AJ Francisco (b. 2000) is a Filipino-American composer and music teacher based in New York City, where she is currently pursuing a Master’s in Music Theory and Composition at New York University. Her composition mentors include Ezequiel Viñao, Stephen Coxe, and Adolphus Hailstork. Through her music, Francisco seeks to fuse the styles and concepts of Western and traditional Filipino music and to create narratives that engage audiences in new perspectives.

Francisco won the 2021 ODU Young Artists Competition with her string orchestra piece “Matakot”, and she received Honorable Mention in the National Association for Music Education’s Student Composers Competition in 2022 for her art song “My life closed twice before its close”. She also has been awarded the Outstanding Music Graduate Award and Summa Cum Laude during her time at ODU. Francisco has premiered works and attended readings with several ensembles, including the ODU Symphony Orchestra, the ODU New Music Ensemble, the ODU Madrigals Singers, and the Governor’s School for the Arts Reading Orchestra. Francisco is a member of the Pi Kappa Lambda Music Honor Society.