People

Madeline Clara Cheng (age 21) is a composer studying as a Presidential Scholar at the University of Southern California, where she is writing a new opera that will premiere in October 2025. A 2023 YoungArts Award Winner and the 2024-25 Hearing in Color Young Composer-in-Residence, she has been commissioned by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s May Festival, Ensemble for These Times, La Caccina, River and Rail Theatre Company, and UUCWC Crossing Chorale. Her music has been performed by Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Norway’s Bergen International Festival, and the International Contemporary Ensemble. She also works at Sony Pictures in their TV Music department.