The Willoughby Symphony Orchestra has announced the winner of its 2025 Young Composer Award.

Sydney composer and pianist Andrei Hadap has been awarded First Prize. He receives a $5,000 cash prize and the opportunity to have his winning work, Charon’s Barcarolle, premiered and recorded by the WSO in its Lark Ascending program on 4 May.

Andrei Hadap. Photo supplied

Hadap is a PhD candidate at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. He was the inaugural Continuo Fellow for Pinchgut Opera between 2021–23, performing frequently with the Orchestra of the Antipodes. He has also performed as a soloist with the Penrith Symphony Orchestra and at Phoenix Central Park’s The Church venue. He is the current Organ Scholar with St. Stephen’s Uniting Church, and was the recipient of the 2025 2MBS Stefan Kruger Scholarship, which will allow him to compose, perform and record his own works.

Hadap’s winning work, Charon‘s Barcarolle, draws inspiration from “the vivid imagery in Dante’s Inferno“.

“I am absolutely thrilled to receive the 2025 Young Composer Award. It is an incredible honour to have my work performed by the Willoughby Symphony Orchestra, made possible through hosting this initiative for emerging Australian composers,” said Hadap.

“I am...