About Mohammed Fairouz
Mohammed Fairouz, born in 1985, is one of the most frequently performed, commissioned, and recorded composers of his generation. Hailed by The New York Times as “an important new artistic voice” and by BBC World News as “one of the most talented composers of his generation,” Fairouz integrates Middle-Eastern modes into Western structures, to deeply expressive effect. His large-scale works, including four symphonies and an opera, engage major geopolitical and philosophical themes with persuasive craft and a marked seriousness of purpose. His most recent symphony, In the Shadow of No Towers for wind ensemble, was described by Steve Smith of The New York Times as “technically impressive, consistently imaginative and in its finest stretches deeply moving.” His solo and chamber music attains an “intoxicating intimacy,” according to New York’s WQXR. Fairouz has been described by Gramophone as “a post-millennial Schubert” and Anthony Tommasini of The New York Times called his debut opera Sumeida’s Song “intensely dramatic [with] a searing score.” His principal teachers in composition have included György Ligeti, Gunther Schuller, and Richard Danielpour, with studies at the Curtis Institute and New England Conservatory. Fairouz’s works are published by Peermusic Classical. He lives in New York City. To learn more about Mohammed Fairouz, visit mohammedfairouz.com.
 
About David Handler
David Handler is a composer of acoustic and electronic music. His work has been described by The New York Times as “eerie” and “superbly wrought,” and has been characterized by its use of familiar, often tonal relics within a narrative structure and polytonal language that seek to explore the notions of incongruity and deconstruction.
 
Commissions include the transcription and orchestration of Riceboy Sleeps by Alex Somers & Jónsi Birgisson of Sigur Rós, commissioned by Lincoln Center in 2011, and premieres by The Ossia Symphony and The Manhattan School of Music Symphony. Prominent performances include a Composer Portrait curated by Orange Mountain Music’s Richard Guérin at Barbez, and the 21c Liederabend festival at BAM in the fall of 2013. He has been commissioned to compose an orchestral work for the Naumberg Foundation’s summer concert series in Central Park, June 2015.
 
Handler began studying the violin at age three and attended the Manhattan School of Music as both a violin and composition major. As a violinist and violist, Handler collaborates regularly with Horacio Gutiérrez and has played under the baton of Kurt Masur, Zdeněk Mácal, and Jerzy Semkow, with whom he studied conducting.
 
Handler is the co-founder of (Le) Poisson Rouge and the Founding Executive & Artistic Director of Ensemble LPR. The venue’s mission is to revive the symbiotic relationship between art and revelry, thus invigorating the musical landscape for artists and audiences alike. In its six years of operation the venue has received numerous awards and accolades, from ASCAP, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone and The New Yorker.
 
Speaking Engagements include: The North American Critics Alliance at Lincoln Center, University of Missouri – Kansas City, New York University, Syracuse University, Hunter College, The New School, and The Manhattan School of Music.
 
David sits on the advisory board of CavanKerry Press & The David Lynch Foundation, and lives in New York City with his wife Marlene May Handler.
 
About Kate Lindsey
Kate Lindsey has performed many of the great lyric mezzo-soprano roles to critical acclaim in the world’s most prestigious opera houses, including the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Royal Opera House Covent Garden, the Glyndebourne Opera Festival, the Aix-en-Provence Festival, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Bayerische Staatsoper, and the Wiener Staatsoper. She also starred in the Metropolitan Opera’s HD broadcast of its new production of Les Contes d’Hoffmann and was featured in its broadcasts of La Clemenza di Tito and The Magic Flute. Also an accomplished concert singer, Ms. Lindsey has appeared with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, and the Met Chamber Orchestra (in Carnegie Hall), and in Europe with the Balthasar-Neumann-Ensemble, the Concertgebouworkest, and Cercle de l’Harmonie. She has also appeared at the Tanglewood and Mostly Mozart festivals. A native of Richmond, Virginia, Ms. Lindsey holds a Bachelor of Music Degree with Distinction from Indiana University and is a graduate of the Metropolitan Opera’s Lindemann Young Artist Development Program.
 
About Evan Rogister
Evan Rogister made his professional conducting debut at the Houston Grand Opera in 2008, and has since led performances at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Los Angeles Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Royal Swedish Opera in Stockholm, Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, and the Göteborg Opera. From 2009-2011 he served as Kapellmeister at the Deutsche Oper Berlin under its music director Donald Runnicles. Also recognized as an accomplished conductor of symphonic repertoire, Mr. Rogister has led the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Florida Orchestra, North Carolina Symphony, Alabama Symphony, San Antonio Symphony, and the Bochum Symphoniker. A dual citizen of United States and Germany, Mr. Rogister holds degrees from Indiana University, where he first enrolled as a trombone major, and The Juilliard School, where he trained in opera and conducting.