ABOUT THE COMPOSERS:

 
Samuel Adams (b. 1985, San Francisco, CA) is an acclaimed and fast rising composer of acoustic and electroacoustic music. He has received commissions from Carnegie Hall, the San Francisco Symphony, New World Symphony, Ensemble ACJW, and the St. Lawrence String Quartet. Adams currently lives and works in Oakland, California. His father happens to be the renowned American composer John Adams.

 
Timo Andres (b. 1985, Palo Alto, CA) is a composer and pianist who grew up in rural Connecticut and now lives in Brooklyn, NY. Important debuts and commissions include Wigmore Hall, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, as well as the Los Angeles and Orpheus Chamber Orchestras. Recently, he shared the stage at BAM with Philip Glass, Steve Reich, and Nico Muhly in Four Organs. He can be heard on two Nonesuch discs, including Shy and Mighty for two pianos together with David Kaplan. An avid cyclist and cook, Timo does the grocery shopping astride his 1983 Mercian.

 
Marcos Balter (b. 1974, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil):
His works have been programmed by prominent music organizations including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra MusicNOW Series, New World Symphony, Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival, the Baryshnikov Arts Center, and the Fromm Music Series at Harvard University. A longtime resident of Chicago, he was recently appointed to the composition faculty of Montclair State University.

 
Martin Bresnick (b. 1946, New York City) was a protégé of György Ligeti, and has led a long and distinguished career as a composer and educator. Presently Professor of Composition and Coordinator of the Composition Department at the Yale School of Music, Mr. Bresnick’s compositions have been performed all over the world, by the Chicago, San Fransisco, American, and National Symphony Orchestras, as well as by Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Nash Ensemble, and Bang on a Can All-Stars.

 
Michael Brown (b. 1987, Long Island) The New York Times has declared Michael Brown “a young piano visionary.” His original works have been heard at the Kennedy Center, at the Tanglewood, Ravinia, and Olympic festivals, as well as in such New York venues as Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall, (Le) Poisson Rouge, SubCulture, and Bargemusic. He is also a budding comedian, and produces Conversations with Nick Canellakis, a satirical interview show that has thousands of views on YouTube.

 
Caleb Burhans (b. 1980, Monterey, CA) is a composer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist living in New York City. He is co-founder of the post-rock duo itsnotyouitsme, a founding member of the contemporary music chamber orchestra Alarm Will Sound, and co-founder of the Wordless Music Orchestra. He also a member of the new-music groups Newspeak, Ensemble Signal, the American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME).

 
Mark Carlson (b. 1952, Ft. Lewis, WA) is a faculty member of the UCLA Department of Music, and the founder and Artistic Director of Pacific Serenades, a respected and innovative Los Angeles series. His more than 100 works include songs, chamber music, choral music, concertos, and music for orchestra and for symphonic wind ensemble. His many music theory students over the years at UCLA include today’s pianist.

 
Mohammed Fairouz (b. 1985, New York City) is one of the most frequently performed, commissioned, and recorded composers of his generation, and has garnered particular attention for his vocal works. Commissions have come from Rachel Barton Pine, the Detroit and Alabama Symphony Orchestras, Borromeo Quartet, Imani Winds, New York Festival of Song, Da Capo Chamber Players, New Juilliard Ensemble, Cantus Vocal Ensemble, Cygnus Ensemble, Counter)induction, Alea III, Musicians for Harmony, Seattle Chamber Players, Cantori New York, Back Bay Chorale, Reach Out Kansas, and many others.

 
Ryan Francis (b. 1981, Portland, OR) He is the only composer to twice receive the Juilliard School’s top compositional honor, the Palmer-Dixon Prize (2005, 2008), as well as the prestigious Charles Ives scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He has received commissions from American Composer’s Orchestra, Metropolis Ensemble, Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, the New York Youth Symphony, and many others. His work is available on New Dynamic Records, and his complete piano works are available on Tzadik. He currently resides in Vancouver, BC.

 
Michael James Gandolfi (b. 1956, Melrose, MA) is chair of the composition department at the New England Conservatory of Music (NEC), and has led the composition program at the Tanglewood Music Center since 1997. He has been championed by conductor Robert Spano as one of the “Atlanta School” of American composers, along with Osvaldo Golijov and Jennifer Higdon. Highlights include performances by the Boston, Atlanta, Houston, and BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestras. Gandolfi’s music often contains rock and jazz elements. He sometimes looks to the sciences for his subject matter.

 
Ted Hearne (b. 1982, Chicago, IL) The Los Angeles Times wrote: “No single artist embodies the post-genre Brooklyn scene, but Hearne may be its most zealous auteur.”

 
In the past season, Hearne has written new works for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, A Far Cry, the European Contemporary Orchestra and the Albany Symphony. The coming season will see premieres of a chamber work for Eighth Blackbird, a cantata co-commissioned by choirs The Crossing (Philadelphia) and Volti (San Francisco), and a new song cycle for the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble. He has been appointed to the faculty of the USC Thornton School of Music.

 
 
Gabriel Kahane (b.1981, Venice Beach, CA) has distinguished himself in a striking array of musical contexts. A singer-songwriter, he originally made waves with Craigslistlieder, art songs based on texts from online ads. His latest album, The Ambassador, explores Los Angeles architecture. He wrote music for February House, the acclaimed musical staged at the Public Theater, and last season, he performed Gabriel’s Guide to the 48 States with the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra in Carnegie Hall.

 
Kahane currently lives in Brooklyn. He is a passionate cook, and a graduate of Brown University.

 
Hannah Lash (b. 1981, Alfred, NY) has had works commissioned by orchestras such as the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, the American Composers Orchestra, and the Minnesota Orchestra. Her chamber music has been commissioned and performed by the JACK Quartet, the Da Capo Chamber Players, the Arditti Quartet, the Jupiter Quartet, among others. She frequently collaborates with librettist Royce Vavrek, on dramatic and/or vocal works. She is on faculty at the Yale School of Music, and lives in New Haven, CT.

 
Andrew Norman (b. 1979, Modesto, CA) A finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, he has received commissions from Jeremy Denk, Emanuel Ax, and many others. Andrew’s symphonic works, often noted for their clarity and physicality, have been performed by leading orchestras worldwide, including the Los Angeles and New York Philharmonics, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Minnesota Orchestra, the BBC Symphony, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, and the Tonhalle Orchester Zurich. He is on faculty at the USC Thornton School.

 
Caroline Adelaide Shaw (b. 1982, Greenville, NC) receiving her training at Princeton, she is the youngest recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Music, for her composition Partita for 8 Voices. Shaw is known as a musician appearing in many guises. She performs primarily as violinist with the American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME) and as vocalist with Roomful of Teeth, as well as with the Trinity Wall Street Choir, Alarm Will Sound, Wordless Music Orchestra and Ensemble Signal.

 
Augusta Read Thomas (b. 1964, Glen Cove, NY) is one of America’s leading composers, and has been a faculty member at Northwestern, Eastman, and University of Chicago. She has been Composer in Residence at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and an album by Chanticleer including her choral pieces won a Grammy. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Thomas was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2007. She resides in Chicago with her husband, Bernard Rands, who also happens to be a leading composer.