Tyler Shaver, 18, composer & piano; Zachary Guo, 18, piano, organ & composer

Today we feature two recent high school graduate composers. Tyler Shaver and Zachary Guo present their own works, performed by themselves and by others. Tyler Shaver, 18, is a student composer and pianist based in Chicago. He graduated from Saint Ignatius College Prep and is about to start a dual degree from Northwestern University in Music Composition and Philosophy. He has written music for the Nu Deco Ensemble, the Honors Music Institute at Penn State, Jacobs Composition Academy at Indiana University, the Saint Ignatius Wind Symphony, and Interlochen Ensembles. His music explores sonic realms through experimenting with fixed media and electronics, extended instrumental techniques, and repetition, creating expansive soundscapes and vivid images. Zachary Guo, 18, was a scholarship fellow at the Music Institute of Chicago Academy. He studies piano with Dr. Matthew Hagle, composition with Dr. Christopher Jones, and organ with Peter Morey as the Opus 327 Junior Organ Scholar at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Evanston. Zachary’s versatility as a pianist has led to success in several competitions, receiving first place in the Illinois MTNA piano competition, Sejong Music Competition, and the Chicago Steinway Piano Competition. In 2023, he performed Gabriel Lena Frank’s piano concerto Cuentos Errantes with Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras in Symphony Center. Zachary was named a 2024 YoungArts Award winner in composition as well as the first-place winner of the 2022 ILMEA solo composition competition and Illinois MTNA composition competition. He has worked with Ensemble Dal Niente as a part of the 2022 Depaul + Dal Niente New Music Residency. In addition to piano, organ, and composition, Zachary sings bass in the St. Luke’s Episcopal Church Choir and plays viola in his school orchestras. Outside of music, Zachary has won Scholastic Art and Writing Awards in photography and creative writing. Zachary Guo has previously been featured on Introductions as a pianist in August 2023 and in October 2023, and in the fall he begins studies at Stanford University.