John Emmanuel Godoy, Artistic Director of Lux Musicae, had just a matter of weeks to find and rehearse a group of musicians to perform three brand new pieces of music. Despite the stress, he says he loved the end result.
“I almost came to tears in ‘Foxtrot’ because I was just in the midst of this glorious music,” he said, referring to a piece by Darren Binkowski, winner of the 2025 Jack Stone Award for New Music. The finals concert was held on March 25.
A special composition competition exclusively for community college students, this year marked the 15th anniversary of the Jack Stone Awards, presented by Northwest Vista College.
Luke Hamilton, a student at Riverside City College in California, debuted a piece called “Stories By Candlelight” that was inspired by memories of his grandfather that recently passed away.
“He was the pastor at my church growing up,” Hamilton explained, “and so there were a lot of candlelight services… [and] he loved to tell stories. So I turned that into some sound ideas that are really important to me, like singable melodies and strings way high up.”
Michael Crumpton, from the College of Central Florida, made an appearance for the second year in a row at the Jack Stone Awards. He said after last year’s win, he was inspired to change his major to music.
Darren Binkowski’s “Foxtrot,” with its jazzy walking bass lines, impressed the judges enough for a first-place win. Currently a student at Mira Costa College in San Diego, Binkowski was recently accepted to study at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music.
“This Jack Stone Award thing is kind of making me realize, like, okay, I got it. I have the potential. I need to take advantage of this,” Binkowski said.
Listen to all three composer's pieces using the embedded Soundcloud link below. To hear the music plus interviews with the students, use the audio player at the top of this page.
