WIYAMS ARTIST COMPOSITION
Human × AI
Original Music Project
AI proposes possibilities. The composer makes the artistic decisions.
Human × AI is a long-term composition project presented through WIYAMS ARTIST – Composition. The project explores how composers can work with artificial intelligence as part of the creative process while maintaining a clear individual voice and full artistic authorship.
AI may be used to generate sketches, explore ideas, suggest alternatives, or provide material for further development. The purpose is not to turn a prompt into a finished piece. Composers are expected to make their own choices—to keep, reject, reshape, and develop material until the final work reflects their own musical thinking and artistic identity.
Each year, WIYAMS will introduce an Annual Theme inspired by Washington, D.C., along with a WIYAMS AI Inspiration Package. All applicants will begin with the same theme, but how they respond to it, and how they choose to work with AI, is entirely open.
For the first year of Human × AI, composers are invited to create an original work for solo piano inspired by the cherry blossoms of Washington, D.C.
Cherry blossoms are one of the city's most recognizable cultural symbols. They can suggest spring and renewal, but also friendship, cultural exchange, history, memory, and the changing character of the city.
Composers are free to approach the theme from any perspective. Possible starting points might include the natural landscape, the National Cherry Blossom Festival, the Potomac River, the history behind Washington's cherry trees, international friendship, or a personal response to the theme.
These are suggestions only. There is no required musical style or interpretation.
Cherry Blossoms
Washington, D.C.
2027 ANNUAL THEME
WIYAMS AI INSPIRATION PACKAGE
Materials may include:
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creative prompts and questions
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historical and cultural background
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visual ideas and imagery
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keywords and symbolic elements
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ideas related to shape, density, time, or form
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short musical sketches, such as intervals, rhythms, or register outlines
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possible directions for further development
Composers may use as much or as little of the package as they find useful. Materials may be adopted, transformed, questioned, or rejected entirely.
WIYAMS will provide all applicants with an AI Inspiration Package as a common starting point for the project.
The package is not a piece of music and is not intended to provide a ready-made solution. It is developed by WIYAMS through a combination of research, AI-assisted exploration, and human selection and editing.
Using more of the provided material does not give an applicant an advantage. We are interested in what each composer does with the starting point, not how closely the final work follows it.
WORKING WITH AI
Creative Process Record
Applicants should keep a brief record of their AI-assisted process, including the tools used, representative prompts or inputs, selected outputs, and major changes made during composition.
This record does not need to be submitted with the initial application, but WIYAMS may request it if clarification of the creative process is needed.
AI should be used as part of the creative process, not as the author of the composition.
Composers may use AI in different ways. It might help generate an early sketch, explore melodic or rhythmic variations, suggest harmonic or formal possibilities, discuss a title or concept, or analyze materials that the composer has the right to use.
Any AI-generated material should be treated as a starting point. The composer is expected to make substantial decisions about what to keep, change, develop, or discard.
The final structure, musical content, piano writing, notation, and artistic direction of the work must be determined by the composer. The applicant remains the sole author of the submitted composition and is responsible for the final work.
Applicants should not use AI primarily to imitate the recognizable style or identity of a living composer, performer, or other artist. Scores, recordings, or other copyrighted materials may not be uploaded or used unless the applicant has the right to do so.
COMPOSITION REQUIREMENTS
Instrumentation. SoloPiano
Duration. Up to 5 minutes
Performance Level. Late Intermediate to Advanced
Style. Open
The work should be both artistically convincing and practical for live performance by a WIYAMS ARTIST pianist.
The composition should be written for standard piano performance. Prepared piano, inside-piano techniques, electronics, live electronics, fixed media, techniques that may damage the instrument, and theatrical elements unrelated to piano performance are generally not accepted.
APPLICATION MATERIALS
Score
Submit a PDF score through a shareable Google Drive link. The link must allow WIYAMS to view and download the file.
MIDI Demonstration
Upload a MIDI demonstration to YouTube and provide the link with your application. An Unlisted video is recommended.
Artist Statement
Maximum 300 words
Briefly describe:
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your idea for the piece;
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the AI tools you used and how they were involved;
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how you selected, changed, rejected, or developed AI-generated material;
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how your own artistic decisions shaped the final work.
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Composer Biography
Maximum 200 words
Please provide a short biography introducing your background and composition experience.
ORIGINALITY & AUTHORSHIP
The submitted work must be:
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an original composition by the applicant;
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created specifically for this project;
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free from copyright or intellectual property infringement.
The applicant must be the sole composer and author of the final work. AI tools or models may not be credited as a composer or co-composer.
Applicants are responsible for ensuring that any materials provided to AI are materials they own or have the right to use.
A complete or substantially complete work generated automatically by AI without meaningful human composition, revision, and artistic decision-making is not eligible for submission.
PERFORMANCE
Selected works will be performed publicly by WIYAMS ARTIST pianists.
WIYAMS will match each selected composition with a pianist based on the character and technical requirements of the work, performer availability, and concert programming.
Concert programs may include the composer's biography, Artist Statement, and a short program note when appropriate.
Through this project, WIYAMS hopes to bring composers and performers into closer conversation and give new works a path from the page to the stage.
SELECTION
There is no fixed number of works that will be selected.
The review will consider:
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Artistic Quality
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Originality
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Creative and Critical Use of AI
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Musical Expression
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Performability
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Overall Programming
We are not looking for the applicant who uses the most AI or the newest technology. The focus is on the music itself—how clearly and convincingly the composer develops the annual theme into an original work.
Selected composers will receive the designation of WIYAMS ARTIST or WIYAMS YOUNG ARTIST, based on their academic status at the time of application. The designation is awarded upon official selection and is not dependent on the date of the work’s public performance.
ABOUT HUMAN × AI
Human × AI is not about asking artificial intelligence to write music for us.
It is about what happens when a composer is given new material, new possibilities, and sometimes unexpected ideas—and decides what is worth turning into music.
Technology may change the way a piece begins. The artistic decisions, expression, and final voice still belong to the composer.
Through Human × AI, WIYAMS hopes to support new music, encourage thoughtful experimentation, and create new connections among composers, performers, and audiences.
Official Partners
Partnerships are an essential part of WIYAMS. By working with universities, cultural institutions, arts organizations, and community partners, we create meaningful opportunities for WIYAMS ARTISTS while bringing high-quality performances to a broader audience.
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