Annie Hui-Hsin Hsieh has won the first ever Monash International Women’s Day Composition Commission Prize, Monash University’s Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music has announced. The Taiwanese/Australian composer, currently based in the USA, takes home $10,000 in the first year of the annual prize, and will write a new work for percussionist Louise Devenish and the Monash Sinfonia, which will premiere on International Women’s Day in March 2021.

Annie Hui-Hsin Hsieh

“It is very humbling!” Hsieh tells Limelight. “Winning this award means more than a line on the CV or the opportunities it brings now and perhaps even further down the road.”

“For me, it is a great honour to be acknowledged at this point in my career, to be given a privileged platform for expression,” she says. “But, more importantly, it also brings an opportunity for me to actively participate in the conversation in improving the gender balance in our field, contributing as a musician and educator towards building an inclusive musicking environment.”

“The new work will be written for percussionist Louise Devenish and the Monash Sinfonia, which is a student ensemble directed by violinist Anna McMichael,” Hsieh says. “The idea for the piece...