12-year-old girl makes history as one of New York Philharmonic’s youngest composers

13 November 2020, 16:36 | Updated: 13 November 2020, 17:05

Grace Moore just turned twelve, but has already had her music performed by one of the world’s top orchestras.

A Brooklyn-born music prodigy has become one of the youngest-ever composers featured by a major orchestra, in a piece inspired by the challenges and cultural reckonings of 2020.

Last month Grace Moore's piece, entitled Summer, was premiered by the New York Philharmonic as part of their Very Young Composer programme. The composer says her work was inspired by current events of the coronavirus and the Black Lives Matter movement.

Members of the New York Philharmonic performed the new work in an outdoor, socially distanced setting.

“I feel that music can change the way other people see the world around them,” Moore said.

In an interview (watch below), the young composer said her love of music started at the age of two when her mum bought her a piano. Moore is currently in the seventh-grade of her school in Brooklyn.

Read more: Eight of ‘100 top conductors’ are women, compared to one in 2013 >

New York Philharmonic Very Young Composer Grace Moore’s “Summer”

In the video you can hear excerpts from her work, with words from the composer and her mother. In a challenging year for arts organisations, musicians and creatives, this is truly quite inspiring.

The performance was part of the New York Philharmonic's Very Young Composers programme, which allows young students to create, notate, and hear their very own music performed by Philharmonic musicians.

The orchestra is also embarking on another project to promote new music, Project 19. Over several seasons, they will be commissioning works by 19 women composers to celebrate the centennial anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which guaranteed American women the right to vote.

Classic FM recently teamed up with the orchestra to share a concert of three of these works, by Nina C. Young, Tania J. Leon, and Ellen Reid, which you can watch below.