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Composer/guitarist/rapper/Di.J. Gene Pritsker has written over five hundred eighty compositions, including chamber operas, orchestral and chamber works, electro-acoustic music and songs for hip-hop and rock ensembles. All of his compositions employ an eclectic spectrum of styles and are influenced by his studies of various musical cultures.

He is the founder and leader of Sound Liberation; an eclectic hip hop-chamber-jazz-rock-etc. ensemble who have released cd’s on Col-legno, Composers Concordance and Innova Records. He is also the co-director of Composers’ Concordance, a new music presenting organization with a 30 year history of producing concert in NYC. Other organization he is associate with include the Grammy nominated Absolute Ensemble, which he co founded in 1993 with Kristjan Jarvi and has been a composer in residence and guitarist with ever since. Gene’s music has been performed all over the world at various festivals and by many ensembles and performers, including the The Adelaide Symphony, MDR Symphony, The Athens Camerata, China Philharmonic Orchestra, Brooklyn, Shanghai and Berlin Philharmonics, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, St. Lukes Chamber Orchestra, Sinfonietta Riga, Orchester des Pfalztheaters, Yomiuri Nippon Symphony Orchestra, Anhaltische Philharmonie as well as such soloists as Anne Akiko Meyers, Lara St. John, Sarah Chang, Kathleen Supové, Martin Kuuskmann and Simone Dinnerstein. He worked closely with jazz fusion legend Joe Zawinul and has orchestrated major Hollywood movies, including ‘Cloud Atlas’, for which he wrote additional music and composed his ”Cloud Atlas Symphony’.

The New York Times described him as “…audacious…multitalented.” Joseph Pehrson, writing in The Music Connoisseur, described Pritsker as “dissolving the artificial boundaries between high brow, low brow, classical, popular musics and elevates the idea that if it’s done well it is great music, regardless of the style or genre”. Raul d’Gama Rose writes in All About Jazz: “Barring the obvious exceptions, much of 21st century composition appears to be thinning in significance, but this might be about to change. Gene Pritsker is one of a very spare handful of composers effecting this change.” Evan Burke writes in ICareIf YouListen: “Pritsker seems to look at all music as one genre, in which all other possible styles, sounds and traditions are meant to be used as building blocks and palette colors, combined in various configurations to create a boundless whole. This result is almost always more interesting, and representative of how most new music will be born in the 21st century, as genres and barriers begin to vanish, and as styles begin cross-fertilizing in previously unimagined ways.” Classical Music Sentinel writes: “His expressive reach is so wide as to encompass everything from ethno/techno, rock/jazz fusion, classical opera and more, and it all seems to be effortlessly integrated within his anima and comes out through different facets of his persona. You could almost see him as a modern day renaissance man. “

Organizations he is associated with include: Co-director of Composers Concordance & Composers Concordance Records, co-founder/guitarist of Absolute Ensemble and artist-in residence at the Austrian Outreach Festival. Gene Pritsker’s music is published by: Falls House Press, Gold Branch Music, Periferia Sheet Music & Calabrese Brothers music. Recorded on: Col Legno, Enja, Eutrepe, Wergo, Innova , Composers’ Concordance Records, SONY Classical, and Capstone record labels.

Peter Jarvis is a percussionist, drummer, conductor, composer, music copyist, print music editor, and college professor. He teaches music at Connecticut College and William Paterson University.

Over the years Jarvis has performed as a Broadway musician, soloist, chamber musician, orchestral player and in several films. He has conducted the Saint Luke’s Chamber Ensemble, New Jersey

Percussion Ensemble, CompCord and several other groups. He has composed for large ensembles, chamber ensembles and several solos.  According to the NY Times, “Peter Jarvis led the New Jersey Percussion ensemble in a precise, tactile performance with an elastic pulse.”

Dr. Patti Cudd is active as a percussion soloist, chamber musician and educator.  She teaches percussion and new music studies at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and the College of St. Benedict/ St. Johns University.  Dr. Cudd is also a member of the new music ensemble Zeitgeist.  Other diverse performing opportunities have included Sirius, red fish blue fish, CRASH, the Minnesota Contemporary Ensemble, SONOR and such dance companies as the Minnesota Dance Theatre and the Borrowed Bones Dance Theater.  She received a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree in Contemporary Musical Studies at the University of California studying with Steven Schick, Master of Music Degree at the State University of New York at Buffalo where she worked with Jan Williams, undergraduate studies at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and studied in the soloist class with a Fulbright Scholarship at the Royal Danish Conservatory of Music in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Cesare Papetti is a percussionist who lives in Brooklyn and works in and around New York City teaching and performing.  He studied classical percussion at Purchase College in New York and Music Education at Hofstra University.  Influenced by all sounds resonating from New York’s vibrancy, he pursues a multitude of different performing opportunities.  He has played orchestral percussion with Regina Opera, Camerata Orchestra, Staten Island Philharmonic, Centre Orchestra, Garden State Philharmonic, and the South Shore Symphony.  In addition, Cesare collaborates with Composers Concordance and the International Street Cannibals in chamber settings.  He is also player in  several bands including Peter Kerlin Octet (vibes), John Clark Nonet (drums), and  Barbaric Yawp (drums).  Cesare is a founding member of Occasional Noise Trio (William Lang, trombone, and Derin Oge, piano), Just Music duo (Alice Jones, flute), and Firebird Art Rock Ensemble (featuring the compositions of Dana Richardson).  Recently released recordings include: Samplestra (NAXOS), a CD featuring his performance of Gene Pritsker’s solo percussion and electronics piece entitled “Destined to Shed,” Salamander (Innova) featuring vibraphone work with the Peter Kerlin Octet., and Bonds of Life (Dionysian) featuring drum set work with Firebird Art Rock Ensemble.

Percussionist Michael Lipsey has performed at festivals in Bali, London, Lisbon, Madrid, Berlin, Mexico City, Taipei, Macao, Tokyo, La Jolla, New York, Moscow, Bogota and France. Michael is the founding member of Talujon Percussion and has also performed with the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society, Steve Reich, Bang on a Can, Tan Dun, New York New Music Ensemble and Riverside Symphony. He has recorded for Sony Records, Red Poppy Records, Nonesuch, Albany, Capstone and Mode. Michael has performed throughout the world and given master classes at numerous schools including the Juilliard School of Music and California School of the Arts.

Michael has also worked with many musicians from around the world, most recently including Gamelan Dharma Swara, a Balinese gamelan located in New York City. He performed with DS at the first American gamelan at the PKB in Denpasar, Bali. He has worked with musicians Subash Chandran, Ganesh Kumar, Glen Velez, Carlos Gomez, Antonio Hart, Roland Vasquez, and River Guerguerian. His book and solo CD contains recently commissioned works for solo hand drums by Jason Eckardt, River Guerguerian, Mathew Rosenblum, Arthur Kreiger, Eric Moe, Dominic Donato, David Cossin and David Rakowski. The book is available at http://store.calabresebrothersmusic.com/08-00209.html and the recordings at: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/michaellipsey.

Lauded by Daily Telegraph (UK) for his “searingly poetic lyricism” violinist Philippe Quint is carving an unconventional path with his impassioned musical desire for reimagining traditional works, rediscovering neglected repertoire to commissioning works by contemporary composers. His dedication to exploring different styles and genres with an award winning discography has solidified him as one of the foremost violinists of today.

Receiving several Grammy nominations for his two albums of Korngold and William Schuman Concertos, Mr. Quint is in constant demand worldwide appearing with major orchestras at venues ranging from the Gewandhaus in Leipzig to Carnegie Hall in New York.

Philippe Quint plays the magnificent 1708 “Ruby” Antonio Stradivari violin on loan to him through the generous efforts of The Stradivari Society®.

Highlights of 2015/2016 season included performances with Colorado, Seattle & North Carolina Symphonies, Luzern’s Zaubersee Festival with pianist Marc-Andre Hamelin, and a first visit to Verbier Festival performing with Joshua Bell and Tabea Zimmerman among others. At the invitation of Maestro Vladimir Spivakov, Philippe opened the 28th edition of Colmar Festival dedicated to Jascha Heifetz with Tugan Sokhiev conducting the Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse in a performance of Korngold Violin Concerto and released a new recording of Glazunov & Khachaturian Violin Concertos with Bochumer Sinfoniker/Steven Sloane conducting for AvantiClassic label which received “Album of the Week” by Norman Lebrecht’s Slipped Disc.

Constantly in demand worldwide, Quint’s most recent appearances include performances with the orchestras of London, Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit, Indianapolis, Seattle, Toulouse, New Jersey, Minnesota, Bournemouth, Houston, Weimar Staatskapelle, Royal Liverpool, China National, Orpheus, Berlin Komische Oper, Leipzig’s MDR at the Gewandhaus. He has performed under the batons of Marin Alsop, Carl St. Clair, Tugan Sokhiev, Grant Llewellyn, Andrew Litton, Cristian Macelaru, Kurt Masur, Jorge Mester, Edo de Waart, Jahja Ling, Krzysztof Urbanski, Ludovic Morlot, Marco Parisotto, Carlos Miguel Prieto, Tugan Sokhiev, Steven Sloane, Michael Stern, Bramwell Tovey, and Martin Yates among many others.

An active chamber musician Philippe frequently collaborates with cellists Alisa Weilerstein, Gary Hoffman, Carter Brey, Nicholas Altstaedt, Claudio Bohorquez, Zuill Bailey and Jan Vogler, pianists William Wolfram, Inon Barnatan, Alon Goldstein, Marc -Andre Hamelin, Simone Dinnerstein, Jeffrey Kahane, violists Nils Monkemeyer and Lily Francis as well as his esteemed violin colleagues Joshua Bell, Cho–Liang Lin & Vadim Gluzman. Philippe has appeared at the Mostly Mozart, Verbier, Luzern, Caramoor, Colmar, Ravinia, Aspen, Rome, Moritzburg, La Jolla, Lincoln Center and Chautauqua festivals and in recital and chamber performances at Kravis Center, UC Davis Presents, National Gallery in Washington most recently, at San Francisco Performances with Composer/Pianist Lera Auerbach.

Quint’s live performances and interviews have been broadcast on television by CBS, CNN, ABC, BBC World News, NBC, Reuters, Bloomberg TV, as well as by radio stations nationwide including NPR, WNYC and WQXR.

Born in Leningrad, Soviet Union ( now St. Petersburg, Russia), Philippe Quint studied at Moscow’s Special Music School for the Gifted with the famed Russian violinist Andrei Korsakov, and made his orchestral debut at the age of nine, performing Wieniawski’s Concerto No. 2. After moving to the United States, he earned both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Juilliard. His distinguished pedagogues and mentors included Dorothy Delay, Cho-Liang Lin, Masao Kawasaki, Isaac Stern, Itzhak Perlman, Arnold Steinhardt and Felix Galimir.

Kristjan Järvi has “earned a reputation as one of the canniest, and most innovative, programmers on the classical scene.” [Reuters] Curating and conducting his original, genre-fusing projects with individual approach and style, his concerts have been proclaimed a “life-enhancing experience.” [Herald Scotland]

He realises his pioneering ideas with his four ensembles: as Music Director of the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Gstaad Festival Orchestra, as Founder-Conductor of his New York-based classical-hip-hop-jazz group Absolute Ensemble, and as Founder and Music Director of the Baltic Sea Philharmonic he now leads both the oldest Radio Orchestra in Europe and the newest young musicians Orchestra. An entrepreneur by nature and a passionate poducer, Kristjan Järvi runs his own production company “Sunbeam Productions”, creating events that offer new experiences combining music, visual art, light design and technology with innovative concepts that takes the audience on a unique journey.

Since 2016 Kristjan is official member of the Estonian Olympic committee, being the first non-sport or government official taking this position. Hereby Kristjan starts the initiative of “Sound Estonia” to promote the connection and importance of a healthy body and mind.

As a recording artist Järvi has more than 60 albums to his credit, from Hollywood soundtracks such as ‘Cloud Atlas’, “Hologram for the Kind”, “Sense 8” and award-winning albums on Sony and Chandos, to his eponymous series: the ‘Kristjan Järvi Sound Project.’ Launched in 2014, the series features projects across all of Järvi’s ensembles and is characterised by the conductor’s unmistakable approach in taking a fresh look at the old, with concepts and presentation that transcend the borders of classical music. The Newest releases are “Wagner: The Ring” and “Steve Reich Duet” both released on Sony in September 2016.

Jarvi’s continues to work with some of today’s brightest creative minds, from film directors Tom Tykwer and the Wachowskis, to composers and artists Arvo Pärt, Steve Reich, Tan Dun, Hauschka, Dhafer Youssef, Anoushka Shankar and Esa-Pekka Salonen, with whom he started his career as Assistant Conductor at the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
Born in Estonia, Kristjan Järvi emigrated to the United States as a child and grew up in New York City. He is an accomplished pianist and graduated from Manhattan School of Music followed by conducting studies at the University of Michigan.

Kristjan Järvi is represented worldwide by Tanja Dorn/Dorn Music.

Absolute Ensemble is a multi-disciplinary electro-acoustic chamber band based in New York City. Created in 1993 by Conductor Kristjan Järvi (then a piano major at Manhattan School of Music), Absolute Ensemble has 18 key players hailing from across the Globe (Japan, Estonia, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Holland, Bulgaria, Canada and the USA). Järvi’s uncanny prescience for the future of classical music led him to create the band that the American Record Guide claims “may well be the most alluring and virtuosic of today’s new music groups.” An ebullient student term papers mix of jazz, classical and world music played with virtuosic flair, each project is created by the group from start to finish, drawing from their rich portfolios as composers, performers and improvisers.

Absolute has toured extensively, having performed at every major concert hall and festival in Europe. The Ensemble maintains close ties with New York City and continues to perform locally and record at Absolute Studios in Brooklyn. Absolute Ensemble has released fourteen albums and has been awarded the German Record Critics Prize, a Grammy nomination and the Deutsche Bank Prize for Outstanding Artistic Achievement. Their most recent recording for SONY, “Bach Re-Invented” features pianist Simon Dinnerstein.

Absolute Ensemble is one of the longest running, independently-operated chamber ensembles in New York City. We are cultural ambassadors for the United States, showcasing the diversity, the creativity and the excellence our country has to offer. Our mission is not only to serve our listeners by delivering unique, inspiring concert experiences and recordings, but also to support the artists who make this possible. We are committed to our players, our composers, our guest artists, our students and our audiences. Please help us sustain our organization and continue to spread peace, love and music to the world.

Graham Elliott designed and directed some of the first ever motion graphics at MTV, after graduating from the Royal College of Art, London. He designed rock band, Living Colour’s record sleeves, directed their ‘Glamour Boys’ music video and designed their stage design for the tour with the Rolling Stones. 20 years later he is directing and producing commercials, music videos and documentaries. He has worked as a creative at Saatchi and Saatchi, directed commercials for Coca-Cola and music videos for Puffy in Tokyo as well as projects in twenty plus countries. Teaching motion graphics and music video at the School of Visual Arts, New York for the last 10 years, Elliott was also keynote speaker at the first ‘International Motion Festival, Cyprus’ in spring 2012.

His feature documentary ‘New York in Motion’ was featured in over a dozen film festivals worldwide.

His illustrations have been published in the New York Times and his sketch books are included in ‘Sketchbooks of the World’s Great Graphic Designers.’