"This is such a cool online music festival, and I'm so happy there's a place for students to start composing at a young age!"
(Stephanie Jaimes)
Go Compose North America offers online composition workshops and musical development opportunities to participants of all abilities. Our mission is to make music creation accessible to anyone.
"This is such a cool online music festival, and I'm so happy there's a place for students to start composing at a young age!"
(Stephanie Jaimes)
Kathleen Berger
Flute
Mark Berger
Violin / Composer
Jonathan Berman
Conductor
Julie Bosworth
Soprano
Christopher Ciampoli
Violin / Composer
Dorothy Couper
Violin
Katherine Dowling
Piano
Marti Epstein
Composer
Joshua Espinoza Trio
Jazz Trio
Danielle Kunst
Harp
Jo Ann Lamolino
Trumpet
Will Lombardelli
Bass Trombone / Beatboxer
Soo Yeon Lyuh
Haegeum
Chris Mayo
Composer
Mary Jo Neher
Horn
Andrew Noseworthy
Electric Guitar
Patrick Quinn
Bassoon
Saman Shahi
Composer
Sam Solomon
Percussion
Jaze Matteo Wharton
Composer
Sonya Knussen is a passionate music educator, arts administrator, and performer, known for her innovative approach and dedication to music education. As the Founder and Artistic Director of Go Compose North America, Sonya utilizes her extensive experience to inspire and guide young musicians, fostering an environment where creativity and community can thrive.
Born into a family of musicians, Sonya’s early life was steeped in music. Her father, Oliver Knussen, was a world-renowned composer and conductor, and her mother, Sue Knussen, was an award-winning producer and music educator. This unique upbringing allowed Sonya to experience music creation and education from multiple perspectives.
Sonya has worked with a variety of prestigious organizations, including Britten-Pears Arts, the Tanglewood Music Center, and the BBC Proms. She has performed as a featured vocal soloist with esteemed ensembles such as the Baltimore Symphony and the Washington Bach Consort; she currently concentrates on ensemble singing and directing. Her educational roles have spanned from teaching at notable Maryland schools and institutions to spearheading programs that bring music to all.
Sonya holds a BMus from Boston University, an MA from the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama, and post-graduate and graduate diplomas from Trinity Laban and the Peabody Conservatory.
Michael Rickelton is a composer of “extremely attractive and thoughtfully shaped” (Music Web International) music that “seizes the ear” (Gramophone). An accomplished composer of solo, chamber, and orchestral works, Michael has a powerful and critically acclaimed affinity for the voice. Composer Lori Laitman described Michael as having “a great and clear gift for writing for the voice.” A singer in his own right, Michael brings melodic shape and linear drive to all his pieces, be they solo, chamber works, orchestral music, or electronic sound design.
Renaissance music opened the gateway to Michael’s creative journey through its direct and impactful harmonic language. The inspiration for his work encompasses poetry, prose, visual arts, and diverse musical influences from Hässler to Nine Inch Nails. His involvement in the performance of symphonic vocal music cemented his role as a musician, and sacred works for chorus remain a cornerstone of his compositional output.
Michael’s work echoes music of the past yet lives undeniably within a contemporary framework. He often draws inspiration from combining centuries-old chant melodies with modern harmonies and performance techniques. This fusion of old and new is a central pillar of Michael’s creative process, clearly heard in works such as 27 Tenebrae Responsories and the solo piano piece “It is finished.”
Many of his compositions address intense, challenging experiences that affect people at both personal and societal levels. "I am sorry that it has come to this" is an examination of Veteran's health care and suicide. “The End of a Season,” written at the request of the Christian Scholars’ Conference, explores abandonment and loneliness. “The End of a Season" begins Michael’s strong connection to the poetry of Dana Gioia, the most recent California Poet Laureate and former Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. Gioia’s poems make up the song cycle Impossible Season. Michael also set Gioia’s “Pentecost,” a reflection upon the grief, anger, and guilt of a parent after the death of their young child. Pentecost was the recipient of the Gregg Smith Choral Composition Award, was the winner of the Pacific Chorale Choral Composition Contest, and was recorded by The John Alexander Singers on their American Voices album with Delos Records.
Recordings of Michael’s music have also been released by Albany Records and Petrichor Records. Time and Memory (Albany) is a portrait album of Michael’s work for solo voice and piano, including Time and Memory: suite for voice and piano on poems of William S. Trout; Battle Songs; and Impossible Season. Michael’s 6:46 was recently released by Petrichor Records on their series New Music by Living Composers. His 2021 release Effuse / Allure / Ancient Light is based on a trio of paintings by Iranian artist Shirazeh Houshiary, who describes her own work as “a window into the chaos… inviting the unconscious.”
Michael’s music has received awards and honors from ASCAP, American Composers Orchestra, The American Prize, Bluffton College, Gregg Smith and Syracuse University, Ithaca College, Lipscomb University, Meistersingers, Southeastern Composers' League, Pacific Chorale, and The Peabody Conservatory. His music has been featured in performances and readings by ensembles such as the Baltimore Symphony, Nashville Symphony, Baltimore Choral Arts Society, Pacific Chorale, and the Choir of the Washington National Cathedral.
Michael is an active and devoted music educator, serving on the music faculties of The Peabody Conservatory, the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences at The Johns Hopkins University, Towson University, and Loyola University Maryland. He also maintains a private teaching studio and co-organizes Go Compose North America, an organization offering online workshops and opportunities for young composers. Michael has taught students from numerous countries and four continents, many of which have had their works rehearsed, performed, and recorded by some of the world’s leading musicians.
As a sought-after vocalist, Michael performs regularly with organizations in Baltimore and the Washington, DC metro area. He has received honors from the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) and has recorded as an ensemble singer and soloist with Naxos Records, Decca Records, and Gothic Records. He also holds the position of Assistant Conductor for the Baltimore Choral Arts Society.
A native of Charlotte, NC, Michael holds degrees from The Peabody Conservatory of The Johns Hopkins University (D.M.A., M.M.), where he studied composition with Michael Hersch, and Lipscomb University (B.M.), where he studied with Jerome Reed. Michael also attended the European American Musical Alliance program at the École Normale de Musique in Paris, France, studying Nadia Boulanger’s pedagogical traditions. He resides in Baltimore, MD, with his wife and two sons. Determined to get his 13,000 steps in each day, his athletic pursuits include powerlifting, CrossFit, and coaching both of his sons’ baseball teams.
Kathleen Berger graduated Summa Cum Laude with Distinction from Boston University with a B.M. in Woodwind Performance (Flute) and Music Education and earned a Masters in Creative Arts Education from Fitchburg State University. She studied flute with many of the world’s most notable players: Doriot Dwyer, Julius Baker, Marianne Gedigian, Marya Martin, Carol Wincenc, Jeffrey Khaner, Julia Bogorad, and Adam Kuenzel. Ms. Berger has taught privately in the Wellesley Public Schools from 1999-2003 and then again from 2006-present. She also taught privately in the Westwood Public Schools, worked as a teacher and flute choir director at Assumption College in Worcester, and is a frequent chamber coach/conductor for the Boston Youth Symphonies and Intensive Community Program. In addition to teaching in Wellesley, she currently has a very active private studio in Marlborough.
As a conductor, Ms. Berger attended the American String Teachers’ Association’s International Workshop in Stravanger, Norway and the Conductors Workshop of America at the University of Iowa and conducted the Worcester Youth Concert Orchestra, Colleges of the Fenway (COF) Chorus, and COF Jazz Band. She also conducted the Colleges of the Fenway orchestra for 16 years. Ms. Berger currently conducts the Community Music Center of Boston’s Chamber Orchestra, Intermediate String Ensemble, and adult chorus Una Voce.
Ms. Berger has worked as a general music and instrumental music teacher in the Shrewsbury Public Schools and an Instrumental Director at Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School. She has led a student-run, pre-concert lecture series, participated in several music festivals, and organized Benefit Concerts and Recital Hours. Ms. Berger also shared her passion for new art and music through teaching an adult class at Danforth Art entitled Contemporary Art and Music where she was also a docent from 2009-2011 and a staff member from 2011-2014.
Outside of the arts, Ms. Berger has attended numerous workshops held by the Asperger/Autism Network and Think:Kids and has decades-long experience working with special needs, including kids who are autistic, twice-exceptional, gifted, kids with ADD/ADHD, Sensory Processing Disorder, anxiety, depression, etc. Since 2013, Ms. Berger and her two kids have worked with third-year medical students at Tufts Medical School to help educate doctors about Autism and how they, as doctors, can enhance and improve the lives of their patients. Ms. Berger has an autistic daughter who gives her a unique portal into the exceptional lives of students with special needs and is very passionate about forwarding the music education of every one of her students.
Violist and composer Mark Berger has toured throughout the United States and internationally as a member of the Lydian String Quartet, performing the acknowledged masterpieces of the classical, romantic, and modern eras as well as premiering remarkable compositions written by today's cutting-edge composers. In addition to his work with the quartet, Berger frequently performs with many of Boston’s finest orchestras and chamber ensembles including the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Boston Pops, Emmanuel Music, and the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Worcester Chamber Music Society, and Music at Eden’s Edge. He has appeared as a guest artist with the Boston Symphony Chamber Players, Boston Musica Viva, Chameleon Arts Ensemble, and Radius Ensemble, and has performed at summer music festivals including Tanglewood, the Newport Music Festival, and Kneisel Hall. Strongly devoted to the performance of new music, Berger has performed with many of Boston’s new music ensembles including Sound Icon, Dinosaur Annex, Ludovico Ensemble, and ALEA III. He has recorded solo and chamber works for Albany, Bridge and Innova records.
A dedicated educator, Berger is Associate Professor of the Practice at Brandeis University, where he teaches viola, chamber music, music theory and analysis. In addition to his teaching at Brandeis, he frequently teaches analysis and orchestration courses for Boston University and has taught at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute where he coached chamber music and taught some of the most talented high school students in the country.
From medieval music to world premieres, Julie Bosworth revels in versatile singing. Recognized for having “the richest, most buttery tone” (Washington Classical Review), this “notably stylish and expressive” singer finds joy and fulfillment in collaborating with artists across a vast array of musical genres.
She has been featured on live radio broadcasts by NPR, All Classical Portland, WBJC and WYPR in Baltimore, and WGBH Boston. On the operatic stage, Julie has performed with The In Series, American Opera Theater, Raylynmor Opera, Opera AACC, and Peabody Opera Theater, singing such roles as Phaino (Here be Sirens), Queen of the Night (The Magic Flute), Cleopatra (Giulio Cesare), Belinda (Dido and Aeneas), Blanche de la Force (Dialogues of the Carmelites), and the title role in L’incoronazione di Poppea. Equally at home on the concert stage, she has appeared as a soloist with American Bach Soloists, Tempesta di Mare, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, the Indianapolis Early Music Festival, Mountainside Baroque, the Staunton Music Festival, Baltimore Choral Arts Society, and The Bach Choir of Bethlehem. Julie is a core member of the critically acclaimed chamber group The Broken Consort, an exuberant and experimental medieval and new music ensemble. Furthermore, she has sung extensively with True Concord Voices and Orchestra, The Thirteen, Apollo's Fire, The Washington Bach Consort, Kinnara, Hesperus, Seraphic Fire, Les Canards Chantants, The New Consort, and Zenith Ensemble.
Julie holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Millikin University and a Master of Music degree in Voice Performance and Early Music from The Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University. She is a chorister at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., and resides in Baltimore with her husband, baritone Corbin Phillips.
Christopher Ciampoli is a composer and performer who takes interest in the intersections of "old" and "new," with frequent inspiration from visual art, poetry, anthropology, and astronomy. A guest composer for Carnegie Hall's Weill Music Institute 2019 National Youth Orchestra and a recipient of the Peabody Conservatory's Randolph S. Rothschild award, Ciampoli's compositions have been performed in the United States, Europe, and Asia by renowned artists such as cellist Coleman Itzkoff, violinist Conrad Harris, pianist Edwin Sungpil Kim, soprano Tony Arnold, and soprano Ah Young Hong.
As a violinist, Ciampoli has premiered, performed, and recorded the works of many composers and contemporary masters, along with routinely displaying and teaching music of the traditional repertoire, in venues ranging from nature preserves in North Carolina to St. Paul's Chapel at Columbia University in New York City. Ciampoli has served as Concertmaster of the Occasional Symphony, Principal Violin II of Symphony Number One, Concertmaster of the Peabody New Music Ensemble (Gene Young), along with performing solo recitals and concerts ensembles such as Mind on Fire, earspace ensemble and the Bergamot Quartet.
In addition to his violin training, Ciampoli commands a piano repertoire of solo works from Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Liszt, and Schumann through Ravel, Schoenberg, and Scriabin. Ciampoli has premiered his own solo piano works and performs collaborative piano on seldom occasions.
Ciampoli earned the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Composition from The Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University in 2021 where his primary teacher was Michael Hersch, with additional mentorship from Sean Shepherd, Jason Eckardt, and Oscar Bettison. Ciampoli is an adjunct faculty member at the Peabody Conservatory, where he teaches music theory, an adjunct faculty member at Towson University, where he teaches music theory and aural skills, and an adjunct faculty member at Harford Community College, where he teaches composition lessons, violin lessons, chamber music, electronic music, and popular music. He has presented his compositions and performed violin in masterclasses Georg Freidrich Haas, Christopher Rouse, Kate Soper, Miranda Cuckson, and Jennifer Koh.
Dorothy Couper, viola, is a native of the Baltimore-Washington area. After studying for ten years at The Peabody Preparatory, Dorothy went on to study at the New England Conservatory and Tufts University, the Longy School of Music, and The Peabody Conservatory. Her principal teachers include Felix Schwartz, principal of the Staatskapelle Berlin, Li-Kuo Chang of the Chicago Symphony, and Roger Tapping of the Juilliard String Quartet.
Prior to returning to the Baltimore area, Dorothy freelanced extensively in Berlin, Germany and Boston, Massachusetts. Currently Ms. Couper plays with the Richmond Symphony, the Amadeus Orchestra, the Delaware Symphony, the Maryland Symphony, and the National Philharmonic, among others. Dorothy is also an active member of the Baltimore Musicians’ Union.
As a chamber musician, Dorothy is a founding member of the Laurel Quartet, and has been a regular collaborator with the Evolution Concert Series and Classical Revolution Baltimore. She was also a founding member of the Syrinx Ensemble while studying in Boston. Dorothy has made guest appearances with the Edwin Trio, the Iris Ensemble, and has performed chamber music at festivals including Garth Newell, the Miami Music Festival, and the Aspen Music Festival.
Ms. Couper also maintains a private studio of viola and violin students and has previously taught for the Baltimore School for the Arts, BSO Orchkids, and The Peabody Preparatory. Her private students have gone on to study at Eastman School of Music, University of Maryland, Saint Mary’s College of Maryland, and Johns Hopkins University.
Jonathan Berman’s open-minded approach to music making is reflected in his impressively broad repertoire. Whether on stage, in front of cameras, writing a script or curating a concert programme, Jonathan derives his energy from his ability to engage with audiences in numerous ways. For him, unlocking the imagination is the key.
A fearless advocate of contemporary and new music, with more than 70 premières under his belt, Jonathan is equally well versed in the music of the classical and Romantic periods. A recent champion of the works of Franz Schmidt, he has recently released the complete symphonies with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales on Accentus Records in time for Schmidt’s 150th anniversary in December 2024. In 2021, with the release of the First Symphony, Jonathan launched The Franz Schmidt Project, a new online resource to promote Schmidt’s music. Read the reviews here.
Whilst music is central to all his interests, Jonathan’s deep engagement with literature, visual art, theatre, film, and a particular fascination with Japanese culture, leads to constant questioning of the boundaries of classical music and feeds into the unique and creative ways in which he connects to his audiences. Conscious of the need to get to the heart of things, Jonathan is recognised for his thoughtfulness and insight.
On the first day of lockdown in March 2020 and in the wake of mass concert cancellations across the world, Jonathan and his sister launched Stand Together Music which, together with a directory of support available to musicians, promoted conscious streaming of music. For 100 days, Stand Together Music published details of every concert that would have taken place in the UK (both classical and non-classical), linking the concerts to daily Spotify playlists that featured the musicians whose concerts had been cancelled. In total, Stand Together Music curated 12,149 tracks and over 1000 hours of music created by over 10,000 performers and composers.
Jonathan Berman grew up in a musical family playing piano, cello and singing from an early age. At 14, wrist injuries caused by too much practicing forced him to look at alternative ways to be part of music, initially touring with choirs and subsequently taking up conducting. From the very outset of his career, Jonathan was supported by Oliver Knussen, Stanisław Skrowaczewski and Jac van Steen with whom he spent six years studying at the Royal Conservatory at the Hague. Throughout Knussen was a life-long friend and mentor, recommending Jonathan as his replacement at the Tanglewood Festival in 2015 and inviting him to share his concert at the BBC Proms the following year.
In 2014 Jonathan was the first British musician and the first conductor to win the prestigious Kempinski Art Programme Fellowship, which enabled him to spend two months observing Franz Welser-Möst and the Cleveland Orchestra, and Michael Tilson Thomas and the New World Symphony. In the 2014-15 season he became Assistant Conductor to Vladimir Jurowski at the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
In recent years, Jonathan has conducted the London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, Philharmonia Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Britten Sinfonia, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra, Royal Academy of Music, Southbank Sinfonia, London Mozart Players, City of London Sinfonia, Nash Ensemble, London Sinfonietta, BCMG, Crash Ensemble Dublin, and the Britten Pears Ensemble at Aldeburgh Festival in the UK; as well as the Cleveland Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Filharmonica ‘George’ Enescu’, Sinfonietta Riga, Lithuanian National Philharmonic Orchestra, City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong, the Orchestre de Picardie, Orchestra di Padova e Veneto, Hagen Philharmonic Orchestra, Bilkent Symphony Orchestra, Turku Philharmonic Orchestra, Ensemble Modern and, New European Ensemble abroad.
Additionally, he has conducted over 40 operas including productions for the Nationale Reis Opera, English Touring Opera, Aldeburgh Festival, Grachten Festival, Anghiari Festival, Dartington International Festival, Jerwood Opera Course, Opera Studio Netherlands, Dutch National Opera Academy, Mahogany Opera, Centre for Opera Studies in Italy.
Alongside performances, Jonathan has given masterclasses in both conducting and composition at Dartington International Summer Festival, Birmingham Contemporary Music Festival and at Aldeburgh Festival.
“We have a thousand different types of music and ways to listen depending on the functions in our life. We put music on when we go to the gym, we put music on to sleep, to cover awkward silences in a conversation or just as some kind of background. That is all wonderful. I use music like that. But there is this thing which I love, it can be any genre, you sit, you focus and you engage actively your imagination, your sensitivity; you engage and commit yourself fully in following the music. I love bringing people into this way of listening… Musical understanding is not something that you either have or don’t have – a clandestine group of those in the know. There are many pieces, composers which at first hearing I didn’t understand or didn’t even like. But through time, through multiple listenings, through listening to others talk about this music, I have come to absolutely adore these pieces and composers.”
Praised by the New York Times for her “crystalline performances, gestural expressiveness, and careful attention to color”, and by the Boston Globe for her “effortless incisiveness”, award-winning “tour-de- force” (OpusKlassiek, Berkshire Eagle) pianist Katherine Dowling performs across North America and Europe as a soloist and chamber musician.
Katherine is familiar to audiences as an artist-in-residence at the Orlando Festival (Netherlands) and a resident fellow of the Avaloch Farm Music Institute (USA); as a multi-year fellow of the Tanglewood Music Center, a New Fromm Fellow, and a Britten-Pears Young Artist; through extensive involvement and numerous positions at The Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity; and through multiple national tours under the auspices of the Eckhardt-Gramatté National Music Competition. As a soloist, and as a member of the chamber ensemble Gruppo Montebello, Katherine appears on eight critically-acclaimed recordings on the Etcetera label. Her performances have been broadcast on the CBC (Canada), Radio-Canada, BBC (United Kingdom), and National Radio 4 (Netherlands). Recent highlights include joining Angela Hewitt and Silvie Cheng in Mozart’s Triple Concerto at Ottawa Chamberfest; her recital debuts in Vienna and The Hague; several tours with violinist Kerry DuWors for Prairie Debut; a recording of the piano works of Alice Ping-Yee Ho (Canada Council for the Arts, Explore and Create); and appearing with her hometown orchestra in Florence Price’s Piano Concerto.
In addition to her performing activities, Katherine is Assistant Professor of Classical Piano Performance at York University, having formerly served as Assistant Professor of Piano Performance at the University of Regina. She is also on faculty at The Phil and Eli Taylor Academy for Young Artists (Royal Conservatory of Music); duo526 Sonata Seminar (Indiana University Jacobs School of Music); and the European Summer Course for Chamber Music (Netherlands). She credits her own teacher, celebrated American pianist Gilbert Kalish, and conductors Henk Guittart and Oliver Knussen, as the major influences in her musical life. She holds a Doctor of Musical Arts (Performance) degree from Stony Brook University (New York).
Marti Epstein is a Boston-based composer whose music has been performed by the San Francisco Symphony, The Radio Symphony Orchestra of Frankfurt, Ensemble Modern, Trinity Wall Street, and the Boston Symphony Chamber Players, She has completed commissions for the Fromm Foundation, The Munich Biennale, the Ludovico Ensemble, Guerilla Opera, the Radius Ensemble, Tanglewood Music Center, Winsor Music, Boston Opera Collaborative, Callithumpian Consort, Hinge, loadbang, and Collage New Music.
Marti was a two-time fellow at the Tanglewood Music Center (1986 and 1988) and a three-time fellow at the MacDowell Colony (1998, 1999, 2022).
In 2020, Marti was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship to compose Seven Sisters, Radiant Sisters for the Hinge Ensemble, Alpenglow for loadbang, and In Praise of Broken Clocks for soundicon. Nebraska Impromptu, an album of Marti’s chamber music for clarinet, was just released this past April on New Focus Recordings and features clarinetist Rane Moore and members of Winsor Music. Marti is Professor of Composition at Berklee College of Music/Boston Conservatory of Music.
Danielle Kuntz is a harpist with a mission to help composers, harpists, and audiences experience new music for the harp. As a performer, she has commissioned, co-commissioned, and/or premiered over 40 new compositions since 2017. Danielle is also an active solo, chamber, and orchestral performer. Danielle holds a Masters of Music in Harp Performance from the University of North Texas. Learn more about Danielle at daniellekuntz.com.
Possessing a wide color palette, the Joshua Espinoza Trio explores shimmering harmonies and shifting orchestral contours with the aesthetic of a chamber ensemble as much as a jazz trio. Stylistically, the trio draws inspiration from uniquely American musical traditions (jazz, folk, and blues) alongside classical impressionism, chamber music, and pop. Inspired by artists as disparate as Herbie Hancock, bassist Avishai Cohen, Gerald Clayton, and composer Maurice Ravel, the Joshua Espinoza trio takes listeners on a journey for the ears and mind alike.
JoAnn Lamolino is currently the Associate Principal/Second Trumpet of the Hawaii Symphony Orchestra and Lecturer in Trumpet at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. On the mainland, JoAnn is the Second Trumpet of the Reading Symphony Orchestra in Reading, PA. Other performance highlights include the Tucson, Charleston, Baltimore, Omaha and New Jersey Symphonies, American Ballet Theatre, New York City Opera, Rene Fleming, Josh Groban, and Adele. An advocate for diversity in classical music, JoAnn is on the trumpet faculty of the Los Angeles Philharmonic’s YOLA National Festival. JoAnn is a graduate of the Manhattan School of Music and Boston University.
JoAnn has been a Kundalini Yoga practitioner for 18 years and received her Level 1 Teacher Certification from the Kundalini Yoga Research Institute in 2021. Integrating her passions of music and yoga/meditation, JoAnn founded the Mind.Music.Sanctuary, a yoga/meditation base for musicians to improve performance and practice through mindfulness. There have been online workshops and masterclasses at Boston University Tanglewood Institute, DePaul, Northern Illinois, Northern Arizona and others; in addition to weekly online yoga classes.
William “Friendship” Lombardelli has been live looping beatbox, and bass trombone for the better part of three decades, sharing stages with the likes of State Radio, Guster, and George Clinton, at clubs and festivals like Camp Barefoot, Catskill Chill, Mountain Jam, and the Glastonbury Festival (uk).
Will holds a Bachelors of Music in Trombone Performance from Boston University.
Christopher Mayo (b. 1980) is a Toronto-based composer of orchestral, chamber, vocal and electronic music. His work, variously described as “cogent, haunting and…desperately poignant” (The Times) and “a steampunk collection of gnarly machine-like noises, flashy timbres, and explosive rhythms” (Classical Voice North America), is characterized by its distinctive rhythmic language and wide range of diverse and eclectic inspirations.
Christopher’s works have been commissioned and performed by ensembles including London Symphony Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC National Orchestra of Wales, National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Victoria Symphony, London Sinfonietta, Crash Ensemble, Alarm Will Sound, Aurora Orchestra, Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, Ensemble contemporain de Montreal and Manchester Camerata where he was the Composer-in-Residence from 2012-13. His music has been conducted by artists such as Susanna Mälkki, François-Xavier Roth, Nicholas Collon and Bramwell Tovey. He has received performances at festivals including the Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival, Aldeburgh Festival, Cheltenham Festival, Nuit Blanche Toronto and the Marrakech Biennale.
Also noted for his work as a versatile orchestrator and arranger, Christopher has collaborated with artists including Grammy nominated pop singer-songwriter Carly Rae Jepsen, R&B duo DVSN, throat-singer Tanya Tagaq, DJ King Britt, electronic artist Matthew Herbert and drum and bass star Goldie among others.
Christopher’s music has been commercially recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra on their LSO Live label as well as by Aurora Orchestra for NMC Recordings. Christopher’s music has been widely broadcast on television and radio including multiple broadcasts on BBC 1 Television, BBC Radio 3 and CBC Radio 2.
Christopher holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Toronto, a Master’s degree from the Royal College of Music, where he studied with Julian Anderson and a PhD from the Royal Academy of Music, where he studied with Philip Cashian.
Mary Jo was born and raised in Anchorage Alaska, a second generation Alaskan she left the last frontier after high school to pursue her love of music at Boston University. Since moving to Chicago in 1999 she has been an active freelance musician, performing in the Chicagoland area with Chicago’s Joffrey Ballet, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Elgin Symphony, New Philharmonic, and the Chicago Sinfonietta. Outside of Illinois Mary Jo has worked with both the Milwaukee Ballet and the Milwaukee Symphony, the Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestra and the South Bend Symphony. Mary Jo has performed in Miami, Florida with the New World Symphony Orchestra and has toured across Japan with the Pacific Music Festival where she worked with Academy Award winning composer, Tan Dun.
An avid lover of Broadway and movie music she has performed countless operas and shows, including touring with The Phantom of the Opera and the 2010 North American Tour of Star Wars in Concert. Mary Jo has performed in concert with Zelda, Symphony of Goddesses, Video Games Live! and recorded the PBS special, A Christmas Carol, Live in Concert, which premiered Christmas 2013. Mary Jo can be heard on a wide range of CD’s, including, Sam Winch’s Senator!, the Grammy nominated Hotel Lafayette with Denise Brigham, and The C.O.W.L. Sessions, an album of Jazz nonets by composer Joe Clark. Mary Jo is a member of the Millar Brass Ensemble and can be heard on the groups numerous recordings.
Most recently Mary Jo has been on the ground floor of reimagining “live” performance, thanks to the 2020 pandemic, forming and creating various virtual concert opportunities with the ‘Rona Horn Quartet. A documentary on their work, "From Corona to ‘Rona: One quartet's journey in and out of the pandemic.”, was presented at the August 2021, International Horn Symposium and can be viewed on the groups YouTube channel.
Mary Jo's academic credits include a BM Cum Laude from Boston University, a MM from Northwestern University, and a Certificate of Performance from DePaul University.
When not tooting her horn Mary Jo enjoys sewing, home DIY projects and learning new tricks for photography and videography. She resides in Chicago’s historic Portage Park neighborhood on the northwest side with her musician/educator husband and their two children.
Andrew Noseworthy (he/him/his) is a multidisciplinary artist whose music reflects upon the acceptance/rejection of “locality,” while addressing ideas of post-regional spaces and questions of accessibility for the musical voices within them. His genre-fluid projects coalesce wide-ranging styles and distinct artistic practices, while building sustainable relationships through communal collaboration. Recent collaborators include The Metropolis Ensemble, The 21C Guitar Conference, Angie Moon Dance Theatre, Saman Shahi, India Gailey, Yang Chen, Tim Brady/Bradyworks, Phong Tran, Adam Cuthbért, SlowPitchSound, Greg Bruce, The St John’s International Sound Symposium, Bekah Simms, Tanea Hynes and Andrea Lodge. He is a member of the experimental hardcore duo this place is actually the worst (with Aeryn Jade Santillan), post-genre duo laydøwn (with Yaz Lancaster), Toronto-based contemporary ensemble ContaQt, and co-runs people | places | records.
Currently a resident of Baltimore, Md., Patrick Quinn is completing his Doctor of Musical Arts degree in bassoon performance from the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University.
He received his Master of Music in performance from Portland State University and his Bachelor of Music from Oklahoma State University.
Quinn also has studied conducting, receiving an honors degree in orchestral conducting from the Charles Darwin University in Darwin, Australia, where he was the assistant conductor of the Darwin Symphony Orchestra.
He has taught inner-city music with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s “Orchkids” program, where he served as choir director, double reeds instructor, and chamber music coach. He was awarded the Diversity in Youth Leadership Education award from the Hopkins University for his work with the “Orchkids” program in 2014.
His freelance performances include shows with the Oregon Symphony (Portland, Ore.), Alarm Will Sound (NYC, N.Y.), and the Occasional Symphony (Baltimore, Md.), Maryland Choral Arts Society (Baltimore), among others. He also regularly performs with the Baltimore chapter of Classical Revolution, which was featured on TEDxMidAtlantic in 2012 lecturing on Fear in Classical Music.
His primary teachers include Philip Kolker, Evan Kuhlmann, Brad Balliett, Stephane Levesque, Susie Brown, and Joseph Daigle.
Soo Yeon Lyuh is a composer, improviser, and master of the haegeum, a two-stringed Korean bowed instrument. Lyuh’s work strikes a balance between originality and tradition, borrowing and recontextualizing familiar gestures from Korean music. Her soundscape follows a logic of texture, pacing, feeling, and unexpected turns.
Lyuh asks classically trained performers to approach their instruments from an unusual perspective, drawing out fresh sounds that, once understood, sound organic. These sounds are deceptively difficult to specify with notation. Instead, Lyuh records herself playing the haegeum and teaches her music to performers by ear. A “score” will be both a printed page, and a set of instructional videos. She asks performers and listeners alike to reimagine the sounds of a conventional Western ensemble.
Lyuh’s music addresses present social issues. “Tattoo” (2021) is about fear and release, and responds to her own experience of a random shooting incident in California. “See You On The Other Side” (2021) was composed in response to the growing death toll of the coronavirus. “Moment 2020” (2020) has been dedicated to artists who struggle to stay creative during the pandemic. Lyuh’s music searches for connection and empathy in tumultuous times.
As a performer, Lyuh possesses flawless technique and a full command of the haegeum’s traditional repertoire. For twelve years, she was a member of South Korea’s National Gugak Center, which traces its roots to the 7th Century Shilla Dynasty and is Korea’s foremost institution for the preservation of traditional music. Lyuh has endeavored to weave authentic styles into new musical domains, relocating in 2015 to the San Francisco Bay Area and drawing inspiration from its dynamic improvised music scene. In 2017, Lyuh was awarded a fellowship from the Asian Cultural Council to develop collaborations with Bay Area experimental musicians. She pushes herself not only to command a deep understanding of historical works, but also to negotiate challenging new ones.
Through the Bay Area music scene, Lyuh met David Harrington, violinist of the Kronos Quartet. Harrington invited her to include “Yessori” (2017) in the Kronos’ project Fifty for the Future, which over five years commissioned fifty string quartets from prominent and emerging composers around the globe.
“There was no question that she was a phenomenal instrumentalist,” says David Harrington. “The sounds she is able to create on the haegeum are wholly unique and open up a vast new realm of sonic possibilities to Western ears. Moreover, the breadth of her knowledge of Korean traditional music is an incredible resource for musicians and scholars alike.”
Lyuh’s interest in improvisational music draws on Korean traditions lost to generations of performers. Although playing by ear is essential in bringing Korean folk music to life, preserving traditional performance has taken precedence over expanding the music’s improvisational vocabulary. In this respect Lyuh has ventured in a decidedly experimental direction. She was featured on the record Mudang Rock (2018) with drummer Simon Barker, guitarist Henry Kaiser, bassist Bill Laswell, and saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa. In December 2017, she played with trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith at the Create Festival in San Francisco. She also played on a free improvisation recording, Megasonic Chapel (Fractal Music, 2015), featuring Kaiser, percussionist William Winant, pianist Tania Chen, and cellist Danielle DeGruttola. Meanwhile, Lyuh honed her improvisational skills by working with cellist Joan Jeanrenaud and sitting in on courses of pianist Myra Melford and avant-garde icon Roscoe Mitchell.
In 2023, Lyuh has earned a M.F.A in composition at Princeton University and is currently working on her Ph.D. dissertation. Previously, Lyuh earned her D.M.A. in Korean Traditional Music from Seoul National University. As a lecturer, she is sought after for her ability to impart valuable insight and intercultural understanding to those unfamiliar with Korean traditional music; her dissertation researched the changing role of haegeum in Korean orchestras beginning with early court traditions. As a visiting scholar at Mills College (2017-2018) and UC Berkeley (2015-2016), Lyuh taught established and emerging composers in the Bay Area about haegeum composition and techniques in order to create new repertoire for the instrument. Lyuh has also been a visiting scholar at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa (2011-2012).
“I think that it will be impossible to conquer the haegeum in my lifetime,” says Lyuh. “That is because it becomes harder the more I play it. The instrument continues to reveal itself. It is full of untapped possibilities for improvisation and composition. I hope the nature of my music can make a bridge between cultures across times, and break down any walls.”
Saman Shahi is a JUNO-Nominated composer, pianist, and conductor based in Toronto whose music has been described as “Inspired and spontaneous” (The Indie Source), “Lucid and dramatic” (Musicworks) and “Endlessly rewarding” (I Care If You Listen).
Saman's compositions have been championed across North America, Europe and Asia by groups such as The Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Windsor Symphony Orchestra, Windsor Youth Symphony Orchestra, The Atlanta Opera, National Ballet of Canada, Sinfonia Toronto, and Soundstreams. His music has also been broadcast on CBC, PBS Georgia, Radio Télévision Suisse, BBC Farsi and VOA Farsi.
As a pianist and conductor, Saman has been an avid performer and advocate of new music in Canada. He is the Music Director at the Peterborough Concert Band. He is also very active as a conductor in Canada and the USA. His 2019 solo Piano tour "In Search of Polarity" featured music of Iranian composers in Diaspora. He also is the pianist of “Rogue Duo”, a violin piano duo with Bijan Sepanji that has been active since 2017.
Saman holds a Masters degree in composition from the University of Toronto, is an Affiliate Member of the Canadian League of Composers, Associate Composer at the Canadian Music Centre as well as a SOCAN member. He is a Co-founder and the Executive Director at ICOT, and serves as a board member at the Alliance for Canadian New Music Projects and Musicworks magazine. He also works as a composer and Teaching Artist with the Canadian Opera Company.
In 2021 his Miniatures for piano solo was published in the London College of Music grade 5 piano hand book, Uk's official conservatory method book. Two of his other piano works are also included in the Royal Conservatory of Music's 2022 Syllabus in Canada.
In 2020 Saman's debut composition album "Breathing in the Shadows" was recorded and released by Leaf Music. This album contains of his vocal music. His song cycle "Orbit" in this album won the second prize in Canadian Amateur Musician's Associations' composition Competition in 2019. In 2022 JUNO Awards, “Breathing in the Shadows” from this album was nominated in the “Classical Composition of the Year” category.
Saman was named the recipient of the 2020 Riversong Commission Award by Whispering River Orchestra. This score was later selected as part of Toronto Symphony Orchestra's “Explore the Score”. He was also selected as a finalist in Kaleidoscope Chamber orchestra's international call for scores for his song cycle “Songs of a Wandering Soul” in 2020. He was the finalist for the Atlanta Opera's “96 Hour Opera” Project in 2022 with his latest opera “Before the Last Meter”. His second composition album, “Microlocking” was released by People|Places|Records in 2021, containing a series of his chamber works. Saman's next commercial release will be a chamber orchestra album featuring new Canadian music slated for release by Leaf Music in Fall of 2023.
Saman regularly serves as a judge at the Juno Awards, East Coast Music Awards, FACTOR and other federal and provincial granting bodies.
Samuel Z. Solomon teaches percussion at The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, Boston University, and is Artistic Director of the Juilliard Summer Percussion Seminar. From 2004-2023 he served as Percussion Director of The Boston University Tanglewood Institute (BUTI), and from 2007-2011 he was president of the Massachusetts Chapter of the Percussive Arts Society. His book, “How to Write for Percussion,” has received critical acclaim from composers, performers, and conductors worldwide and is available in three languages. He has also authored four books on percussion playing and curated two collections of percussion etudes and solos. Solomon is founding member of the Yesaroun’ Duo and the Line C3 percussion group, from 2005-2010 he was percussionist-in-residence at Harvard University, and from 2003-2015 he was principal timpanist of the Amici New York chamber orchestra. He can be heard as soloist and chamber musician on GM, Albany, Bedroom Community, New Focus, and Tzadik labels, as well as performing the music of Björk on her soundtrack to Matthew Barney’s film “Drawing Restraint 9.” Please visit www.szsolomon.com for more.
Jaze Matteo Wharton (b.1999) is a Baltimore-based composer of frenetic, eclectic, and contemplative new music. Having spent the earliest years of his career playing garage shows and recording lo-fi LPs in his bedroom, Wharton brings a scrappy do-it-yourself attitude to his concert composition that channels his beginnings as a power-chord-bending singer-songwriter. Whether manifesting as head-bobbing rhythms or as breath-entraining soundscapes, Wharton harnesses a sharp sense of the physical born out of his time writing and playing for alternatingly empty and sweaty rooms.
His music is often conceptual in its origins, taking inspiration from philosophy, other forms of media, and microscopic examinations of conflict at both the personal and societal levels. His piece 16 Gigabytes of Human Memory is a sonic contemplation on the relationship between human and digital memory and how data can be corrupted for both. Discourse Machine is about the ways in which online commentary has shifted our perception of all events but especially tragedy, and how suffering is often plundered for talking points rather than meaningfully engaged with.