Ben Morris is a composer and jazz pianist known for blending genres and telling unconventional stories through music. Influenced by his Norwegian heritage, he explored folk music's impact on Norwegian jazz during a Fulbright Grant in Oslo. His debut album, Pocket Guides, received critical acclaim and multiple awards. Beyond jazz, Ben is a versatile composer for film, theatre, and opera, with works performed by top ensembles. He currently serves as Assistant Professor of Composition at Stephen F. Austin State University and holds advanced degrees from the University of Colorado Boulder, Rice University, and the University of Miami.

Patrick O’Malley is an award-winning composer of symphonic, chamber, and film music. Whether writing for an orchestra or electronic textures, his music embraces abstract worlds and emotions with the goal of igniting listeners’ imaginations. His classical works have been performed across the United States and Europe, and his film music has been heard in several American film festivals. O’Malley has been recognized or performed by organizations including the Albany, Minnesota, Ft. Wayne, and Milwaukee Symphonies, the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s National Composer Intensive, The ASCAP Morton Gould Award, and The Aaron Copland House Residency. He was named Composer of the Year by the Sioux City Symphony in 2018, and made his Carnegie Hall debut with the New York Youth Symphony in 2021. O’Malley also serves as the arranger and a conductor for the video game concert series Journey LIVE with Grammy-nominated composer Austin Wintory. O’Malley completed his masters and doctoral degrees in music at the University of Southern California where he studied with Andrew Norman and Sean Friar. He divides his time between living in Los Angeles California, and Lake Charlevoix, Michigan.

Alex Paxton is an award-winning composer and jazz trombonist known for his highly innovative compositions and dynamic performances. His scores, published by Ricordi Berlin, have garnered praise from esteemed sources such as the BBC Magazine and the Financial Times, describing his work as packed with life force and hyperkinetic rainbow-hued joy. Recipient of numerous awards including the Ivor Novello, Paul Hindemith Prize, and Ernst von Siemens Composer Prize, Alex defies genre boundaries with his modern and future-oriented style. His music has been performed internationally by renowned orchestras and ensembles, and he has released critically acclaimed albums like "MUSIC for BOSCH PEOPLE" and "HAPPY MUSIC for ORCHESTRA." In addition to his compositional work, Alex is an accomplished jazz trombone soloist and founder of the Dreammusics ensemble. He is also dedicated to music education, teaching composition and improvisation at prestigious institutions like Trinity Laban Conservatoire. Alex's vision for new music aims to transform classical music into a truly global phenomenon.

An avid collaborator, Camila Agosto is an electroacoustic composer and interdisciplinary artist currently based in New York City. Camila seeks to discover intersections of her work with additional artistic fields through partnerships with other musicians, visual artists, choreographers, instrument builders, and creators. Her projects range from acoustic and electroacoustic concert works and orchestral scores to interdisciplinary projects incorporating visual media and dance, and from solo instruments and larger ensembles to fixed media works. Her music is both fully notated and improvisational and often employs extended instrumental techniques, exhibiting a particular emphasis on the exploration of different timbral and textural elements. Within her works, Camila is interested in uncovering the sonic potentialities of acoustic instruments through highlighting and exposing the human element of live performance.

Mary Kouyoumdjian is a composer and documentarian with projects ranging from concert works to multimedia collaborations and film scores. As a first generation Armenian-American and having come from a family directly affected by the Lebanese Civil War and Armenian Genocide, her compositional work often integrates recorded testimonies with resilient individuals and field recordings of place to invite empathy by humanizing complex experiences around social and political conflict. She has received commissions from such organizations as the Kronos Quartet, New York Philharmonic, Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Alarm Will Sound, Beth Morrison Projects, and Bang on a Can. Kouyoumdjian is a cofounder of the annual new music conference New Music Gathering, is on faculty at the Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins University and The New School, is proud to have her music published on Schott’s PSNY, and is based in Brooklyn, NY.

Carrie Frey is a New York City-based violist, teacher, improviser, and composer focused on inquisitive collaborations and encouraging creativity in her students. An enthusiastic proponent of new music, she has premiered over 250 pieces. Frey is the violist of the Rhythm Method (“a group of individuals with distinct compositional voices and a collective vision for the future of the string quartet” - I Care If You Listen) and a founding member of string trio Chartreuse and string quartet Desdemona. She has performed with many of New York City’s notable contemporary ensembles, including Wet Ink Large Ensemble, AMOC*, Talea Ensemble, Wavefield, Cantata Profana, and the International Contemporary Ensemble. Frey improvises as a member of Simone Baron’s genre-bending Arco Belo ensemble and with electroacoustic trio Hierophant (with Alex van Gils and Alec Goldfarb). Her compositions, described as “a moldering compost heap” (I Care if You Listen), have been performed by the Rhythm Method, Arco Belo, Adrianne Munden-Dixon, and Kal Sugatski. Her debut sonata album, The Grey Light of Day, with pianist Robert Fleitz, was released in 2016, and her first solo album will be released on Gold Bolus in December 2023. Carrie is a graduate of Oberlin Conservatory and the Manhattan School of Music Contemporary Performance Program, and is currently pursuing a doctorate at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

🌐 https://freyaviol.tumblr.com/

💿 a chorus like distant screaming: https://youtu.be/paNHWcMPlvQ?si=dKhr80sRBL-XYrq2

💿 Seaglass/Pebble: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeVIT8mKhTM

💿 Gone / Back: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1661SnhWKvk

📺 Saad’s main channel: https://www.youtube.com/@saadhaddadmusic

👨🏻‍🏫 BOOK a lesson with me here: https://www.saadnhaddad.com/lessons.html

📰 NEWSLETTER that shares the latest news about my music and shows:  https://saadnhaddad.us9.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=d52b653fc543f4ca604265d53&id=70d2af18c6

📘 SHOP for composition-related resources: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/saadhaddad/extras

🕒 Timestamps 

02:18 “a chorus like distant screaming,” for string quartet

14:35 “Gone / Back,” for string quartet

25:16 “Seaglass/Pebble,” for string quartet

Christian Quiñones is a Puerto Rican composer who explores personal and vulnerable stories through the lens of cultural identity. From sampling to auto-tune, and to interactive multimedia, Christian is interested in interacting with existing music to create intertextual narratives.

Recently Christian was selected as a composer in residence at the Copland House, and as a fellow for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra Workshop, Cabrillo Festival, and the Bang on a Can Summer Festival. In 2020 he was selected for the Earshot Underwood Orchestra Readings where he worked with the American Composers Orchestra. 

He has received commissions from the New York Youth Symphony, Dogs of Desire (Albany Symphony), Transient Canvas, the icarus Quartet, the Bergamot String Quartet, Chromic Duo and the Victory Players where Christian was the 2018-2019 composer in residence. 

His music has been performed by leading ensembles and performers such as Alarm Will Sound, Dal Niente, Hub New Music, Loadbang, Charlotte Mundy, Dither Quartet, Bergamot Quartet, Yarn/Wire, Onix Ensemble, Chromic Duo, Unheard-of Ensemble, Trio Sanromá, Victory Players, Chromic Duo, the American Composers Orchestra, and René Izquierdo.

He obtained his BM in Music Composition at the Conservatorio de Música de Puerto Rico, studying composition and orchestration with Alfonso Fuentes, and in 2019 Christian was a recipient of the Graduate College Master’s Fellowship at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where studied with Carlos Carrillo and Reynold Tharp. Currently, Christian is a Ph.D. President’s fellow at Princeton University where he studies with Steve Mackey, Donnacha Dennehy, Nathalie Joachim, Juri Seo, and Tyondai Braxton.

🌐 https://christianquinonesmusic.com/

💿 “Hasta que no pueda,” for amplified sinfonietta and sampler: https://on.soundcloud.com/mDPSC

💿 “My voice is a broken chorus,” for amplified soprano and electronics https://youtu.be/RJwd4_F42NI?si=35zzgDTRZeqgfPLj

📺 Saad’s main channel: https://www.youtube.com/@saadhaddadmusic

👨🏻‍🏫 BOOK a lesson with me here: https://www.saadnhaddad.com/lessons.html

📰 NEWSLETTER that shares the latest news about my music and shows:  https://saadnhaddad.us9.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=d52b653fc543f4ca604265d53&id=70d2af18c6

📘 SHOP for composition-related resources: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/saadhaddad/extras

Touch Designer: https://derivative.ca/

🕒 Timestamps 

01:45 “Hasta que no pueda,” for amplified sinfonietta and sampler

21:55 “Artifacts,” for laptop, keyboard, live electronics, and visuals

40:30 “My voice is a broken chorus,” for amplified soprano and electronics [II. waning crescent]

Since his solo debut with the legendary Philadelphia Orchestra at age nine, violinist Timothy Schwarz has had a brilliant career as a soloist, chamber musician, and pedagogue. His many accomplishments include solo and chamber music CD’s under the Naxos, Albany, Centaur and IBM labels. Schwarz served as an Artistic Ambassador for the United States from 1996 – 2001, bringing American music throughout the Middle East, North Africa, and Southeast Asia. These tours started a decades-long dedication to performing American compositions, with an emphasis on female and minority composers. An avid educator, Schwarz is currently Associate Professor and Head of Strings at Rowan University, President of the New Jersey chapter of the America String Teachers Association, Artistic Director and Founder of Techne Music, and Visiting Professor of Performance at the London College of Music. He owns several fine violins and bows, including a J. B. Vuillaume, a Carlo Antonio Testore, and a Dominique Peccatte.

🌐 https://cpa.rowan.edu/_bios/schwarz-timothy.html

💿 “Fantasia on Lama badaa yatasana,” by Steven Sametz: https://youtu.be/c_K8YBX2JUY?si=O-QJatdCprv1fMCr

💿 “Rhapsody No. 2,” by Jessie Montgomery: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IArdVEniFQ

💿 “Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano,” by Avner Dorman: https://youtu.be/T0_Td4yi554?si=EuX5Ul6dbqdW2pTY

💿 “Darshan,” by Reena Esmail: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrAs8W5eV1E

📺 Saad’s main channel: https://www.youtube.com/@saadhaddadmusic

👨🏻‍🏫 BOOK a lesson with me here: https://www.saadnhaddad.com/lessons.html

📰 NEWSLETTER that shares the latest news about my music and shows:  https://saadnhaddad.us9.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=d52b653fc543f4ca604265d53&id=70d2af18c6

📘 SHOP for composition-related resources: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/saadhaddad/extras

🕒 Timestamps 

08:54 “Fantasia on Lama badaa yatasana,” by Steven Sametz

18:00 “Rhapsody No. 2,” by Jessie Montgomery

29:50 “Sonata No. 2 for Violin and Piano,” by Avner Dorman

49:40 “Darshan,” by Reena Esmail

The music of award-winning composer Polina Nazaykinskaya is performed regularly in the United States, Russia, and Europe. Her first symphonic poem, "Winter Bells," is in high demand every season by orchestras such as the Minnesota Orchestra and the Russian National Orchestra, among others.

Composer and clarinetist Derek Bermel has been internationally recognized for his creativity, theatricality, and virtuosity. Bermel is acclaimed for music that is “intricate, witty, clear-spoken, tender, and extraordinarily beautiful [and] covers an amazing amount of ground, from the West African rhythms of Dust Dances to the Bulgarian folk strains of Thracian Echoes, to the shimmering harmonic splendor of Elixir. In the hands of a composer less assured, all that globe-trotting would seem like affectation; Bermel makes it an artistic imperative."  (Joshua Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle). Bermel and his works have received the Alpert Award in the Arts, Rome Prize, Guggenheim and Fulbright Fellowships, the Trailblazer Award from the American Music Center, and the Academy Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Formerly the Artistic Director of the American Composers Orchestra, Bermel is also curator of the Gamper Festival at the Bowdoin International Music Festival. He recently enjoyed a four-year tenure as artist-in-residence at the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) in Princeton, and a year as Composer in Residence with the Seattle Symphony. An avid educator, Bermel mentors young composers through ACO’s many educational programs, including Earshot and the Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute, and directs the Copland House's CULTIVATE emerging composers institute. He also founded the New York Youth Symphony’s Composition Program, formerly known as Making Score. He has given masterclasses at conservatories and musical institutions around the world, and has led several workshops alongside frequent collaborators Wendy S. Walters and S. Ama Wray.

Bermel holds B.A. and D.M.A. degrees from Yale University and the University of Michigan. Notable among his composition teachers are William Albright, Louis Andriessen, William Bolcom, Henri Dutilleux, and Michael Tenzer. His music is published by Peermusic Classical (Americas, Asia) and Faber Music (Europe, Australia).

🌐 https://www.derekbermel.com/

💿 “Intonations,” for string quartet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HIPlvYV98Q&list=PLQbBZhbfWFNm3YMztsuR6yWfIvDllBmNe

💿 “Migration series,” for jazz band and orchestra: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3b2V2MY1Mc&list=PLQbBZhbfWFNlfuCERWth0jc4PfTvhkoMs

💿 “Mar de setembro,” for vocalist and chamber orchestra: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KW6bl8g5bvc&list=PLQbBZhbfWFNn-iyTkM8AT0I-YcZIuu4xA

📺 Saad’s main channel: https://www.youtube.com/@saadhaddadmusic

👨🏻‍🏫 BOOK a lesson with me here: https://www.saadnhaddad.com/lessons.html

📰 NEWSLETTER that shares the latest news about my music and shows:  https://saadnhaddad.us9.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=d52b653fc543f4ca604265d53&id=70d2af18c6

📘 SHOP for composition-related resources: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/saadhaddad/extras

🕒 Timestamps 

00:00 American Composers Orchestra 

04:06 Driving Penderecki: https://www.derekbermel.com/blog/2013/9/22/driving-mr-krzysztof

10:27 “Hustle” from “Intonations”

18:54 “Migration series,” for jazz band and orchestra

35:30 “Mar de setembro,” for vocalist and chamber orchestra