People

Madeline Clara Cheng (age 20) is a Bay Area-based artist studying composition, business law, and music industry as a Presidential Scholar at the University of Southern California. A 2023 YoungArts Award Winner, she has been commissioned by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s May Festival, Ensemble for These Times, the UUCWC Crossing Chorale, and recently Hearing in Color and La Caccina as their 2024-25 Young Composer-in-Residence. Her compositions have been performed at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw and Norway’s Bergen International Festival, and by ensembles such as the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra and the International Contemporary Ensemble. Madeline also enjoys designing escape rooms, music directing, and playing saxophone and piano—sometimes simultaneously.