BRINGING NEW MUSIC TO LIFE
ANNUAL COMPOSITION COMPETITION
WHAT IS BRINGING NEW MUSIC TO LIFE?
“Bringing New Music to Life” is our annual composition competition. Every January, we open the application period to select an emerging composer who will create an original work for our ensemble.
The selected composer will receive a financial award and take part in a comprehensive creative process throughout the year, which includes:
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Collaborative working sessions with Lítore Quartet.
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The world premiere of the work at two Lítore Quartet concerts.
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Guidance, support, and the quartet’s full commitment throughout the creative process.
Irene Cantos
Winner of the 2026 Composition Competition
“Without a doubt, this is a project that inspires me. Not only because I’ll be working hand in hand with excellent musicians like yourselves, but also because it is the first project through which I am consciously embarking on a line of research exploring the Renaissance period and its parallels with the present day.”
About Irene Cantos
Irene Cantos (born 1997) is a Spanish composer and pianist. She is currently based in Helsinki, where she carries out much of her professional activity.
As a composer, her works have been performed at various venues, including Musiikkitalo’s Paavo Hall with the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra (Helsinki, Finland); the Amarnick-Goldstein Concert Hall at Lynn University and the Boca Raton Museum of Art (Florida, USA); the Benedetto Marcello Conservatory of Music (Venice, Italy); Tui Cathedral (Pontevedra, Spain); and the “La Asunción” Cultural Centre (Albacete, Spain).
She has composed and recorded music with the Budapest Scoring Orchestra for the soundtrack of the feature-length documentary Doñana: Where Water Is Sacred, produced by Wanda Films (José María Morales). She has also collaborated with Tomás Peire as Assistant Orchestrator on the score composed by Michael Abels for Netflix’s Sirens.
She is the founder and director of Duino Records, a new record label that aims to serve as a bridge between classical and contemporary music, early music, jazz, and film music. As a pianist, Irene has recorded and released several solo piano albums and EPs, with contemporary music playing a prominent role in her work.
She is currently pursuing a Master of Music in Composition at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, where her thesis and research focus on the dialogue between early and contemporary music, combining techniques from acoustic physics, microtonality, and electroacoustic music.
Her upcoming projects include a new commission for the saxophone quartet Lítore Quartet and a new composition for the Rieger organ at Musiikkitalo Concert Hall, which will premiere at the Musica Nova Helsinki festival in February 2027.
