Photo by Thomas Hamill
About
Auckland-based musician Justin Villaflores is a composer, sound designer, and multi-instrumentalist, who currently holds a Bachelor of Music degree with a specialisation in composition from the University of Auckland.
Photo by Thomas Hamill
Justin is the 2026 Young Composer-in-Residence with Auckland Philharmonia, where he is commissioned to compose numerous works for orchestra and chamber groups. He is a first prize awardee of various scholarships and competitions like the NZTrio Composing Competition, Play Our Preludes, Protel Music Technology Innovation Prize, Lilburn Trust Composition Award, Llewelyn Jones Prize, Indie Film Music Contest, and Cloud Road Music Production Competition. Justin’s current work involves composing for a wide variety of genres and contexts, including video games, short films, commercials, and more. His compositions have also been performed and workshopped in collaboration with professional ensembles, most notably NZTrio, Moth Quartet, Auckland Chamber Choir, and Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra. He is also a current SPLICE Fellowship composer, where his work will premiere internationally at the University of Tulsa and the Hartt School of Music.Justin’s passions lie in exploring and involving himself in as much music as he can, whether that be through methods of experimental music-making, performance, or improvisation. His aspirations around composition involve bringing to light new and underappreciated fusions. He also hopes to diversify his sonic palette by incorporating a variety of multimedia, cross-cultural and cross-genre practices.
One of Justin’s larger scale goals is to share overlooked social injustices and his personal experiences in his work as he endeavours to support the voices of those who are silenced in oppression. Freedom of expression in all art forms is important to his artistic process as he explores the crevices of the human condition.
Media
Auckland PhilharmoniaThe Big Idea: ArtswireEastern TimesNZ Herald: The ListenerNZTrio Composing Competition (2025)Play Our Preludes | New Zealand Music Month 2025The 2024 Indie Film Music Contest - Independent Magazine:
Listen
Discography
2023
Eidetic Images for solo pianoSilver Lining for orchestraThe First Goodbye for solo performer on piano & 25-string gayageum and fixed media electronicsThe Bright Recompense in Tears for SSSAAATTTBBB choir
2024
Petrichor for solo piano (official album release)Restless Soul for solo geomungoThe Eleventh Hour for string quartetMother Tongue of the Stray for SSAATTBB choirStillness in a Raucous World for audiovisual electronicsAnnexe for piano duet (official album release)
2025
Two Sticks for the Hearth for tuba and pianoSecond Thought for digital performancePrelude to the Wooden Frog for solo pianoOn Second Thought for piano trioRegrets of the Overthinker for orchestraIn My Silent Rage for string trio and fixed media electronicsLost in Transmission for open instrumentationI Am My Own Chains for solo cello and live electronicsI Am But One Person for anechoic chamberFriends and Foes for orchestraDeformities for clarinet in B-flat, piano, and live electronics
2026
Feathers of Forgotten Giants for orchestra
Releases
Film & Games
