COMMISSIONED COMPOSER COMPETITION


CHAIRPERSON: ESMA PASIC-FILIPOVIC (composercommission@njmta.com)

COMPETITION DATE: October 18, 2026

REGISTRATION DEADLINE: September 25, 2026

PERFORMANCE DATE: TBA

2026 COMMISSIONED COMPOSER is. . .

MATTHEW LIU

Hailed for his "charm and impeccable musical instincts", Matthew Liu is an NYC-based composer/lyricist, singer, actor, and musician/music director with two degrees from The Juilliard School. Having just come off an acclaimed run as The Narrator in Falling Out at Under St. Marks Theatre, Matthew has had musical and theatrical premieres at such venues as Isaac Stern Auditorium at Carnegie Hall, David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center and National Sawdust and internationally in Taiwan, Russia, Germany and Hungary. He has been commissioned by Itzhak Perlman's Perlman Music Program and will next be seen onstage as the Music Director, Conductor and onstage pianist for Shanghai Grand Theatre's concert production of Dave Malloy's Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812. He plays 10 instruments and is a proud member of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Writing Advanced Workshop as well as a National YoungArts Foundation winner (Music Composition). Acting highlights include the lead roles of Song Liling in M. Butterfly (Woodstock Playhouse) and Robert Lyons in Upside Down (AMT Theatre), Bandleader Wallace Hartley and Third Officer Herbert Pitman in Titanic (Fireside Theatre), The Fiddler in Fiddler on the Roof (Fireside Theatre), Stephen Sondheim’s You’re Gonna Love Tomorrow (Theater 2020) and the villain Cassie in the film series From Kitchen To Throne. Music Directing: Sound of the Silk Road in Beijing, Ankang and Xi’an (Nederlander Worldwide Entertainment), Bastard Jones (the cell theatre), Into the Woods and Mother Courage (The Juilliard School) and Len Cariou and Stephen Bogardus in Dutch Master (York Theater Company). You can also hear Matthew’s arrangements on Fever’s Candlelight Concerts and Nickelodeon. Listen and find out more:

YouTube / Insta / TikTok: @mattliuthings

 

COMMISSIONED Repertoire

(click on the title to see a sample!)

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Some words from the composer:

"As a proud NJ native, I spent my childhood in the NJMTA program and am now so honored to have been commissioned by this wonderful group of teachers. These four pieces reflect my years growing up in New Jersey, each capturing a different memory and stage of musical life. With these works, I invite performers to dive in and be more than musicians: to become storytellers and perhaps even actors as well.

  • The Elementary piece, Four Four Oh!, is a quaint musical scene inspired by my early days practicing the piano, which lived in the same room as my wooden train toys. The child is bored practicing, frequently going back and forth between piano and toy trains...until Mom comes in!

  • The Intermediate piece, To Manhattan, captures my weekly NJ Transit 139 bus ride from Union Hill to Manhattan for Juilliard Precollege and music lessons, family visits, or shows—pulsing with hope and excitement for an adventure in the big city, sometimes rocked to sleep by the bus before an abrupt awakening upon arrival.

  • The Advanced piece, Tribute, is a virtuosic and pianistic expression of gratitude I have for all who supported and believed in me, One should play this piece with great emotion and generosity.

  • The Chamber music piece, Rhapsody, is an intimate duet of youthful longing, shaped by a distant boardwalk seaside memory and unfolding in a harmonically expressive and rhythmically free musical language (also available for viola/piano duet and cello/piano duet upon request).

In respect of copyright laws for our CCC composers, teachers should purchase separate copies for each student, or ask the parents to order the music from NJMTA themselves. Thank you for joining us in the effort to support our composers.

By participating in any NJMTA event, parents give permission to the New Jersey Music Teachers Association(NJMTA) to use photographs or videos of your child taken by NJMTA representative, with appropriate captions, in NJMTA publications, on the NJMTA website, social media and/or in the local newspapers. If you do not wish NJMTA to use your child’s photos/videos in any way, kindly notify the chairperson of the event in which your child is participating.