What's New > First place winner of 2025 NATS Art Song Composition Award: Raphael Fusco
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The National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) is delighted to announce Raphael Fusco as the first prize winner of the 2025 NATS Art Song Composition Award for his work, Love Songs from a Third Floor Walk-Up.
Fusco receives a $2,000 prize and his composition will be performed at the 59th NATS national conference in San Antonio, Texas, (July 3-7, 2026).
Love Songs from a Third Floor Walk-Up is a set of five songs for medium high voice and piano with text by Caitlin Vincent:
“I am over the moon to receive this prestigious award,” Fusco said. “Art song is thriving in the U.S. right now, with so many gifted composers and singers, so being recognized as a leader in this genre is a deep honor.”
Fusco is currently participating as a mentee in the 2024-25 NATS Mentoring Program for Composers, mentored by Scott Wheeler. Fusco wrote the final song, Home, as the commission for the NATS program and it will be part of the culminating digital concert later this year.
“Love Songs from a Third Floor Walk-Up follows one person’s journey in learning to navigate the challenges of living with a partner,” Fusco explained. “From arguing over wall colors to dealing with each other’s annoying habits and managing cooking disasters, the protagonist ultimately realizes that perfection is simply cuddling up with their loved one and enjoying each other’s company on a broken IKEA couch.”
Fusco originally reached out to lyricist Caitlin Vincent to work on a new opera libretto, but she suggested they test the waters with a song before diving into a large project. Out of that collaboration, the song Just Another Day was born first and the others soon followed.
“Caitlin is one of the most in-demand lyricists of our time,” Fusco said. “And when you read her work, you immediately understand why. Her writing is authentic — no frills or gimmicks — funny yet lyrical, emotionally engaging, and full of contemporary imagery we can all relate to. She’s incredibly intelligent and a trained singer herself, which means she knows how to craft text that sings — a rare gift.”
The two are continuing to work together on a new opera. Fusco also wanted to thank many others for their continued support.
“I am incredibly grateful to Lori Laitman and NATS for creating this opportunity for composers of art song,” he added. “From my first honorable mention in 2010 for Unsolicited Advice to second prize in 2023 for Quarantine Camp, and now first prize, this competition has continually pushed me to strive for excellence and has allowed me to create some of my strongest work. I’d like to thank the amazing sopranos Alexis Merry, Johanna Will, Julia Johnson, and Katharine Dain, who lent me their talents and joined me in the sandbox to help develop this cycle. It’s also the culmination of my doctoral research on emotional resonance and empathy in vocal music at the Kunstuniversität Graz, so I would be remiss not to thank my advisors — Tom Cipullo, Michael Edgerton, Ulf Bästlein, and Deniz Peters — for their invaluable guidance. Finally, my deepest thanks go to my wife and muse, mezzo-soprano Eva Maria Summerer, who keeps me inspired and searching for the best in life every day.”
Erik Franklin received second prize and $1,000 for The Ballad of Maurice Connor, a set of four songs for tenor and piano featuring lyrics by the composer from Thomas Crofton Croker’s “Fairy Tales and Traditions of the South of Ireland (1828).” Maria Thompson Corley received honorable mention for The Colour of Joy, a cycle of four songs for soprano and piano featuring text by the composer, Kanika Ambrose, and Christene Browne.
NATS is committed to keeping the composers and their submissions anonymous in the adjudication process as to evaluate only the music itself. Preliminary adjudicators Jodi Goble (2024 winner), and Ericsson Hatfield (2022 winner) selected seven finalists from 46 submissions. Composers Jeffrey Ryan (2021 winner) and Lori Laitman served as the final adjudicators.
The NATS Art Song Composition Award, established in 1983, continues to inspire and encourage the creation of quality vocal literature. American composer Lori Laitman generously sponsors the first and second cash prizes, and she provides winners with a two-year paid NATS membership. The competition is open to any composer, professional or student, whose submitted work meets the prescribed requirements.
Past winners have included Jodi Goble (2024), Rene Orth (2023), Ericsson Hatfield (2022), Jeffrey Ryan (2021), Kurt Erickson (2020), Philip Lasser (2019), Benjamin C.S. Boyle (2018), Matt Boehler (2017), David Conte (2016), Robert Patterson (2014), Melissa Dunphy (2012), and David Sisco (2010). All previous winners are listed on NATS.org.
Applications for the 2026 Art Song Composition Award open June 1, 2025, with a submission deadline of December 1, 2025. The program is led by Carol Mikkelsen, coordinator, and Lori Laitman, advisor.
2025 Winners and Finalists:
- First Place: Love Songs from a Third Floor Walk-Up by Raphael Fusco
- Second Place: The Ballad of Maurice Connor by Erik Franklin
- Honorable Mention: The Colour of Joy by Maria Thompson Corley
Additional Finalists:
- In the Great Night: Eight Tribal Lyrics in English Translation by Jay Decker-Drane
- luna permit by Cecilia Livingston
- Saltblue & Other Missing Memories by Mikeila McQueston
- Goblin Market by Theo Popov
About Raphael Fusco
Italian-American composer, keyboardist and conductor Raphael Fusco has been hailed by the international press as “a lively player and fine improviser” (Los Angeles Times), “one of the most outstanding composers of his generation (El Mundo),” and “a leader in the opera world today” (Operawire).
His genre-crossing compositions for voice, chamber ensembles, historical instruments, orchestra, opera and theater have been commissioned by Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, Cecilia Chorus of New York, I Cantori New York, Hartford Chorale, Opera Lucca, Classic Lyric Arts Festival, The German Forum, and members of the New York Philharmonic and Metropolitan Opera Orchestras. He has collaborated with world-class artists such as GRAMMY Award-winning saxophonist Branford Marsalis, countertenor Nicholas Tamagna, conductors Dirk Brossé, Mark Shapiro and many others. His works have been premiered in Carnegie Hall, Kimmel Center Philadelphia, Lincoln Center, St. Bavo Kerk Haarlem, Gaudì’s Casa Milà in Barcelona, Église de Saint Séverin in Paris, Dvorak House in Prague and Teatro Titano in San Marino.
In 2023 his choral work It’s a Long Way won first prize in the Phoenix Boys Choir New Works Rising Competition, his song cycle Quarantine Camp was awarded second prize in the NATS Art Song Composition Award competition, and his choral anthem God is in All Things won third prize in the Peter Fyfe Composition Competition. In August of 2023, he conducted the world premiere of Le parole dei mesi in Novafeltria, Italy. In 2022, he conducted the world premieres of his An American Requiem in the Herz Jesu Kirche of Graz and his cantata La contesa canora in Lucca, Italy. In July of 2021, he conducted the premieres of his operas Der Telefonist in Oldenburg, Germany, and inSOMNIA in Amberg, Germany (“a multifaceted, atmospheric sound-painting” Mittelbayerische Zeitung). His debut album REMIXED featuring original compositions for solo piano praised for their “stunning sonic ideas (Jazz Corner)” was released in 2019.
Fusco has received awards from the American Prize for Music, NATS Art Song Composition Competition, Fyfe Choral Composition Competition, Aliénor International Harpsichord Competition, as well as grants from the National Italian American Foundation and Exploring the Metropolis. His compositions are published by Universal Edition Vienna, Verlag Ries & Erler Berlin, Hinshaw Music, and Prima la Musica.
A native of New Jersey, Fusco studied at the Mannes College of Music, Manhattan School of Music, G. Verdi Conservatory of Turin, Paris Schola Santorum, and Vienna Konservatorium. He holds a doctorate in artistic research from the University Performing Arts in Graz, Austria, where his dissertation investigated expressive agency and empathy in vocal composition. Learn more at raphaelfusco.com
About Erik Franklin
Composer and clarinetist Erik Franklin balances a vibrant, varied career on and off the stage. He has given concerts in nearly all 50 states and throughout Europe, performing for audiences large and small in venues from veterans’ homes to Carnegie Hall. A former member of the United States Army Field Band (Washington, D.C.), Franklin now performs as a soloist and chamber musician across the country as a member of the Ann Street Trio and the Heartwood Duo.
Franklin has a penchant for writing lyrical, expressive melodies where performers’ sensibilities can shine, to the delight of musicians and audiences alike. His works have made a mark in the vocal music world, garnering awards from the National Association of Teachers of Singing and New York City's songSLAM festival. His instrumental works have been commissioned by ensembles like the Interlochen Arts Academy Band and the U.S. Air Force Academy Band. Recent performances include the world premiere of "The Old Road" in May 2024, which featured Franklin as clarinet soloist alongside the Greenville (SC) Symphony Orchestra.
A passionate and experienced educator, Franklin formerly served on the faculty at Towson University and the SC Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities. He and his husband founded the Patterson Park Academy of Music in 2021, which provides music programming for over 300 children and adults in east Baltimore. Every summer, he directs the Indiana Clarinet Experience — a pre-college music camp he co-founded in 2014. Learn more at erikfranklin.net.
About Maria Thompson Corley
Maria Thompson Corley was born in Jamaica and raised in Canada. She has appeared as a solo or collaborative pianist on radio, television, and/or concert stages in North and Central America, the Caribbean, Bermuda and Europe, performing with artists like Metropolitan Opera soprano Priscilla Baskerville, Juno Award-winning clarinetist James Campbell, Grammy Award-winning clarinetist Doris Hall-Gulati, Grammy-nominated baritone Randall Scarlata, renowned countertenor Darryl Taylor, and members of the New York Philharmonic and Philadelphia Orchestras. Venues include the Smithsonian Museum of African American History, Liszt Academy, Weill Hall, and the Epidaurus Festival in Cavtat, Croatia. Her performances as soloist with orchestra include engagements with the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Gunther Schuller. She has also performed and recorded with the Philadelphia-based Black Pearl Chamber Orchestra, directed by Jeri-Lynne Johnson.
Her compositions and arrangements have been commissioned and/or recorded by Castle of our Skins, Renaissance Winds, Tacoma Orchestral Recital Series, Juventas New Music Ensemble, Deus Ex Musica, the Florida A&M University Concert Choir, MUSE: Cincinnati’s Womens Choir, the Tallahassee Boys Choir, Musica Intima, Xavier University in New Orleans, California State University East Bay, tubists Daniel Rowland and Chris Combest, French hornist Bernhard Scully (along with pianist Casey Robards), countertenor Darryl Taylor, mezzo-soprano Raehann Bryce-Davis and sopranos Sequina Dubose, Louise Toppin and Randye Jones, among others. Thompson Corley’s choral and solo vocal literature is published by Gentry, Walton, NoteNova, Classical Vocal Reprints, and North Star. Her song cycle Grasping Water has been added to the curricula of courses about art song at University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), Jackdaws Music Education Trust in the U.K., and University of California (Irvine). Her art song “Big Yellow Taxi” was featured on the Hampsongs Foundation website on July 4, 2020, a few weeks after she participated in a livestreamed panel discussion that included Thomas Hampson, Louise Toppin, Bill Banfield and Mark Clague. Thompson Corley’s debut mini-opera, The Sky Where You Are, commissioned by An Opera Theatre in 2020, is part of the Decameron Opera Coalition’s award-winning online production, Tales From a Safe Distance. The entire series was added to the Library of Congress in 2021. She was commissioned by Lyric Opera of the North to write The Place for the DOC’s second online anthology, Heroes, which premiered in October 2021. Two of her spirituals have been choreographed by Katlyn Addison, a prima ballerina with Ballet West. The Canadian Art Song Project also commissioned her to write The Colour of Joy for soprano Jonelle Sills, a song cycle which premiered in 2024. It was recorded by Ms. Sills and pianist Steven Philcox as part of the Centrediscs release Known to Dreamers. She also was the co-recipient of a 2021 Opera America IDEA grant, along with librettist Diana Solomon-Glover, for The Boy from Troy, an opera about Rep. John Lewis. The project has been commissioned by Cincinatti Opera to be developed into an opera and is scheduled to premiere in the summer of 2026. Her song, “Welcome to Guntown,” with poetry by AddieRose Brown, was the winner of the live portion of the 2023 New York City songSlam. Her children’s opera, The Fox and the Cookie, for which she was also the librettist, premiered at UTEP in March 2023.
Her first CD, Dreamer, released internationally on Naxos, contains collaborations with then-tenor Darryl Taylor. Subsequent discs, on Albany, include a recording of the first 12 of African American composer Leslie Adams’s etudes for solo piano (seven of which she world-premiered) and Soulscapes, consisting of music for solo piano by African American women. Thompson Corley’s recordings of selections from Valerie Capers’ Portraits in Jazz, included in Soulscapes, were featured in the HBO Family documentary, Kebreeya’s Salad Days. Her performance of Leslie Adams’s Etude in C sharp Minor is included in Timothy Greenfield-Sanders’s documentary, Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am. She was featured twice in the 2020 African Composers London virtual concert series, once as a solo performer and once as a pianist/writer. Soul Sanctuary, a disc of her arrangements of spirituals and hymns, with Maria Clark, soprano and Ismail Akbar, cello, was released by Navona Records in February 2022. Her recording Soulscapes 2 (MSR Classics), consisting of music by Black women from all over the diaspora, was released in November 2021. WRTI’s John T.K. Scherch included it on his list of 12 “don’t miss” classical releases for 2022.
Thompson Corley’s undergraduate work was completed at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, where she studied with Alexandra Munn, a pupil of Irwin Freundlich. Corley received both master’s and doctorate degrees in piano performance from the Juilliard School, where she was a student of renowned Hungarian pianist, Gyorgy Sandor. The only pianist admitted into Juilliard’s doctoral program for the period of two years, she was also chosen to represent her alma mater on a tour of Central America, where she gave performances and master classes.
Aside from being an accomplished pianist, Corley is a voice actor, an award-winning poet, and an author who has contributed to Broad Street Review and blogged for Huffington Post. Her novels include Choices (Kensington), Letting Go (Createspace) and More Than Enough (Kindle Vella). Her poems and short stories have appeared in Chaleur, Fledgling Rag, Kaleidoscope, Midnight and Indigo, and The Write Launch.
Corley is also half of Duo Chiaroscuro (with Sara Male, cello). Their endeavors include “Silence Optional” concerts for people on the autism spectrum, or others who can't attend classical concerts because of difficulties with remaining absolutely still.
Learn more at mariacorley.com.
