OPUS ONE INTERNATIONAL PRIZE for COMPOSITION
Napa Valley, CA (April 2, 2025) – This summer, Opus One, one of the world’s most celebrated wineries, and Fontainebleau Schools of Music and Fine Arts, a model of cross-cultural collaboration within the global music world for over a century, join forces to offer a rare and exciting opportunity for aspiring student composers and musicians to nurture their creative voices. Opus One, the renowned partnership between vintners Robert Mondavi and Baron Philippe de Rothschild, will be offering five prestigious scholarships for students to study composition during the iconic institution’s summer program, Les Écoles D’art Américaines de Fontainebleau (EAAF), in France.
Each summer, students from across the globe study at the Château de Fontainebleau, a nearly 1,000-year-old castle surrounded by classic French gardens and its famous forest. The school offers world-renowned music and architecture courses, which have been taught by figures such as Nadia Boulanger, Maurice Ravel, and Leonard Bernstein. Aaron Copland, Philip Glass and the late Quincy Jones all studied here. The castle’s near-mythical history and the splendor of its natural surroundings serve as both muse and inspiration for the creative minds that pass through its iconic halls.
“Ever since their inception, the Fontainebleau Schools have aspired to be a model of modernity and innovation. This spirit continues to guide us today: our partnership with Opus One to support young composers will enhance our ability to foster creativity, innovation, and imagination while maintaining artistic transatlantic exchanges at the highest level,” says The Fontainebleau Schools’ Artistic Director Diana Ligeti.
As part of this extraordinary partnership, Opus One is offering five composition scholarships to students selected by the Fontainebleau Schools of Music and Fine Arts. The scholarship recipients will compose original works, 10 minutes in length, inspired by the rich heritage of the Château and the surrounding beauty of its natural environment. From this select group, one composer will be chosen to receive the esteemed Ouyang.
The recipient of this honor will be named Opus One’s Composer in Residence for the year and will be invited to the Napa Valley winery, accompanied by collaborating musicians from EAAF, to perform the original composition on September 13th, 2025. Additionally, the winner will compose a new work inspired by the winery’s striking architecture and surrounding vineyards. This new piece will be performed the following September, alongside the next recipient of the Opus One International Composition Prize.
Opus One has a longstanding connection with the creative arts. Baron Philippe de Rothschild was a noted author, art collector, and sponsor of the performing arts; and Robert Mondavi supported both the performing and visual arts in the Napa Valley. The name “Opus,” a musical term denoting a composer’s masterwork, was suggested by the Baron himself. In 2005, Opus One co-founded the Festival Napa Valley as part of a joint community effort to bring performing arts to the Napa Valley. The collaboration with Fontainebleau Schools of Music and Fine Arts marks the next chapter in Opus One’s ongoing commitment to fostering creative excellence across the arts.
In her introduction to the book marking the 100th anniversary of the school, Therese Casadesus Rawson, President Emerita of the Fontainebleau Associations says, “The Schools were a jewel in the crown of post-World War I Franco-American relations—an American initiative and a French realization. The “grande dame” of summer programs abroad for 100 years, in the magnificent historical venue of the Château de Fontainebleau, its American Conservatory brought and continues to bring a compendium of the most influential and world-renowned musicians and artists of the 20th century.”
About Opus One Winery
Opus One was born in 1978 from a visionary partnership between Baron Philippe de Rothschild of Bordeaux and Robert Mondavi of Napa Valley. Meeting at the storied Château Mouton Rothschild, the two vintners laid the foundation for a wine that would transcend borders: a singular Bordeaux-style blend crafted from Napa Valley grapes, brought to life through the collaboration of French and American winemakers. Bound by a shared commitment to excellence and innovation, they were not only creators of exceptional wines but also dedicated patrons of the arts. Their partnership was driven by both craftsmanship and culture, which led them to name their endeavor Opus One, a reflection of their first great composition as a wine created to be a work of art.
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Sofia Jen Ouyang Named Inaugural Winner of the Opus One International Prize for Composition at the Château de Fontainebleau
As the inaugural winner, Sofia will be formally named Composer in Residence at Opus One on September 13, 2025, when she and her fellow musicians from Fontainebleau will perform “In Air, On Stone” at the iconic Napa Valley winery. She will also compose a new work inspired by Opus One’s architectural beauty and harvest season, which will premiere in September 2026, alongside next year’s prize recipient. Ouyang’s winning composition draws on the atmosphere and architecture of the château, channeling the weight of its centuries-old history and the quiet poetry of its spaces.
A rising voice in contemporary classical music, Ouyang is known for work that expressively and critically engages with the world. She is a two-time BMI Composer Award winner (2023, 2024), and her music has been performed at venues such as Lincoln Center, the Lucerne Festival, and the Arvo Pärt Center. Ouyang has collaborated with leading ensembles including Ensemble Modern, JACK Quartet, and the Juilliard Orchestra. She is currently a doctoral candidate in composition at Columbia University, where she also earned undergraduate degrees in Music and Philosophy.
“Château de Fontainebleau is a place where history lingers in quiet layers, where light moves across stone and breath seems to settle into the walls—In Air, On Stone drifts through spaces where time pools and silence gathers,” says Ouyang of her piece. “Light glides along distant corridors, glancing over tapestries and stonework worn by centuries; histories rest quietly beneath the surface of walls that seem to breathe. Within the stillness, flashes erupt and vanish—sharp bursts of energy flickering through suspended space. Stillness and motion entangle, breath held and released, as presence—restless, fragile—hovers in midair, like memory suspended in the château’s vast, listening halls.”
The Opus One International Prize for Composition was established in 2025 as part of a transatlantic collaboration between Opus One Winery and the Fontainebleau Schools of Music and Fine Arts. Each year, five scholarships are awarded to young composers to study at the Château de Fontainebleau, with one selected to receive the prize and residency.
“Sofia’s piece is an exquisite reflection of place, atmosphere, and emotion,” says Diana Ligeti, Artistic Director of the Fontainebleau Schools. “It exemplifies the spirit of this program: merging history and imagination into a singular artistic voice.”
In Air, On Stone, by Sofia Jen Ouyang, was performed at Opus One Winery in Napa Valley on September 13, 2025 by 2025 Fontainebleau alumni Daniel Rafimayeri, violin; Wenlan Jackson, violin; Mathew Lee, viola; Isaac Pagano, cello; Hyo-Eun Park, piano; and Sofia Jen Ouyang, conductor.
Here are a few photos from that very special performance:
