley explores the spaces between avant-garde jazz, contemporary classical and ambient music. Across performance and composition, their practice is shaped by experimentation, collaboration and an ever-expanding musical language.

Erney F. Acosta
Pianist and composer Erney F. Acosta develops his artistic practice at the crossroads of performance and creation. With a strong focus on chamber music and 20th- and 21st-century repertoire, his work has been performed by ensembles across Spain, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

Yanqi Chen
Composer, interdisciplinary artist and sound engineer Yanqi Chen creates immersive works that blur the boundaries between sound, performance and experience. Drawing from visual art, nature and personal experiences, her practice brings together instrumental and electroacoustic music, visuals, movement and light.

Ármin Cservenák
Hungarian composer and conductor Ármin Cservenák develops a practice spanning contemporary music and music theatre. His works have been performed by leading ensembles including Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Musikfabrik and Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart, and presented at festivals across Europe.

Yingting Liu
Chinese composer and sound artist Yingting Liu transforms cultural memory, ritual and social experience into immersive sonic worlds. Bringing together acoustic instruments, electronics, video and movement, her practice creates theatrical spaces where hidden histories and unheard voices can emerge.

Matthew Monaco
Composer Matthew Monaco explores the space between notation, improvisation and electroacoustic music, drawing on a musical identity rooted in both jazz and contemporary classical music. His practice brings together composition, performance and research, with improvisation remaining a central source of his musical language.

From 14 to 20 November 2026, six emerging composers from different backgrounds will come together in Luxembourg for a week of creation, exchange and experimentation as part of the Luxembourg Composition Academy.

Designed as a space for artistic exchange and development, the Luxembourg Composition Academy offers the selected composers the opportunity to develop a new work in close collaboration with the musicians of United Instruments of Lucilin.

Throughout the week, Jessica Ackerley, Erney F. Acosta, Yanqi Chen, Ármin Cservenák, Yingting Liu and Matthew Monaco will be mentored by composers Malika Kishino and George Lewis. Rehearsals, discussions, working sessions and experimentation will give each participant the opportunity to develop their piece in direct collaboration with the performers.

The week will culminate in the premiere of six new works, presented to the public on 20 November 2026 at the Philharmonie Luxembourg, as part of the closing concert of the rainy days festival.

An opportunity to discover six distinctive compositional voices and, above all, the result of a week in which composers and performers have worked, experimented and shaped new music together.