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This spring, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra invited composers to submit a “Fanfare for the Hartford Woman” — a three- to four-minute companion piece to Aaron Copland’s “Fanfare for the Common Man.” The winner was 24-year-old Pennsylvania native Christopher LaRosa, who recently finished a master’s degree in music composition from Boston University. At the HSO’s Mahler’s Fourth concerts on May 28-31 at the Bushnell in Hartford, Maestra Carolyn Kuan will conduct the premiere.

LaRosa heard about the competition through an online posting. “The title caught my attention immediately,” he said. “The gender reversal adds some complexity to the stew. It’s a difficult topic to touch. Gender stereotyping is an issue that’s being talked about a lot, so this piece was a chance to explore that a little bit.”

The composer immediately thought about the first and second themes in sonata form, once commonly referred to as “masculine” and “feminine.” “The first theme tended to be noble in character or faster, bolder,” LaRosa said. “The second theme is usually quieter and more subdued in nature. For whatever reason, those gender associations were made in the music.” He then figured out what kind of woman he wanted to portray: one who is “strong and empowered,” he said, but also expressive. “There are loud, bold statements in the timpani, and the brass have these strongly voiced chords, but each individual brass instrument also has a very expressive and lyrical melodic line as well.”

Composed in 1942, Copland’s “Fanfare” is scored for four horns in F, three trumpets, three trombones, tuba, timpani, tam-tam (a type of gong) and bass drum. Like the Copland piece, LaRosa’s Fanfare is short, starting with timpani and percussion before a presentation of the theme in unison horns. Percussion interjects, then trumpets join the horns in a duet, then more percussion, and finally the whole ensemble plays together.

For a young composer, LaRosa’s writing for strings (listen to his three-movement “Symmetries,” for example, scored for double string quartet) is gorgeous and confident. He has written for a surprising range of chamber, orchestral and electronic forces so far, and has also produced film scores.

But writing for this particular combination of instruments, LaRosa said, was challenging. “I’ve written for brass choir within an orchestral setting, but that’s actually a little different, because then you’re reserving the brass for the moments, but here, the brass is it. So this was a bit new for me … I really enjoyed getting to know the instruments a little more.”

Kuan and the HSO selected LaRosa’s Fanfare out of 37 entries. “When I heard the news that I won, I was very excited, totally honored, and I feel very privileged to have a piece played by the Hartford Symphony Orchestra,” he said. “I am especially excited to work with Maestra Kuan. The strong, empowered, expressive woman I tried to capture in my piece is exemplified by women like Maestra Kuan, as well as by Hartford area teachers, doctors, nurses and businesswomen.”

At the Masterworks concerts, the HSO and Maestra Kuan perform the Copland and LaRosa Fanfares, John Mackey’s Harvest: Concerto for Trombone, featuring HSO principal trombonist Brian Diehl, and Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 4 in G Major, with soprano Jamilyn Manning-White.

LaRosa receives a $1,000 prize. He’ll soon leave for the University of Indiana at Bloomington, where he’ll enroll in the D.M.A. program for composition, and he hopes his “Fanfare” win will eventually give his composing career a boost.

“This is my first professional orchestra gig,” LaRosa said. “I’m hoping some of the exposure will be really good and that more people will learn about my music and want to get to know my music. For me, that’s really what it’s all about: communicating with people through my music.”

HARTFORD SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA MASTERWORKS SERIES: MAHLER’S FOURTH takes place Thursday through Sunday, May 28-31 at the Bushnell’s Belding Theater in Hartford. Tickets start at $38.50. For more information, call 860-987-5900 or visit hartfordsymphony.org.