About AJ Francisco

AJ Francisco is a Filipino-American composer and music teacher based in New York City. She is currently pursuing a Master’s in Music Theory and Composition at New York University, studying composition with Ezequiel Viñao. She also studied composition with Stephen Coxe and Adolphus Hailstork at Old Dominion University.

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 groups, 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 has been a music teacher for more than 2 years and currently teaches online violin lessons.