Mack Scocca-Ho

Although Mack Scocca-Ho was born in Beijing, he has spent most of his life in New York. He has been in the New York Philharmonic's Very Young Composers program since early 2018. He is entering seventh grade at the Special Music School at Kaufman Music Center, where he plays the viola, taught by Jude Ziliak. He also takes piano lessons with Michael Blum, and is coached in composing by Lev Zhurbin. Mack has been composing since he was three years old, when he began printing out blank staff paper and writing music on it. When he's not writing music, he enjoys maps, looking at web fonts, jogging, biking, and playing video games.
In December 2015, Mack won the People's Choice Award in a juried composition contest entitled Music of Forms—Audible Cities sponsored by the foundation, 2112, Inc. The composition, The Road to Dictionopolis was inspired by the much-loved children's book, The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. Mack's quintet for flute, clarinet, viola, and French horn, called A Climbing Victory, was premiered by musicians from the New York Philharmonic in a November 2018 Very Young Composers showcase. His piece, Ociantrose, was played by the New York Philharmonic at its April 2019 Phil the Hall concerts, and at the New York Philharmonic's Concerts in the Parks for 2019.