Grand Prize Winner Heng Lin on Attend Unto My Cry and the Art of Sonic Expression
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Heng Lin, a composer from China, was awarded the Grand Prize for his composition Attend Unto My Cry at the Jean-Philippe Rameau International Music Competition, 2025 Season 4. He also received Absolute First Prize for three additional works—Echoes Hidden in the Depths, “Man, the Unknown”, and Heart to the Heartless—along with the Exceptional Creativity Special Prize, which recognizes his outstanding creativity and innovation in musical expression and his strong commitment to artistic exploration. The season ran from 26 June to 26 September 2025, with the official results announced on 16 October 2025.
Following this achievement, we invited Heng Lin to share more about his Grand Prize–winning composition Attend Unto My Cry, including its inspiration, creative process, and the collaboration behind the performance. In the interview below, he offers insight into the artistic ideas and technical approaches that shaped the work.
Could you please introduce your award-winning composition Attend Unto My Cry? When and under what circumstances was it composed? Could you share the inspiration behind the composition and the message you hope to convey through it?
Heng Lin:
“In this piece, Attend Unto My Cry, I am addressing social justice, as people might think deeply about current issues, such as social conflict. Everyone holds a different definition in their mind. Therefore, I used the King James Version of Psalm 17 from the Holy Bible to prompt people’s thinking. The text from Psalm 17 is about a prayer by David seeking divine protection and justice against deceitful enemies, asking God to hear his plea.
This performance is a precious opportunity for me to collaborate with Grammy-nominated Lorelei Ensemble, led by Beth Willer, and this piece was performed as part of their concert program at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Baltimore, Maryland, USA.”
What was your creative process like while composing Attend Unto My Cry? How did you approach the structure and dynamics of the piece?
Heng Lin:
“This piece I have designed with many distinct vocal techniques. It begins with many unpitched voices; some are breathy, some are creaky, and some are lip trills. Later, the unpatched voice gradually transitions to pitched voices, with some microtonal harmony as its characteristic. In the pitched section, I employ the concept of Prolation Canon to extend one voice’s rhythm to the other, encouraging the audience to consider both the present and the past.“
Biography
Heng Lin is a composer specializing in chamber-scale forces, interdisciplinary collaboration, and the exploration of acoustic timbre. His recent work includes the chamber opera Heart to the Heartless, premiered at the Peabody Opera Theatre; Merging Pairs/Warped Space, a dance collaboration with Yu Fei Liu featured at the Baltimore Inter-Asian Culture Expo; Walking Upright, a chamber music-visual art interaction with YoonJung Lee showcased at NoMüNoMü’s Fleeting Presence exhibition; and the multimedia work Man, the Unknown with visual artist Yefu Liu, exhibited at Area 405’s Confluence. He held a 2023-2024 seasonal residency with the Baltimore Visual Art & Music Organization Synesthesia, further demonstrating his commitment to cross-disciplinary creation.
Lin's chamber works have been performed by leading contemporary ensembles, including
Ensemble Linea, Lorelei Ensemble, and Old Bay New Music Ensemble, and have been
performed alongside musicians such as Ryan Muncy, Dana Jessen, and Laura Cocks. His output spans solo to ensemble formats, with a consistent focus on instrumental technique and sonic texture.
An active contributor to music education, Heng composes original works for student ensembles, bridging his creative practice with pedagogical engagement. He is currently serving as artistic director of the LinkChord Chamber Ensemble, devoted to developing child ensemble playing. Heng Lin holds a master’s degree in composition from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University, where he studied with Du Yun, Felipe Lara, Kathrine Balch, and Harlan Parker.
