KiMani Bridges — recipient of the 2020 G. Schirmer Prize — is a flutist and a composer from Louisville, Kentucky. She has received numerous distinguished ratings for flute in KMEA Solo and Ensemble and has performed at Walt Disney World and the Field Museum. During her junior year at duPont Manual Magnet High School/Youth Performing Arts School, she had the opportunity to study composition at the University of Louisville. Since then, Kimani has been part of Loretto Project’s Pathways Initiative Program, and in 2020 she was named a NextNotes High School Creator Award Winner.

In 2020, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra teamed up with New York City’s Kaufman Music Center to present a special digital performance featuring the world premiere of KiMani Bridges’ “The Flower” — which went on to garner the 2020 G. Schirmer Prize.

The virtual program, filmed in Zipper Hall at The Colburn School in Los Angeles, included LACO artists performing new works by eight female-identifying, non-binary composers, including KiMani Bridges. The program was recorded last fall thanks to the generosity of Santa Monica/Westside Legacy Fund for Women and Girls and can be streamed on demand on LACO’s YouTube channel.

Luna Lab, founded in 2016 by 2018 GRAMMY Award-nominee Missy Mazzoli and 2019 Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Ellen Reid with Kaufman Music Center, addresses the gender imbalance in the field of classical music by providing aspiring female-identifying, non-binary and gender non-conforming composers ages 12 -18 with a year of one-on-one mentorship, performance opportunities and high-quality recordings of their works.

KiMani recently completed her first year of college, studying composition, at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University.