Towards A Shining Light '50 for 50' Global Composer Project
About the project
The idea for this project arose from my visit in 2022 to the Museum of Humanity in Zaandam in The Netherlands https://www.museumofhumanity.nl/en/ons. Looking around at hundreds of human faces of various ethnic backgrounds, cultural heritage, and life stories I thought that it would be fascinating to do the same through music - to discover how music creation reflects human condition in our modern world.
Does music represent unity or diversity?
Can a composer speak directly to a listener of who they are through 1 minute of music?
Would it be possible to create an impression of humanity using sound?
Would it be possible to get a sense of place and nationality after hearing a 1-minute work?
50 composers from around the world (both professional and amateur) were invited to write a self-portrait of 1 minute in duration, scored for trio of clarinet, viola, and piano. The represented countries are Argentina, Australia, Canada, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Mexico, The Netherlands, Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, South Africa, Taiwan, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, USA, and Venezuela. The diversity of styles ranges from traditional/contemporary Classical and Film music to innovative jazz, fusions, and experimental music.
All 50 self-portraits will be presented as one continuous collage in live performances by trios in Australia, The Netherlands and the USA. During the performance, each self-portrait will be accompanied by a projected image (visual self-portrait) provided by the composer. The concerts will be recorded for online access.
Other aims of this unprecedented and truly international project are to:
- galvanize, invigorate, and share compositional practices in the international community
- showcase cultural and artistic diversity
- foster international collaborations between contemporary composers and performers
- provide an opportunity for emerging and less-known composers/performers to be heard
- establish an ongoing platform for the global community of composers and performers
- create work for local and international music creatives
- contribute by 50 new works to the repertoire for viola, clarinet, and piano
The trios presenting this project in live and recorded performances are:
Ensemble Flex (Australia): Dr Rianne Wilschut clarinet (https://youtu.be/TdXVhPZQl_w), Nicholas Tomkin viola (https://youtu.be/UzvhqXc_gHc), Alex Raineri piano (https://alexraineri.com/)
Pelgrim Trio (The Netherlands): Karin Dolman viola, Thea Rosmulder clarinet, Caecilia Boschman piano (http://pelgrimtrio.nl/luister/)
Lamont Trio (USA): Ash Mach viola (https://www.ashmach.com), John Griffin clarinet (Johngclarinetstudio.com), Christopher Thompson piano
Workshops:
Ensemble Flex (Australia) - September 28, 2023
Pelgrim Trio (The Netherlands) - September 26, 2023
Lamont Trio (USA) - September 14, 2023
PERFORMANCE DATES:
Ensemble Flex (Australia) - November 19, 2023 at 4pm in the 4MBS Performance Studio in Coorparoo, Brisbane (Queensland), Australia
Pelgrim Trio (The Netherlands) - December 2, 2023 at 8.15pm AND December 3, 2023 at 4.30pm in Kunstkerk, Dordrecht Museumstraat 65 in Dordrecht, The Netherlands
Lamont Trio (USA) - December 8, 2023 in Hamilton Recital Hall at the Newman Center for the Performing Arts in Denver (Colorado), USA
Paul Kopetz
Meet The Composers
(in alphabetical order)
Michael Bakrnčev (Australia/Macedonia)
Michael Bakrnčev is a multi-award-winning Australian composer, specializing in acoustic forms and utilizing traditional notation practices. His music blends ancient aesthetics with modern techniques and challenges traditional boundaries, resulting in a mesmerizing and intellectually stimulating musical journey.
Through intricate compositions, Michael Bakrnčev explores abstract and complex themes, including Eastern philosophy, folklore, and the intersection of technology and scientific advancement with human consciousness. Michael invites listeners on a journey of introspection and discovery through his distinctive approach to music, affectionately referred to as a dialect of the contemporary classical genre.
Andrés Ballesteros (USA/Mexico)
J. Andrés Ballesteros is a composer, educator, and speaker based in Boston, MA. His works are centered in classical music but include a variety of musical styles, from Latin music to electronics and theater. Andrés regularly collaborates with youth and community organizations to create original works that center their experiences. These include pieces that focus on immigration in the USA, spotlight the impacts of the climate crisis, and celebrate the Latine experience. He has been recognized for his leadership in elevating marginalized voices in the classical music world, including expanding the representation and performance of works by women composers and composers of color; co-creating artwork with individuals, organizations, and communities around Greater Boston; and, as Community Director of White Snake Projects and through independent projects and administrative consulting, working to change the paradigm of classical music’s place in the broader community. His work has been recognized in Ana Francisca Vega’s book Corazón de Mexicanos Como Yo, highlighting 50 Mexican-Americans who broke boundaries; by El Mundo Boston, who named him a Latino 30 Under 30; and by the League of American Orchestras, who have twice invited Andrés to speak at their national conference.
Robert Burrell (Australia)
Robert Burrell (PhD) is a semi-retired Composer, Educator and former Senior Lecturer (UPSI) with over forty years of experience in music education. His instrumental and choral works have been recorded and performed both in Australia and internationally and his utilitarian works for education are popular and are widely employed. Currently, he is the Music Director and Conductor of the Second Winds Concert Band.
To compose a self-portrait, which lasts 60 seconds, I drew from many previous techniques and source materials that are present in my other works, reinventing and integrating them into this piece. The most prominent of these are:
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A mode of limited transposition
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Additive and compound rhythms
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Polyphony
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Simultaneous layered modes and tonalities.
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A folk song used in my Orchestral Variations on a Famiglia Theme
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Motifs from the call of the Australian Pied Butcherbird
At times energetic, contrasted with a wistful introspection I hope you will enjoy this take on Towards A Shining Light.
Daniel Carter (USA)
Daniel Carter lives in Utah and has composed and published several hundred compositions. He is principally known as a choral composer and has been performed and recorded by such organizations as The Mormon Tabernacle Choir. "Come unto Him" was recorded in 2011 and soared to #1 status on Billboard's Classical Top 100. He composed "Prelude" in 2016 after he discovered he had a 50% hearing loss. At this critical juncture, wondering if he should continue to compose, he asked himself, “What do you want to hear, and how will you achieve that?” This piece is the first composition as a result.
Think of this piece as a one-minute tour into the cosmos. The contrasts between major and minor harmonies are the musical vibrations of flashes of light, dark, and color. Then continue the exploration inside your own soul—the feeling of the newness of discovery, awe, and wonder.
The harmonic construction of this piece is based on the fluidity of key centers. The opening arpeggio is both a B-minor chord with an added 6th (G), or a Gmaj7th chord in the first inversion, yet the harmonic progression indicates it does not behave as either.
Emmanuel Chavaneau (France)
I was born on April 13, 1962 in Angoulême, in my mother's country. I didn't grow up there but came to live there later. My parents weren't musicians, but since I was always singing, they enrolled me in a music class. I chose the violin simply because the teacher taught us the notes with her violin. Very quickly I started to write notes myself to play duets with my teacher. I then switched to the viola, first because the school orchestra was sorely lacking in violas, then because I liked playing the big brother of the violin.
Later, I studied medicine, while continuing to study violin, viola, harmony, chamber music at the conservatory.
I finally became a psychiatrist and I still practice this profession which I love because I never tire of getting to know people, but music remains my identity, my breath.
I write for my friends, homemade compositions, especially chamber music with strings, winds, voice, theremin (this funny instrument that I have been studying for a few years), tales and musical games. Chamber music is a love story, it goes wonderfully with evenings where we play, drink and laugh.
Catharina Clement (Holland)
Catharina Clement (1998) is a Dutch composer with an affinity for interdisciplinary art forms (such as opera and musical theatre) as well as acoustic and vocal music. She graduated from University of Amsterdam (MA) as a musicologist and currently studies composition with Willem Jeths and Meriç Artaç and classing singing with Sasja Hunnego at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam.
Clement’s music is characterised by its strong lyrical, eclectic, and colourful nature. She is inspired by personal stories, psychology, nature, and mysticism. In her music, she concentrates on emotional transmission, attempting to connect people through her music and to affect a wide audience.
For more information about Catharina, please visit her website: www.catharinaclement.com.
Ray Currier (USA)
Ray Currier creates music that is engaging, yet challenging, compelling the listener to put aside preconceptions and meet the music halfway. He achieves this by selectively combining techniques and stylistic aspects of different musical genres as well as elements of sound art, noise, randomness, improvisation, and poetry.
A childhood foundation of piano and brass instrument study eventually led to a bachelor’s degree in jazz composition from Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, after a two-year flirtation with computer engineering. Graduate study in composition swiftly followed.
Evidencing a deep appreciation of improvised music, Ray’s writing frequently fuses jazz-influenced sensibilities with atonality and instruments outside of the traditional jazz canon.
Ray uses music to explore, and bring awareness to, current social issues: a suite of contemporary classical chamber works focuses on homelessness, a musical fundraiser supported conflict relief efforts, and settings of Ray’s original poetry, composed for a typical “bar band,” explore life as a city-center resident of a post-industrial American city.
Current projects include a requiem for extended jazz orchestra and chorus, and an improvisational work for symphony orchestra.
Ray currently resides in southeastern Massachusetts, USA, with his wife, Anna Murfin, an artist and chef.
James Else (Great Britain)
James Else is composer, filmmaker and lecturer. He studied music at the University of Glasgow and King’s College London, before completing a PhD in composition at the University of York with Nicola LeFanu. He is active as a freelance composer including recent performances by the BBC Philharmonic (as part of their Red Brick Sessions), Cuatro Puntos, Delta Saxophone Quartet, Ligeti String Quartet, Jeremy Huw Williams and Ian Pace. James has had his music performed across the UK and Ireland, broadcast on BBC Radio 3, and he regularly composes television music for BBC Scotland.
James has also been heavily involved in contemporary dance since 2005, specialising in its relationships to other art practices both in creative and theoretical fields. He is now Head of Postgraduate Studies at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance. Alongside his teaching at NSCD he works as a TV producer primarily for BBC broadcast, including the BAFTA Scotland winning programme ‘The Great Climb’ and the Scottish Adventure Award winning series ‘The Adventure Show’ currently in its 18th series.
Dylan Fixmer (USA)
Colorado based composer and musician, Dylan Fixmer, has been described as “a very sincere creative artist” by composer Chen Yi and “an incredible composer” by conductor Lowell Graham. Classically trained at University of Colorado and Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Fixmer’s music is inspired by the beauty of nature and the human spirit and draws upon a multitude of musical styles and traditions from Classical to Rock, Jazz to Irish, Bluegrass to Hip-hop. Recent works include commissions and premiers from Opera Guanajuato, the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra, the Front Range Chamber Players, the Crested Butte Music Festival, Old Machines Duo, UCHealth and the University of Northern Colorado Faculty Recital Series. Fixmer is currently Composer in Residence for the Greeley Philharmonic Orchestra who premiered his Concerto for Violin: In Memory of Terri Sternberg with violinist Sarah Off, “which received a rapturous reception when it was performed” (The Times of London) on September 24, 2022. As a multi-faceted and imaginative composer, Fixmer writes for multifarious contexts from orchestral and traditional solo/ensemble work, to theater, film, and narrative including the soundtrack for the audio book “Adventures of a Mystic Warrior” by Robert Rocco D’Ordine, and author Craig Child’s multi-media production “Dark Night
Fiona Frank (Great Britain)
Fiona is inspired by Nature, and her unique style of writing comes from the heart. She started composing after setting her poems to music. She has written for chamber and orchestral forces as well as choral. Fiona trained as an artist, and taught painting and drawing whilst practising as a painter and colourist. Her lifelong passion for music co-existed in the form of violin playing, chamber music and orchestral playing. Fiona writes in a tonal, accessible style in the modern ‘classical’ idiom with vibrant harmonic colours and rhythmical excitement. Her music is very visual. Audiences across Europe have been deeply moved by her expressive writing which is life affirming and powerful. Her ‘Autumn Suite’ was performed in Padua by I Solisti Veneti.
2022: Fiona won 1st prize at the "First International Competition of Composition Patricia Adkins Chiti" with “La Pizzica” in Bari, Italy. Fiona’s oboe quartet was performed in a concert entirely of her music, with various subsets of the medium this May 2023. Madison McIntosh performed her ‘Last Judgement’ in Florida, June 30th and ‘Mystical Swan in Blue’ for solo piano received its 4th performance in St Woolos Cathedral, Newport, Wales with Charles Matthews, piano in August, ‘23.
Giovanni Grosskopf (Italy)
Born in 1966, he graduated at the Milan Conservatory (Piano, Composition, Computer Music) studying among others with Niccolò Castiglioni, Franco Donatoni, Pippo Molino, Bruno Canino.
Very active composer, with compositions performed in Italy, The Netherlands, Brazil, U.S.A., Switzerland, Portugal, England, Israel, Sweden, broadcast by the national radios of Italy, Vatican and Argentina and published by Suvini Zerboni and ABEditore, he has collaborated with Insight Quartet, Linz Trompeten Ensemble, Quartetto Grandi, Ensemble Webern, New Made Ensemble, Ned Ensemble, Compagnia della Luna Nuova, Luca Colardo, Gemma Bertagnolli, Silvia Cesco, Gianandrea Noseda, Emanuele Segre, Enrico Viccardi, David Whitwell, Leopoldo Saracino and has ongoing collaborations in Norway and Italy.
He has worked in Italy, Lithuania, Brazil as a musicologist, on a new method for classifying chords in atonal or late-tonal music according to their timbral colour, for giving a logical directionality to harmony outside tonality, used in daily composition practice (and historical music analysis).
Since 1985 he has been performing as a pianist, devoting himself to Bach, rare monographic programmes, 20th century composers and contemporaries. He is teaching Harmony and Music Analysis at the Conservatory of Milan, where he is also teaching Ethnomusicology and carries out international scientific activity in ethnomusicology and cultural anthropology.
Antti Haapalainen (Finland)
Antti Haapalainen (b. 1966) is a Finnish composer, conductor, and music theory lecturer at the Turku Conservatory. He has studied singing, piano, harpsichord, viola and conducting at Turku Conservatory and Turku University of Applied Science. He has also studied choir conducting at Kurt Thomas Courses in Utrecht, Netherlands.
Haapalainen has written music for solo instruments, ensembles, choirs and orchestras. His music has been performed by Turku Ensemble, Kajaanin orkesteri, Turku Conservatory Chamber Choir, Aino Choir and many others. He was a conductor of Naantali Chamber Choir in 2012-19 and he has been a conductor of Turun Musiikin Ystävät orchestra since 2021.
Gregory Hamilton (USA)
Dr. Hamilton enjoys a wide variety of activities and interests as a composer, recitalist on the Organ, and Harpsichord, as a conductor, and soloist and continuo player on the Harpsichord, Lute and Theorbo. He is skilled in improvisation, and frequently includes improvisation in concerts.
Holder of the A.R.C.M. and M.MUS from the Royal College of Music, London, He was also a scholarship doctoral student in organ at the University of Michigan.
As a composer, over 100 of his works are in publication by Morning Star, Augsburg Fortress, Cantica Nova, WLP, Concordia, Paraclete Press, Sheet Music Plus, and Lorenz, and are performed internationally in concert halls and churches, schools and airports.
Three recordings on the label RosaMystica feature Hamilton:
(Available on Amazon and all streaming services)
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Illuminations: Chamber Music of Gregory Hamilton
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Organ Works of Dom Paul Benoit Vol. 1
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Hymns
YouTube: ghmus7
Cindi Hsu (Taiwan/USA)
Cindi Hsu’s music is noted for its richness in color, expressive melodic lines and open sincerity. Her music inspires to capture the essence of true human emotions and feelings, expressing wit and a sparkling sense of humor at times, as well as the capacity for expressions of deep pathos. Her “storytelling” composition style was instilled in her early childhood, as she loved the spur of the moment bedtime stories that her father made up and told her each night. Ms. Hsu’s music has been performed in Asia, Europe, and the United States, including Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall. For More information, please visit.
Illia Humeniuk (Ukraine/Estonia)
Illia Humeniuk was born on 21 March 2000 in Mykolaiv, Ukraine.
In 2015 he entered the class of teacher V.Maikova at the Choral Conducting Department of the Mykolaiv College of Musical Arts, at the same time he started to study composition. At the festival "Vechir premier" ("Opening night") in Mykolaiv in 2018 and 2019 he was awarded a special prize.
In 2021 Illia became a student at the Choral Conducting Department of the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre. During his studies at the Academy he participated in various projects, for instance in the opera project K.Orff "Der Mond" and the Conducting Masterclass with The University of Illinois Chamber Choir (cond. Andrew Megill). He also conducted some projects with the EMTA Choir - Concert of Ukrainian Music and Voice in Plugged (concert of contemporary choral music).
From April he began to compose for the Orthodox Singers (cond. V.Petrov). With them he had several commissions for sacred works. One of these works - Pater Noster - had its UK premiere by the Anchorae Quartet at the Bristol Contemporary Choral Day. Rakvere
Theatre commissioned music for the spectacle 'Lohe linna all' (Dragon Under the City) for its winter performances in December 2022.
https://sites.google.com/view/ihumeniuk/news
Matthias Kadar (Germany)
Hello!
I’m Matthias Kadar, a composer and singer of German-Hungarian parentage. At this moment I’m greeting you from Berlin in Germany where I live and work.
I studied with Christian Lauba in Bordeaux in France and later with Theo Loevendie at the Amsterdam Conservatory in The Netherlands.
I seem to have a certain musical language and distinct writing style; it surely has to do with the fact that I have composed about 350 works. Most of them have been performed.
I keep looking for lyricism, atmosphere, and timbre. Texts and poems play a special role: they inspire me with the sound and melody of the language in which they are written. My contemporary compositions for voice are as if they were dictated by the language: the prosody, the meaning and the 'weight' of words and phrases, but also by the specific musical characteristics of a language, its sound, melody, rhythm, and accentuation.
As a singer and chansonnier, I have performed in various festivals in Europe. I invite you all on my website, where you ll here lots of my music.
Enjoy the performance!
Matthias
Paul Kopetz (Australia)
Paul Kopetz is an award-winning composer and a multi-instrumentalist, arranger, conductor, and teacher. He is a graduate of The University of Melbourne, The Victorian College of the Arts, The Rotterdam Conservatorium, and Monash University. His works have been performed in the USA, Asia, Europe, and Australia. Paul’s music has been described as “a highly emotive and colourful mix of poly-stylistic soundscapes where Contemporary Classical forms provide a flexible springboard for personal journeys of reflection, social commentary, explorations of the natural world and above all artistic integrity”.
Paul's music has been awarded numerous prizes in composition contests around the world. He has been commissioned and performed locally in Australia, and internationally at festivals and in concert series by acclaimed international artists. His creative output includes music for symphony orchestra, chamber ensembles of various sizes and instrumentation, strings, choirs, wind orchestra, solo instruments, and voice.
His compositions have been released internationally by RMN Classical, Ablaze Records, Petrichor Records, and Navona Records.
He is a dedicated and passionate music educator as well as a woodwind examiner with the Australian Music Examination Board. Paul is a represented artist with Australian Music Centre.
Eunseog Lee (UK)
Eunseog Lee is an award-winning composer based in Coventry. He read music at King's College London, where he studied composition under Rob Keeley and Joseph Phibbs. He graduated with First Class Honours in 2015 then completed his postgraduate studies in composition with Robert Saxton and Martyn Harry at the University of Oxford in 2017. He is currently undertaking a PhD in composition with Michael Ellison at the University of Bristol. His music reflects his multidisciplinary approach to the arts, drawing on a number of influences including folklore, East Asian cultures and his Christian faith.
His work has been performed both home and abroad - in 2016, his award-winning piece 'Daybreak' was featured in a documentary on national Korean television and in 2019, his work ‘Sunshower’ was premiered by AsianArt Ensemble in Berlin. In 2020, he completed a new project under Sound and Music's New Voices scheme to tell the story of Biblical exile through Western and traditional Korean music, which was later selected for the George Butterworth Award. He has since been commissioned by the ORA Singers in partnership with Tate Modern to compose a piece in response to a work from their collection.
Stephanie Leotsakos (USA)
Stephanie E. Leotsakos (she/her) (b.1993) is a Greek-Colombian-American composer. She is also a classical soprano, violinist/violist, conductor, music theorist, educator, business owner, toy inventor, and entrepreneur. Her compositional style explores open tonality, lyricism, and drama, and it has been described as emotionally vulnerable and deeply colorful, almost synaesthetic. An opera enthusiast, Stephanie has written and premiered two original chamber operas, Young Goodman Brown (2022) and OMG (2016). YGB received a glowing review for its recent international premiere at the Fringe TheatreFest in Barnstaple, U.K., which commended the program as “seriously good” and “not to be missed by all music lovers” (Richard Prowse, The Fringe Buzz, 06/25/23). OMG, which premiered under Stephanie’s baton in 2016, was awarded Princeton University’s Isidore and Helen Sacks Memorial Prize, and was reproduced at The Tank in NYC. Stephanie has also composed some larger orchestral works and numerous other small ensemble works for voice, instruments, and piano, as well as various electroacoustic and mixed-media works. Stephanie holds an M.A. from Rutgers University and a B.A. from Princeton University in composition/theory.
Instagram/Facebook@stephanieleotsakos
Emiliano Manna (Italy)
Born in 1993, Emiliano Manna approached rather late the music world but tries to make up for lost time: although his primary field is Piano Performance and Teaching (graduated in Santa Cecilia Conservatory of Rome) Emiliano is deeply interested in composition as well - counting performances of his pieces in Italy, Germany and the United States - and in the interpretation of early music as a recorder player, having the honour to play in venues such as Dubai Expo, Malta’s Teatru Rjal and Rome’s Imperial Fora.
Sam Mavor (UK)
Sam is originally from Swindon in Wiltshire but spent most of his time growing up in the heart of North Yorkshire. After showing a clear interest and desire for composition whilst studying A-level, he went onto study at the University of Hull on a BMus Course. Having now securely planted himself in Hull, Sam studied for a further two years to achieve his MMus. Not on only do these achievements help reflect Sam's passion and aptitude for music and composition, but they also help to show the rewards of hard work and determination.
Sam works closely with leading orchestras and has recently collaborated with the Northern Film Orchestra (NFO), recording one of his original compositions – Poppies. A piece written solely for string orchestra, under the direction of Melvin Tay. Sam’s next work is for full orchestra, which will be recorded with the NFO in 2024.
Although Sam has a portfolio of different types of compositions, his main area of expertise is in cinematic film music. His music is often emotive as Sam creates pieces which are harmonically and texturally rich. Sam is constantly looking to evolve his compositional techniques and takes inspiration from Henry Jackman, John Powell, and Alan Silvestri.
Barbara Mayer (Germany)
The German pianist and composer Barbara Mayer is a highly versatile artist: She revels in playing the works of seldom-performed composers, own compositions and improvisations in a variety of styles.
Barbara studied composition and piano at the prestigious Mozarteum Salzburg in Austria, with renowned Professors such as Adriana Hölszky and Margit Haider-Dechant. After completing her Master studies with the highest honours, she has recently received her PhD in Musicology at Mozarteum with an excellent final grade.
Barbara Mayer is the first female winner of the Young Artists’ Award for Composition of the City of Augsburg in their 50 years of history, 1st prizewinner in both piano and composition sections of the IBLA Grand Prize World Music Competition (Ragusa/New York) including a special distinction for her composition "Rigoletto im Spiegelland".
Her compositions are distributed by the renowned Viennese publishing house Universaledition.
Barbara’s numerous concert activities and commissioned works further highlight her excellence in her musical career, having composed for the Augsburg Philharmonics, the OENM, the Ligeti Quartet etc. She has performed her own compositions across various countries in numerous festivals. Some performance highlights include prestigious venues, such as the Mozarteum Wiener Saal and the Gasteig in Munich.
Carolyn Morris (Australia)
Carolyn is a composer, oboist and pianist based in Melbourne, Australia. With her music, Carolyn aims to spark the imagination of both the performer and listener. Many of her compositions are inspired by nature, and seek to communicate the essence of the human spirit and uplift the audience. She has composed music for chamber orchestra, choir, solo instruments, voice and chamber groups.
Carolyn studied oboe and piano at the Victorian College of the Arts Secondary School and subsequently graduated from the VCA with oboe as her principal study. Since graduating she has added to her performance, teaching and composing skills by using Kenja Communication Training. This has given her an increased understanding and awareness of the subtle energies of communication.
Carolyn has performed on oboe with the Australian Philharmonic Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra at St Paul's and Alpha Sinfonia.
As an accompanist she has played for the Melbourne Theatre Company and the Australian National Academy of Music, as well as oboists such as Diana Doherty, Anne Gilby, Gordon Hunt and Maurice Bourgue.
Carolyn is a pedagogical artist with the Australian Music Centre, and her music is published by Wirripang and Reedmusic. She was commissioned to compose the oboe sight reading book by the Australian Music Examination Board.
Christopher Mortlock (UK)
Chris (b. 1991) is a composer and hospital doctor, currently living and working in Christchurch, New Zealand.
Chris studied music at The University of Cambridge (M.Phil with Distinction) where he was awarded the 2014 Arthur Bliss Prize for Composition, and the University of Sussex (1st Class Honours). His composition teachers include Richard Causton, Martin Butler, and Tarik O’Regan. His music has been performed by professional, amateur, and school ensembles throughout the UK, the USA, and New Zealand, and broadcast on BBC television.
Alongside composition, Chris is an enthusiastic tenor, singing in choirs across the UK and NZ. He is especially grateful for his time singing with Robinson College Choir - under the direction of Tim Brown - where he discovered a love of choral music.
In 2016, Chris undertook a radical change in career and trained as a doctor at Warwick Medical School, graduating in 2020. His experience of medicine in the peak of the COVID pandemic led to a resurgence in his composition. Since then, he has found himself exploring experiences of healthcare in his music.
He currently lives in Christchurch, New Zealand where he balances his time between composing, medicine, and exploring the outdoors.
Angelique Mouyis (South Africa)
Angelique Mouyis is South African born to Greek-Cypriot parents, and resides in the New York tri-state area. In 2022, her opera Family written with Gabe Caruso premiered at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts in collaboration with American Opera Project. Her opera Bessie: The Blue-Eyed Xhosa (written with Mkhululi Mabija) was produced by Cape Town Opera in collaboration with UCT at the Artscape Theatre in Cape Town as part of Four:30 - Operas Made in South Africa in 2015. Other productions include Forget this City (Enthuse Theatre, NewYork, NY) and The Boy Who Never Grows Up (Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute, New York, NY). Angelique’s book Mikis Theodorakis: Finding Greece in his Music was published by Kerkyra Publishers in 2010. She graduated with a master’s degree in Music Composition from the University of the Witwatersrand under Jeanne Zaidel Rudolph and the late Mary Rörich (2006), an MFA in Musical Theatre Writing at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts (2008), and a Ph.D. in Music from Rutgers University under Robert Aldridge and Rebecca Cypess (2021). She is the recipient of a Southern African Music Rights Organisation post-graduate studies scholarship and the Ernest Oppenheimer Overseas Scholarship for the Performing Arts.
Gašper Muženič (Slovenia)
Gašper Muženič is a film and concert composer from Ljubljana, Slovenia. He started his musical journey by playing clarinet, and later switched to playing guitar as a self-taught musician at Poljane Grammar School, where he began writing his own music.
He studied composition and music theory under prof. Dušan Bavdek at the Ljubljana Academy of Music, where he graduated with summa cum laude honors with his master's thesis "Tension Cues in Film Music" and the performance of a symphonic poem titled "Metropola". During his studies, he received the student Prešeren Prize of the Academy of Music for his composition opus, and in 2018 his composition Netopir for solo clarinet was awarded first place at the Renaissance Festival competition in Armenia.
Today he mainly writes film music (Dante: A Replication, Prostost sveta, Stanovanje 33, Razglašena), and he regularly works with the RTV Slovenia, the literary festival Vilenica and many soloists and ensembles (Naja Mohorič, Špela Šrgan, trio Setsuna,...).
Catherine Neville (USA)
Based in New York, Catherine Neville is a composer of concert music for instrumental ensembles and choir. Performed and commissioned by ensembles and solo artists alike, Ms. Neville specializes in creating works that blend aspects of tonality and serial techniques, resulting in a unique and highly expressive musical language. Her music is heard in venues across the northeast United States and internationally, with premieres in New York’s Carnegie Hall and London’s Pissarro Gallery, as well as Washington, D.C, Seattle, Paris, and Perugia, Italy.
Neville’s debut album, Hold Your Center, was released in May of 2022 on all streaming platforms, exploring themes of self-discovery. Additionally, Ms. Neville’s music has been spotlighted in online publications The Cello Museum and the Flute Examiner.
Ms. Neville earned a Master of Arts degree in composition in 2022, from the Aaron Copland School of Music in Queens, NY, where she was a student of Jeff Nichols. Queens College granted Neville the Hugo Weisgall Award for her work in music theory and composition the same year. Ms. Neville holds additional degrees from Hofstra University (Master’s Distinction, music education) and the State University of New York at Stony Brook (Bachelor of Music, performance, clarinet).
Stig Nordhagen (Norway)
Stig Nordhagen (1966-) is a Norwegian clarinetist and composer, with studies from Oslo and Rotterdam. He has been writing music since he was 12, and his composition teachers during bachelor studies were Prof. Yngve Slettholm and Prof. Kjell Habbestad.
In 1994 he won the audition for a position in the Armed Forces Military Band of Southern Norway and started working as Principal Clarinettist in Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra. Nordhagen has participated in a number of recordings, both chamber and orchestral music.
All his works for euphonium, written over thirty years, are now being recorded. He has been nominated for the publishing prize three times for following works:
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Will To Victory Brigade North March
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Prillar & Halling Clarinet Concerto
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Continental Divide
The unique combination of being a performer, composer and educator gives him a deep felt knowledge of the various aspects of both the creative and performing process.
Nordhagen has built an extensive work list, including the commissioned set test piece for the European Brass Band Championships in 2013, and the 40th anniversary of the Norwegian Youth Symphony Orchestra. Tine Thing Helseth commissioned a trumpet concerto by Stig, and he has got numerous commissions by wind and brass bands. Nordhagen’s music is frequently played all around Europe.
Janet Oates (UK)
Janet studied composition at Royal Holloway, University of London, achieving a distinction in her MMus and going on to be awarded a PhD. She has written a chamber opera, an opera for amateurs, an oratorio for baroque forces, and a cantata for 6 sopranos. Other works are small-scale and intimate, including prize-winning songs; she runs an ongoing project called Closet Music which explores the auditory imagination rather than works to be performed out loud. She co-founded the Richmond New Music Collective and is the director of the Theorbo Today project, producing and performing new works for theorbo and voice with other historical instruments. She works with Contemporary Music for All (CoMA), as tutor/group leader and leads their contemporary Partsongs project, for which she has edited two volumes of new works published by Peters Edition. Another current project is exploring experimental music for choirs and for children. She is also a soprano (singing anything from early music to contemporary art song and close harmony) and choral director, with the aim of making a wide range of music, including contemporary music, accessible to the community.
Carlos Ocando (Venezuela)
Carlos Ocando graduated in 2012 in composition at the José Angel Lamas Higher School of Music. As a composer he has been awarded in 2012 with the municipal music prize in the mention: Chamber music with the work "On the edge" inspired by the poet Silvia Plath. His works have been premiered in various theaters in the city of Caracas. In the month of January of the year 2021, the prelude number IV for piano was premiered in the city of London under the interpretation of the English pianist María Marchant within the international call for works “7 notes in 7 days”. The work “Three pieces for clarinet solo” was premiered this year 2021 under the interpretation of Carmen Borregales within the ICA 2021 international clarinet festival. The work for flute “Nivellillo” premiered in November 2021 in New York City. Performed in the international call for works within the project "Vox Novus" interpretation performed by the Estonian flutist Alise Anna Alksne.
https://www.youtube.com/@compositorcarlosocando4158/about
Nathaniel Ouzana (Israel/Switzerland/Germany)
Nathaniel Ouzana (b. 1995 in Jerusalem, Israel) is a composer, singer, and writer. He studied in the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance and currently resides in Hamburg, Germany, where he studies at the Hamburg University of Music and Theater. His repertoire spans from solo instrumental works to multimedia chamber pieces and spans various styles and genres as well. Nathaniel is also somewhat known for his unapologetic use of humor in some of his pieces, whether small tongue-in-cheek moments or purely chaotic and nonsensical music.
Carlos Ponzio (Mexico)
Carlos Alejandro Ponzio (1974) is an economist and multidisciplinary artist based in Mexico City. He was born in Monterrey, Mexico, where he studied piano as a teenager with Carmen Franco Vadillo. Years later, he attended instrumentation and composition classes with Armando Luna Ponce at the Mexican National Conservatoire. His music has been performed by musicians of the Metropolitan Opera of New York, by organizations like “Orquesta Sinfónica de Minería”, and in international festivals like FIMNME (Manuel Enríquez of New Music), organized by the National Institute of Fine Arts in Mexico, and in halls like “Sala Manuel M. Ponce” in the Museum of Fine Arts of Mexico City. As a writer, he has published the Memoire: “Héroe de Cien Batallas”, the Novel “Amistades Fantásticas”, and more than 300 Flash Fictions. As a visual artist, he has participated in several individual and collective exhibitions, both public and private, in galleries, museums and art cafes. He is the leader of the Transdisciplinary Art Group “Hostal Mercedes Av.”, where he plays Sax. With a Ph.D in Economics from Harvard University, he has also been a Keynote Speaker at the Mexican Federal Congress in topics related to Creativity and Innovation.
Pablo Rago (Argentina)
Pablo A. Rago is a composer, guitar player, and professor born in Chivilcoy, Argentina in 1983, currently based in Mar del Plata. Graduated in Composition at the Music Conservatory Luis Gianneo from Mar del Plata, Argentina under the tutelage of the composer and conductor Marcelo Perticone.
He has written pieces for solo instruments, duos, trios, string quartet, large ensembles and almost all of his pieces have been premiered and recorded. He has been selected in several international call for scores: Interensemble “30X30”, Interensemble Padova “a minimal view”, Robin Meiksins “365 project Call for sores”, II Distat Terra Festival, among others.
Regarding his compositional style, he has devoted himself mostly to chamber music and in it a commitment for detail of musical resources and a search to exploit the musical material to the maximum can be easily found.
Among his future projects is the composition of several pieces that have been internationally commissioned and, at an academic level, the pursue of a doctoral degree for which he is already taking seminars.
Samara Rice (USA)
Samara Rice is a contemporary classical music composer, pianist, toy pianist, and educator based in Southern California. Textural elements, unusual instrumentation, extended performance techniques, sound effects, gamification, and imagery inspiration combine to form her compositional sound. Her works have been performed and workshopped by notable ensembles and performers such as the Southern California Brass Consortium, Constellation Men's Ensemble, Nadia Shpachenko, Wind Up Elephant (Robert Fleitz & Carrie Frey), Friction Quartet, Hocket, VEDA Quartet, Gnarwhallaby, Amy O'Dell, Choral Arts Initiative, Nick Phillips, Mivos Quartet, and Hannah Addario-Berry, among others. In addition to concert works, Samara is a frequent collaborator and composer for theatre, dance, animation, and film productions. Samara holds an M.M. in music composition from the Bob Cole Conservatory of Music at California State University, Long Beach and a B.A. in music composition, cum laude, with music department honors from the University of California, San Diego. While at UCSD, she was awarded the Steward Prize for an outstanding creative work. For more information about Samara’s compositions visit www.SamaraRice.com
Lucas Richman (USA)
GRAMMY award-winning conductor/composer Lucas Richman has served as Music Director for the Bangor Symphony Orchestra since 2010 and held the position as Music Director for the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra from 2003-2015. Mr. Richman annually guest conducts for a roster of orchestras both domestically and internationally, as well as serving as a regular collaborator in the recording studio for film and television scores. An accomplished composer, he has fulfilled commissions for numerous organizations including the Pittsburgh Symphony, Knoxville Symphony, San Diego Symphony, Bangor Symphony, Johnstown Symphony, the Debussy Trio, the Seattle Chamber Music Society, and the Organ Artists Series of Pittsburgh. Mr. Richman has had his music performed by over two hundred orchestras across the United States as well as having been recorded by organizations such as the San Diego Symphony, Tiroler Kammerorchester InnStrumenti, the Pittsburgh Symphony, and the Debussy Trio.
Michal Rosiak (Australia)
Michal has extensive experience in performance, composition and teaching. An inductee into the Australian music scene, he has spent most of his career to date in Europe, where he has won many accolades for his compositions and performances.
At the age of 18, Michal gave his debut as a soloist and composer by performing his composition Adagio & Scherzo for flute and orchestra with the Silesian Philharmonic Orchestra in Katowice/Poland. He has performed as a guest flutist with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, Camerata and the Queensland Pops Orchestra. He has appeared as a performer and composer at the Australian Flute Festivals in Sydney, Adelaide and Canberra. In 2019 he was awarded 1st Prize for his composition The In-Flight Entertainer at the Australian Flute Festival in Sydney. Michal was an Artist-in-Residence at the Banff Centre in Canada and the Bundanon Trust (NSW).
Michal’s music has been performed in many countries worldwide, including the prominent stages of the Concertgebouw Orchestra in The Netherlands, the Sibelius Academy in Finland and the Sydney Opera House in Australia. ABC Classic has also broadcast several of his compositions.
Michal is a lecturer in music composition at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University in Brisbane (Australia).
Elizaveta Sanicheva (Russia)
Elizaveta is an author of many chamber, symphonic, electronic and opera works, multimedia projects, music for movie, flash animation, dance and stage performances, instant compositions and live sets. Her works are performed in Russia, Korea, Netherlands, Austria, France, Switzerland, and United States: her music was performed by such musicians as Henri Bok (Netherlands), Asko/Schoenberg ensemble (Netherlands), Studio for New Music (Russia), Moscow Ensemble for Contemporary Music (Russia), XX AGE Ensemble (Russia), Daegu Contemporary Music Orchestra (Korea), Jackson Symphony Orchestra (USA) etc; her compositions are part of such festivals as Moscow Autumn (Russia), Red Sound (Netherlands), Contemporary Music Daegu Festival (Korea), "Institute of Living Voice" (Belgium-the Netherlands), Operaflaat (the Netherlands), Grachtenfestival (the Netherlands), Art-Residention ZIL (Russia), Fifteen Minutes of Fame (NYC, USA), "Du Vert a L'infini" (France). In the year 2007 a CD with her work “Rivers Inside” was released in Korea.
Ege Sayar (Turkey)
Ege Sayar (1998) is a Turkish composer with passion for music and composition ignited in his early childhood. He has since demonstrated unwavering dedication to exploring a diverse range of musical genres. As he matured, Ege's fascination with concepts like "different" and "innovative" only deepened, driving him to pursue the study of composition.
Ege graduated with honors from his bachelor's degree in classical music composition at the HKU Utrecht Conservatory in the Netherlands. He studied with Jeroen D'Hoe and Caroline Ansink, supported by a talent grant. As part of his academic journey, he did an Erasmus exchange semester at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg in Germany, studying with Fredrik Schwenk.
Ege has actively participated in various festivals, workshops, and masterclasses alongside renowned composers. His compositions have graced the stages of prestigious international festivals and events. He has also won several competitions and reached the finalist stage in others. Ege has received significant commissions, and he is currently engaged in meetings for further opportunities.
The concepts he seeks to explore in his music may vary. Rather than adhering to a specific musical style, he strives to draw inspiration from every era and genre, spanning from the past to the present.
Angela Slater (Great Britain)
Angela Elizabeth Slater is a UK-based composer and Director of Illuminate Women’s Music. She has an interest in musically mapping aspects of the natural world into the fabric of her music.
Recent significant achievements include being selected for the Royal Philharmonic Society Composer programme for 2021-22, as a 2020-22 Tanglewood Composition Fellow, and a 2017-18 Britten-Pears Young Artist through which Angela worked with Oliver Knussen, Colin Matthews, and Michael Gandolfi. Angela was the 2019 Mendelssohn Scholar at New England Conservatory (Boston) and continues to have performances across the US.
In Autumn 2022 Angela’s had piano concerto Tautening skies received its world premiere with the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire Symphony Orchestra. Her clarinet quintet called The Light Blinds was premiered at Music in the Round as part of the RPS Composers 2021-22 programme. In July 2022 she also had premiere performance of her viola concerto, Through the fading hour, given by the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
In January 2023 Angela’s orchestral work Unravelling the crimson sky, commissioned by CBSO as part of their Sound New programme received its world premiere. This year she will be developing a new accordion concerto, writing new works for Santa Fe Chamber Music Festival, CoMA, and the Mostly Modern Festival.
https://angelaslatercomposer.co.uk
Ashutosh Sohoni (India)
Ashutosh Sohoni is a composer for films, TV commercials & other visual media. He is a recipient of PMA Mark Awards'22, Los Angeles. Currently based in Mumbai, he graduated from UCLA in Film Scoring studies. He has worked with the likes of Howard Shore, Lorne Balfe, and Dominik Scherrer. In his stay in Los Angeles, Sohoni interned for the X-Men, Captain America composer Henry Jackman. He is also a sample library maker having worked for award winning company OutPut.
Ashutosh is able to collect his knowledge in Classical forms while maintaining a balance with the Pop Culture. The foundation of Sohoni's music education started at the age of 7 in his native India under the guidance of Pt. Vishvanath Dashrathe, an eminent vocalist of Indian Classical music. Later he sought education from AR Rahman’s KM Music Conservatory. He is a trained pump organ player and Indian Classical vocalist.
He has composed for national award-winning documentary Jakkal. His score for the film The Sea Was Never Blue was well received. Ashutosh also enjoys composing for music production libraries.
Until today, Ashutosh has composed original music for over 15 musicals, 30+ TV Commercials, Documentaries and Films.
Michael Sollis (Australia)
Michael Sollis is an interdisciplinary artist based on Ngunnawal country in Australia, who promotes how the arts can nurture creative mindsets which generate new ideas. This has included his work as founder, composer, and director of the acclaimed Griffyn Ensemble, and the very first Artistic Director, Education for Musica Viva Australia.
Michael’s approach of enabling people of all ages and backgrounds to discover their own unique creative pathway is integrated into his practice as a director and creator. Michael regularly collaborates with communities as diverse as scientists, First Nation custodians, sporting, and health groups in projects based on participatory approaches where everyone is a creative peer. This includes works such as ‘Aerosol’ – exploring motives for why we recycle; ‘One Sky Many Stories’ – with Aranda singer-songwriter Warren Williams; ‘The Dirty Red Digger’ – capturing stories of belonging in Rugby League communities; and ‘Reticulum’ – sharing perspectives of immunodeficient families during the pandemic.
Michael works with diverse communities across the world. This includes teaching early Primary School students; facilitating international projects in places such as Scottish prisons, Egyptian schools, and workshops in Papua New Guinea; work in urban, rural and remote schools across Australia; and lecturing composition at the Australian National University.
www.facebook.com/michaelsolliscreates
Umberto Sorbo (Italy)
I am a Musician and Electronic Engineer, driven by a lifelong love for music and a fascination with technology. It all began when I started my musical journey at the age of ten, delving into the world of piano and later embracing the cello at the esteemed San Pietro a Majella Conservatory in Naples.
Inspired by the rich musical heritage of my land, I took it upon myself to organize and perform in chamber music concerts, breathing new life into the forgotten works of local composers. This endeavor allowed me to share their beautiful creations with audiences once again.
My creative ventures expanded beyond the stage and into the realms of film and art, where I composed captivating music for films and contributed to immersive art installations. These experiences allowed me to explore the intersection of sound and visual art, pushing the boundaries of creative expression.
As my passion for music and technology intertwined, I became an expert in music technologies, leveraging my knowledge to write insightful articles for online magazines. Sharing my expertise with others in this field brings me great joy, as I continue to explore the evolving landscape of music and technology.
Christopher Stewart (Canada)
Christopher Stewart explores various artistic disciplines and works freelance.
Primarily interested in music, he has composed over 300 pieces, founded the currently hibernating progressive rock band Poligraf, worked as busker, emcee, and sound engineer, and pursues his ideal of creating meaningful music in the context of a rock ensemble.
He has published a science fiction novel, a few philosophical essays, and penned a number of poems, song lyrics, and various shortform creative pieces.
His trajectory has also led him to endeavour in various fields including audio engineering, video production, graphic design, website development, blogging, online music store management, software engineering, systems architecture, social work, and cinema.
He has practised Buddhism dead-seriously since the mid-nineties, until he finally awakened to the fact that it teaches living happiness.
Paul Svoboda (Australia)
Dr Paul Svoboda studied at the School of Music, University of Queensland, graduating with a University Medal for outstanding achievement. In 1994 he received his Doctorate of Musical Arts from the Sibelius Academy of Music, Finland.
Paul is highly active as a teacher, performer and composer. His list of compositions is extensive, is in demand world-wide, features in the AMEB Classical Guitar Syllabus, and is regularly broadcast on ABC Classic FM.
In 2007 Paul founded the Aurora Guitar Ensemble, which performs regularly as a professional group. Aurora have recorded two CDs, and are broadcast on the ABC. From world-famous guitarist duo The Grigoryan Brothers: "The Aurora Guitar Ensemble is an exceptional group – one of the finest guitar ensembles that we've heard anywhere!" Aurora have performed twice as featured artists at the Adelaide International Guitar Festival, to great acclaim.
Paul is in demand as a guitar ensemble specialist and composer, and directs the annual Adelaide Guitar Festival Winter School, a component of the Adelaide Guitar Festival. He has been a specialist at the Sydney Guitar Summer School and has directed the guitars many times at the Mulkadee Youth Arts Festival.
website: auroraguitarensemble.com
Adam Taylor (Canada)
Born in 1981 in Ottawa, Canada, Adam Taylor grew up with music in his soul. His grandmother played piano, and his father played guitar, and there was music playing most of the time during his childhood. Playing clarinet in bands and singing tenor in various choral ensembles, he devoured music as fast as it came at him. He took an interest in composition and studied composition and vocal performance at Carleton University in Ottawa. His influences are like his tastes, ranging from classical to jazz, vaudeville to world music, and these all have found their way into his compositions. He has written two symphonies, a string quartet and other music for small ensembles. Adam currently lives with his husband of 16 years in Halifax, Nova Scotia where he works a day job in customer service. The day job may pay the bills, but music still feeds his soul.
Roberto Ventimiglia (Italy)
Born in 1982, Roberto studied composition with Paolo Rotili and Alberto Meoli, graduating with honours from the Ottorino Respighi Conservatory in Latina. He went on to study with Alessandro Solbiati and Salvatore Sciarrino, conducting research focused on contemporary music. He later continued his musicology studies with scholars as Giorgio Sanguinetti, Agostino Ziino, Gino Stefani and graduated in ethnomusicology from the Tor Vergata University in Rome.
His music - from orchestra to solo instrument - has been performed in festivals and venues such as Atlante Sonoro-Freon Musica, Festival Pontino, Le Forme del Suono, Teatro dell’Arte-Milano Triennale, Casa del Jazz-Roma, Musica Futura-Ismez, New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, Nuova Consonanza and Akademia Muzyczna im. Krzysztofa Pendereckiego in Krakow.
In 2013 he won the Premio Nazionale delle Arti Miur-Afam first prize with a piece for flute and pre- recorded sounds; he was also a finalist in the 2014 In Clausura composition competition with a scherzo for one hundred cellos conducted by Giovanni Sollima. His “Quartetto” for four mixed flutes has recently been a finalist in the National Flute Association USA contest (Newly Published Music Awards 2022 category).
His works are published by Bèrben-Curci, AltrEdizioni, Casa Musicale Sonzogno, Ema Vinci, Ars Spoletium and Wonderful Winds.
https://on.soundcloud.com/kfJ9j
Annette Walker (Troisnyx)
I am a composer, session musician, artist, voice actor, and writer based in Preston, in northeast England.
In my late teens, I was bundled out of a country in Southeast Asia that I do not want to name, for my own safety, as my writings about the education system and human rights of that country got me and my family in trouble. I am effectively a refugee, having been given the right to remain and work in the UK in late 2021, after eight years of enduring the asylum system with no right to work. The various abuses I endured in my birth country and in the UK have left me with C-PTSD, experiences that do not bear repeating, and a lot of emotions to process, which I channel into my music. I am now trying to find my way forward in my new home.
When I am not engaging in any of these creative pursuits, I enjoy cycling, playing video games, making simple meals, and diving deep into discussions of history, culture, and language with my husband and my friends.
You can find more of my work over at https://troisnyx.co.uk/
Neille Williams (Australia)
The daughter of jazz pianist Tom Williams, Neille fell in love with music at an early age. After graduating with a Bachelor of Music (Hons) from the Sydney Conservatorium, Neille completed a Masters-level qualification in conducting.
After several years performing around Australia and abroad with notable musicians such as Jon English and Natalie Bassingthwaite, Neille returned to Sydney and then Canberra, where she played with ensembles such as the Canberra Wind Symphony.
During her busy career, Neille has composed and arranged for a variety of ensembles, bands, orchestras and choirs, and in 2021, won both categories of the Australian Women’s Wind Band composition competition. Her concert band piece ‘Charlie Found a Blue Diamond!’ was chosen as a feature piece for the 2023 American Concert Band Festival and she was one of two composers commissioned to write a special work to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Canberra’s Instrumental Music Program. She has also written music for ad campaigns, theatre productions, live art installations as well as short film scores. Neille’s original works have been performed all over the world and have also been featured on ABC radio.
Max Wilson (Scotland)
Max Wilson is a composer and producer with two decades of experience writing for theatre, tv, film and the concert hall. He has written music and sound design for theatre companies including The European Arts Theatre, Hampstead Theatre, The National Youth Theatre, EmpathEyes Theatre and Baraka Theatre. His music has been synced to many television productions and documentaries including Sweet Magnolias (Netflix) BBC Horizon, BBC Natural World, Ghost Whisperer and America's Most Wanted. He has produced for and assisted other songwriters and composers and worked as music technical assistant on film soundtracks.
Max won an entrance exhibition to the Royal Academy of Music where he studied with Steve Martland. His classical compositions have been performed at concert platforms including the Huddersfield Festival, London's South Bank Centre, Liverpool's Philharmonic Hall, Edinburgh's Queens Hall, Rotterdam's De Doelen, and Liechtenstein's Kunstmuseum, with commercial recordings and broadcasts across Europe. Max's works have been published by Divine Art Edition and Southern Percussion.
Cornelia Zambila (Romania)
Cornelia Zambila is a composer and performer from Romania currently based in Belgium. Her interests in reaching as many types of audiences as possible and integrating a diversity of music cultures in her work has led her to work extensively with game pieces, interaction-based composing, and interdisciplinary improvisation. She has studied in Bucharest with Doina Rotaru, after which she traveled and studied through The Hague, Reykjavik, Argentina, Turkey, and Belgium, spending a few years as a street musician and dedicating some years to playing for children and elderly people. Currently Cornelia is accompanying storytelling, dance and theater projects via improvising and composing and is organizing her own projects combining early, traditional and contemporary music and is the proud mother of a 4-year-old boy.
Website: corneliazambila.com
Contact: corneliazambila@yahoo.com,
Facebook: Cornelia Zambila