WomenSing proudly announces the selection of Lauren McLaren, 21, and Nick Norton, 24, as the 2011 winners of its Youth Inspiring Youth Composer Competition. Each winner has been commissioned to write a new choral work to be previewed in WomenSing concerts held on June 5 and 8, 2011.

Lauren McLaren of Los Angeles received her Bachelor of Music degree in composition from the University of Southern California. She is currently pursuing a Master of Arts degree at USC and plans to teach music to students in the public schools.

Nick Norton of Santa Monica received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California San Diego.  He continued his studies at L’Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris and at King’s College in London, where he earned an MMus. He plays guitar with the group Honest Iago.

The young composers will be mentored in their commissioned works by Libby Larsen, Grammy recipient, winner of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and one of America’s most frequently commissioned composers.

The selection of McLaren and Norton marks the third season of WomenSing’s Youth Inspiring Youth project, which brings together young poets and young composers to produce new works. The two winners will base their compositions on poetry from River of Words, an organization founded by former U.S. Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Haas and California writer Pamela Michael to nurture children in expressing their appreciation of the natural world through poetry and art.