Announcing our 2026 McKnight Composer Fellowship Awardees

American Composers Forum (ACF) is pleased to announce the recipients of this year’s ACF McKnight Composer Fellowships. These awards celebrate the vitality of Minnesota’s musical landscape, with the selected artists drawing inspiration from the blues, ecclesiastical music, traditional Japanese instruments, American jazz, and Congolese dance music.

Funded by the McKnight Foundation, the fellowships recognize Minnesota-based composers who demonstrate achievement, commitment, and high-level proficiency in their artistic and/or culture bearer practice. In addition to funding, ACF cultivates long-term relationships with awardees and provides extended support through networking activities and opportunities to be featured on ACF’s platforms.

The 2026 ACF McKnight Composer Fellowships awardees are Nathan Hanson, Asako Hirabayashi, Asuka Kakitani, and Siama Matuzungidi. More information on the artists and their work is below.

To acknowledge the strength of the applications beyond those receiving awards, the panel has named Paul Rudio and Linda Kachelmeier as honorable mentions.

The four fellows were selected from a pool of 64 applicants. The fellowships are part of the McKnight Artist & Culture Bearer Fellowships Program, created to increase the exploratory opportunity, economic stability, and productive capacity of mid-career artists living in Minnesota. The program provides $25,000 in unrestricted support to artists whose work significantly contributes to their field and benefits the people of our home state.

ACF Executive Director Loki Karuna shares: “It’s been an honor to advance ACF’s mission by expanding the definition of ‘composer’ and highlighting artists whose work has historically fallen in the margins. I’m extremely proud of the artists we’re able to support in this endeavor, and grateful for the McKnight Foundation’s support and affirmation of this vital work.”

The panelists who selected this year’s awardees were Sahba Aminikia, Leyna Marika Papach (2024 McKnight Fellow), D.J. Sparr (innova artist), and Andrew Yee. Brian Dowdy, ACF’s Community Director, manages the panel selection process, which emphasizes thoughtful and nuanced decision-making by bringing together individuals with varied musical perspectives, experiences, and practices. Panelists are chosen for their ability to engage with a wide range of ideas, recognize their own biases, and evaluate submissions with clarity and integrity.

ABOUT THE MCKNIGHT COMPOSER FELLOWS

Nathan Hanson (he/him)

Saxophonist and composer Nathan Hanson makes music that invites listeners to stand outside themselves and the flow of time. His improvisations are “lithe and soaring, engaging in judicious honk ‘n’ splatter” (New York City Jazz Record). In Europe, Hanson has performed at the Atlantique Jazz Festival, Splendor (Amsterdam), and the Sons d’Hiver Festival (Paris). In the U.S., he’s played at Knitting Factory (New York), the Outpost (Albuquerque), the Walker Art Center (Minneapolis), and Elastic (Chicago).

With grants from New Music America and the Minnesota State Arts Board, Hanson has launched solo projects that explore how space interacts with sound. Whether it’s a cathedral, a tree farm, or a sculpture garden, Hanson investigates how to channel the sound of each performance space. The energy of the audience circulates with the music, silence, and breath. The effect leads listeners to become more present to the unfolding of each moment.

Asako Hirabayashi (she/her)

As a composer, Asako Hirabayashi has written five operas and 33 chamber pieces, which have been played in 15 countries and recorded on three commercial CDs. Her first commercial CD, on which she composed and played all the music, received seven favorable reviews internationally. As a harpsichordist, she has performed as a guest soloist in seven countries since her debut recital at Carnegie Hall in New York, where she earned a DMA in Harpsichord Performance from the Juilliard School.

Her awards include a 2009 McKnight Fellowship for Performing Musicians as a solo harpsichordist, 2016 McKnight Fellowship for Composers, 2012 Jerome Fund for New Music award, 2019 Schubert Club Composer Award, 2021 Opera America’s Discovery Grant, MNiatures by MN Opera, and several first prizes in the Alienor International Harpsichord Composition Competition.

Asuka Kakitani (she/her)

Japanese-born composer Asuka Kakitani draws inspiration from nature, transforming her visions into evocative musical narratives. Often programmatic, her compositions reflect imagination and perspective, exploring an inner world where memory, emotion, and sound intertwine. She has been described as “a musical impressionist and supreme colorist” (Hot House Magazine) whose music is an “overflowing world of inspirational melody” (DownBeat Magazine). Kakitani’s work spans jazz large ensembles, chamber groups, vocal music, electroacoustics, and film scoring. Her work has been recognized by organizations such as New Music USA, the McKnight Foundation, the Jerome Foundation, American Composers Forum, Brooklyn Arts Council, and Minnesota State Arts Board.

Siama Matuzungidi (he/him)

Siama established his legacy by recording hundreds of songs, composing and touring the world with popular Soukous and Congolese Rumba artists. Now based in Minneapolis, he’s a prolific composer known for his intricate guitar, spirited singing, catchy songs, and traditional African instruments. His songs — often fun sing-alongs in Kikongo, Lingala, English, and Swahili — feature the syncopated 6/8 rhythms, melodic layers, and voices characteristic of his Bas Congo (western DR Congo) homeland.

Siama makes music to foster healing and community. It’s truly for everyone — music heads, toddlers, students, and elders alike. He’s an award-winning artist who’s been featured in major media outlets and performed for three presidents, yet he remains rooted in his happy rural hometown, where families gather in the evenings to sing and tell stories under the stars.

ABOUT THE MCKNIGHT ARTIST AND CULTURE BEARERS FELLOWSHIPS

Founded on the belief that Minnesota thrives when its artists and culture bearers thrive, the McKnight Foundation’s arts and culture program is one of the oldest and largest of its kind in the country. Support for individual working Minnesota artists and culture bearers has been a cornerstone of the program since it began in 1982. The McKnight Artist & Culture Bearer Fellowships Program provides annual, unrestricted cash awards to outstanding mid-career Minnesota artists in 15 different creative disciplines. Program partner organizations administer the fellowships and structure them to respond to the unique challenges of different disciplines. Currently, the foundation contributes about $2.8 million per year to its statewide fellowships. For more information, visit mcknight.org/artistfellowships.

ABOUT THE MCKNIGHT FOUNDATION

The McKnight Foundation, a Minnesota-based family foundation, advances a more just, creative, and abundant future where people and planet thrive. Established in 1953, the McKnight Foundation is deeply committed to advancing climate solutions in the Midwest; building an equitable and inclusive Minnesota; and supporting the arts and culture in Minnesota, neuroscience, and global food systems.

ABOUT AMERICAN COMPOSERS FORUM

ACF’s mission is to support and advocate for individuals and groups creating music today by demonstrating the vitality and relevance of their art. We do this by empowering composers with resources and support, modeling creative partnerships, and advocating for them through storytelling and connections. Working with an ecosystem of artists, programmers, presenters, teachers, funders, and audiences, we frame all of our work with a commitment to racial equity, believing that creating a fairer world for artists benefits all of us.

Founded in 1973 by composers Libby Larsen and Stephen Paulus as the Minnesota Composers Forum, the organization continues to invest in its Minnesota home while connecting artists and advocates across the United States, its territories, and beyond. ACF frames our work with a focus on racial equity and includes within that scope, but does not limit it to: diverse gender identities, musical approaches and perspectives, religions, ages, (dis)abilities, cultures, backgrounds, sexual orientations, and broad definitions of “American.” Visit www.composersforum.org for more information.