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Oswald Huýnh, a 2022 graduate of the University of Missouri School of Music with a Master of Music degree in Composition, has been appointed as a 2026 Guggenheim Fellow in Music Composition. Oswald attended Mizzou through a Teaching Assistantship provided by the Mizzou New Music Initiative.
Huýnh is among 223 new Guggenheim Fellows whose work encompasses 55 disciplines and artistic fields. They range in age from 28 to 76 and represent 97 academic institutions, 33 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, three Canadian provinces, and eight countries beyond the U.S. and Canada. The fellows were selected via a rigorous peer review process from nearly 5000 applicants.
The appointments were announced on April 14 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. According to a press release, each fellow receives a monetary stipend “to pursue independent work at the highest level under the freest possible conditions.”
“Our new class of Guggenheim Fellows is representative of the world’s best thinkers, innovators, and creators in art, science, and scholarship, said Edward Hirsch, distinguished poet and President of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. “We are honored to support their visionary contributions.”
Huỳnh is a Vietnamese American composer whose music navigates aesthetics and tradition, language and translation, and the relationship between heritage and identity. His work is characterized by intricate contrasts of timbre and interweaving textures that are rooted in narrative, culture, and memory.
Huỳnh is the 2025-26 laureate of the Frederic A Juilliard | Walter Damrosch Rome Prize in Musical Composition. He is also the winner of the CAG Louis and Susan Meisel Prize, the Luigi Nono International Composition Prize, and other honors. Huỳnh served as Composer-in-Residence with the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra from 2023–2025 and with the Louisville Orchestra from 2024-25.
His orchestral music has been performed by the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Oregon Symphony, the American Composers Orchestra, and the North Carolina Symphony. His chamber music has been performed by the Tacet(i) Ensemble, the Del Sol String Quartet, and the Akropolis Reed Quintet. He is represented by Concert Artists Guild, and his works are published by Boosey & Hawkes.
“It was an honor to be able to write Oswald’s recommendation for a Guggenheim Fellowship,” said Stefan Fruend, Artistic Director of the Mizzou New Music Initiative. “His many accolades and achievements speak to his tireless work ethic and success. I’m very excited that he has been awarded a fellowship to create a new work for the Tacet(i) Ensemble, and I look forward to hearing the premiere.”
For more information on the Guggenheim Fellowships, visit gf.org.
For more information on Oswald Huýnh, visit oswaldhuynh.com/
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