Meet our 2022 Festival Composers
Chiayu is an active composer of contemporary concert music. Chiayu has been interested in deriving inspirations from different materials, such as poems, myths, and images. Particularly, however, it is the combination of Chinese elements and western techniques that is a hallmark of her music…
Anuj Bhutani is quickly emerging as a unique and versatile composer whose music often features visceral grooves; ethereal, meditative spaces; a combination of acoustic instruments and electronics, and a strong sense of narrative. Since 2020, he won 1st prize in Cerddorion Vocal Ensemble’s Emerging Composer Competition, Verdigris Ensemble’s ION Composer Competition …
Indian pianist/composer UTSAV LAL, often known as the ‘Raga Pianist’ is recognised as the rarest of pianists. Stunning the world with his innovative handling of Indian Classical Music on a Western instrument, The Irish Times describes Utsav Lal as “a fleet-fingered performer whose best moments can be both highly evocative and dazzling.”…
At age 10, Gelin taught himself to play the trumpet simply by emulating his favorite records. After years of self-tutelage, Adrian D’Aguilar, bass player, began to mentor him; thereby, providing him the tools to play jazz. In 2017, the Nassau-born trumpeter would study with Dr. Eddie Henderson at the Oberlin Conservatory. The same year, he received recognition at the Young Arts Foundation and Betty Carter Jazz Ahead Program. Thereafter, he continued his studies at the Juilliard School --- graduated June 2021.
Ross has topped the DownBeat Critics Poll Rising Star category for vibraphone — graduating beyond the Rising Star to well-honed artist in 2021 — as well as the Jazz Journalists Association Critics Poll for Mallet Instrumentalist of the Year in 2020 and 2021. He recently became one of the youngest artists to earn a coveted Residency Commission from The Jazz Gallery and a spot in The Jazz Gallery All Stars band through which he performed live at The Kennedy Center…
Micah Thomas was born in 1997 in Columbus, Ohio. He started playing songs on the piano by ear at the age of 2, and shortly afterwards he started private piano training. From his sophomore year of high school onwards, Micah began gigging regularly with violinist Christian Howes, and was a regular faculty member at his annual Creative Strings Workshop from 2015-2018…
Claire Dickson is a vocalist, composer, and producer from Medford, Massachusetts, currently based in Brooklyn. Much of her work is self-contained: using her voice, field recordings, synthesizers, and samples she builds instruments and sound worlds that investigate dream states and sensation…
Flutist Isabel Lepanto Gleicher has been called “excellent” by The New York Times. Isabel is an artist member of the International Contemporary Ensemble, Wild Up, new music sinfonietta Ensemble Echappe, the Annapolis Chamber Music Festival, and the band ShoutHouse…
Shara Lunon is a multidisciplinary vocalist based in New York City. Her artistic career leads with a Black American focus, using the full range of the voice in sound, wordplay, and visual art. Shara combines both improvised and scored vocals with intention of lyric (text and melody) over beat-heavy rhythms and ethereal ambiance. She has toured with several bands and as a soloist in South America and Europe. Shara received her undergraduate degree in Ethnomusicology from the University of Florida and a Vocal Certificate from the University of São Paulo, Brazil. Shara is currently working towards her Masters in Music in Performance and Composition at the New School.
Meet our 2022 Festival Performers
Oboist Hsuan-Fong Chen (pronounced “SHUan-fong”) has garnered a reputation as one of New York City’s most versatile musicians, with a career in orchestra, Broadway, new music, and occasional administrative roles. Having performed across the United States, Europe, and Asia, she is sought after for a wide range of performances, ranging from a guest principal appearance with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, sharing the stage with Rihanna at the 2015 Met Gala, and performing in the hit Broadway production of Rocktopia as its lead oboist, with an additional appearance in Wicked…
Noah is a cellist and chamber musician born and raised in Queens, New York City. He has just completed a Master’s Degree at the Juilliard School studying under Natasha Brofsky, and is continuing his education at the Manhattan School of Music with Julia Lichten, earning a Professional Studies certificate…
Korean-Australian violinist Harriet Langley is an accomplished soloist and chamber musician who has performed with the London Chamber Orchestra, the Verbier Festival Orchestra, the Vienna Chamber Orchestra, Sinfonia Varsovia, the Reno Philharmonic, the Gyeonggi Philharmonic of Korea, and the Orchestre National de Belgique, to name a few…
Cellist Drake Driscoll has established herself as a versatile performer and advocate for social change through music. Drake is the Executive Director and Co-founder of The VISION Collective, an ensemble dedicated to building meaningful relationships with and among refugees and new Americans by sharing music between diverse communities…
Mara Mayer is a clarinetist and bass clarinetist who is always trying to learn something new. Her performance experience ranges from traditional Balinese Gamelan to performance art. Recent projects include Jeff Tobias' Recurring Dream Band, Banda de los Muertos, GABI, the Nouveau Classical Project, Curiosity Cabinet, CACEnsemble, and Corvus…
Christopher Foss is a bassoonist and teaching artist in Brooklyn, NY who frequents many special niches of musicking. He has performed with WildUp, SEM Ensemble, LCollective, Vinny Golia Large Ensemble, Dog Star Orchestra, and was formerly contrabassoonist with the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra and American Youth Symphony…
Will Yager is a bassist/improviser committed to experimental music, improvisation, and collaborating with living composers. He is a founding member of the chamber duo LIGAMENT and improvising trio Wombat. Performance highlights include the High Zero Foundation’s Red Room in Your Room, ESS Quarantine Concerts, 2021 International Society of Bassists’ Convention, Oh My Ears Festival, Big Ears Festival, Feed Me Weird Things, New Music on the Point, Cortona Sessions for New Music, and the Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival.
Tamika Gorski is a percussionist currently based in New York City. An avid performer and supporter of contemporary music, she has commissioned and premiered numerous solo and chamber works by composers such as Molly Joyce, Elliot Cole, and Phong Tran…
Raf Vertessen is a Belgian drummer, percussion player and composer based in Brooklyn. He is involved in New York’s avant-garde and improvised music scene. Vertessen has performed and/or recorded with artists such as Ingrid Laubrock, Joe Morris, Joe McPhee, Ches Smith, Anna Webber, Nick Dunston, Will Greene, Elias Stemeseder, Dan Pencer, Jesse Heasly…
Bassist Composer and Educator Walter Stinson has been performing and living in Brooklyn since 2012 after graduating from Purchase College. He began his music studies at the age of 10 by playing along with the classic country radio station and his mother who was a jazz pianist…
Multi-instrumentalist and composer, Oscar lives in Brooklyn since 1992.
He has worked with Lee Konitz, Anthony Braxton, Gerry Hemingway, Dewey Redman and Paul Motion.
He is currently performing with Tim Berne’s Snakeoil, Endangered Blood (Chris Speed, Jim Black, Trevor Dunn) and colead with Jacob Garchik, the Mexico-inspired Banda De Los Muertos. He plays alto saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet and drums.
Nathaniel Morgan is an alto saxophonist and composer living in Brooklyn. Nathaniel collaborates in and/or leads many projects including Buckminster/DARKMINSTER, Shy Bully, Ancient Enemies, Skellettes, Motel, Vessel, Folklords, Chopper, and The Hero of Warchester. Many of these recordings appear on PromNightRecords.
Born in Osaka, Japan, Kelly Talim began studying the violin at the age of seven, making her solo debut with the Oregon Symphony five years later. Kelly has since performed with the Sendai Symphony, Seattle Symphony, Montgomery Symphony, and the Kobe City Chamber Orchestra, among others…
Hae Sol (Amy) Hur was born on August 29, 1995 in Seoul, South Korea. She found her passion for the clarinet at the age of 11 and had her first performances in the U.S. as part of the Tacoma Youth Symphony. Amy had her solo debut at Carnegie Hall, Weill Recital Hall on December 19, 2016 as an American Protege International Concerto Competition winner…
New York City-based multi-instrumentalist, producer, composer, and engineer Morgan Guerin has achieved much in his young, burgeoning career. From composition to appearances on significant stages, Guerin has spent his life exploring new and exciting ways to navigate sound…
Drummer and producer Kobi “Trenchfoot” Abcede, a.k.a !KOBI, brings propulsive rhythmic prowess and a jazz-tinged harmonic palette to any musical context from LA to New York. Combining futuristic synth loops with fiery live drums, he creates soundscapes that reveal his deep knowledge of jazz harmony and its ever-continuing history…
Hannah Marks is a bassist, bandleader, composer, and educator living in New York City. As a bandleader, she has performed at several major festivals, including the Detroit Jazz Festival, Hyde Park Jazz Festival, Iowa City Jazz Festival, and Indy Jazz Festival…
Brooklyn-based flutist Roberta Michel is dedicated to the music of our time. She has commissioned and premiered hundreds of new works and has worked with many notable composers of our day. Roberta is the flutist and Co-Director of Wavefield Ensemble and is a member of PinkNoise and Duo RoMi.
Iranian and Pakistani American flutist Amir Farsi was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. He has performed under prolific conductors such as Marin Alsop, David Robertson, Peter Oundjian, Jean-Marie Zeitouni, Leon Fleisher, and Ignat Solzhenitsyn. Amir is currently a fellow in Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect, and is on the artist roster of Music@Menlo for Summer 2022…
Nora Stanley is a New York-based saxophonist and composer whose interests and work live at the intersection of composed and improvised music. With strong roots in the jazz, afro-cuban and improvised music traditions, Nora’s music emphasizes interaction and collaboration. Her sound is melody-driven and reaches to expand the possibilities of the harmonic realm…
Living in New York City, Emily Brandenburg is an educator, chamber musician and freelancer in the New England area. She has performed with ensembles such as The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, Albany Symphony, Princeton Symphony, Portland Symphony, Metropolis Ensemble and the Frisson Chamber Ensemble…
DoYeon Kim is an internationally acclaimed and award-winning virtuoso of the gayageum (a traditional Korean string instrument). In addition to traditional Korean music, DoYeon specializes in free jazz, jazz, and improvisation. She regularly performs solo and group concerts worldwide in Asia, Europe, North America, and South America…
Miriam Elhajli is a folk singer, composer-improviser, and musicologist whose work is influenced by the rich musical traditions of her Venezuelan, Moroccan and North American heritage. Elhajli currently lives in New York City where she performs and works as a researcher at The Association for Cultural Equity founded by Alan Lomax…
Violinist and improviser Lauren Cauley has quickly risen in New York’s avant-garde as an artist known for genre-breaking performances that expand the sonic possibilities of her instrument. Now a “mainstay of the local new-music scene” (New York Times), she’s built a reputation as an interpreter of “fierce precision” and “excellence uncompromised” (Cleveland Classical)…
Praised by the New York Times for his “graceful touch,” “rhythmic precision,” and “hypnotic charm,” pianist Han Chen has established himself in both the classical music and contemporary music worlds with his versatile programming and effortless technique…
Nate Jasensky is a guitarist, composer, producer, arranger, and music educator born and raised in sunny Tucson, Arizona, and currently living in Brooklyn, New York. Nathan first started his music education at the age of three, when he was enrolled in regular music classes with musicians in the local symphony orchestra. Learning how to read music before written english, Nate quickly became proficient in the guitar and the saxophone…
Dominican-American saxophonist and composer, Alfredo Colon is a proud New York City native. His distinct sound lives at the crossroads of a wide range of experiences and inspirations, from his upbringing in Upper Manhattan, to his Dominican heritage, to his love of musicians with melodic approaches to improvisation, including Sonny Sharrock, Ornette Coleman, and Pharoah Sanders…
Elias Stemeseder is a pianist, electronic musician and composer working in a wide-ranging variety of contemporary musical idioms. He has worked with Laurie Anderson, John Zorn, Craig Taborn, Ingrid Laubrock, Peter Evans, Joe McPhee, Anna Webber, Hamid Drake and Christian Lillinger, among others. Elias’ debut album Piano Solo was released by the acclaimed Swiss label Intakt Records in 2022…
Aliya Ultan (b. 1996) is a composer/improviser, cellist and vocalist from Brooklyn, NY. Born into a family of artists and musicians, Ultan was immersed in a variety of creative mediums and environments. Ultan grew up, periodically homeless with her mother and sister traveling across the U.S. and Canada. At age 12, Ultan fell in love with the cello turning it into her way out of poverty…
Julián Muro's music is the result of the encounter between at least two personalities, the one of a singer-songwriter-poet and the one of a composer-producer-researcher. He has released two albums of songs and instrumental music and has been featured as a composer, musician, and spoken word artist in albums in the US, Canada, and Argentina…
Ezra Gans is a performer currently residing in Ridgewood, New York. His work is grounded in tenets of experimental improvisation, placing an emphasis on spontaneity and real-time communication between performers and audiences…
Asher Herzog (b. 1995) is a Baltimore based drummer, composer and improviser whose primary interest lies at the intersection of composition and improvisation. An active leader and sideman, Herzog approaches every performance with the intent of creating powerful moments within the ensemble…
Kate Gentile is a Brooklyn-based drummer and composer. As a leader, Kate released Mannequins (Skirl Records) in 2017 with Jeremy Viner, Matt Mitchell and Adam Hopkins. Her current band, Find Letter X, features Mitchell, Viner, and Kim Cass on bass…
Guggenheim Fellow, USA Fellow, Doris Duke Artist, multilingual vocalist-composer-multi-instrumentalist-dancer Jen Shyu is “one of the most creative vocalists in contemporary improvised music” (The Nation). Born in Peoria, Illinois, to Taiwanese and East Timorese immigrants, she’s produced eight albums, performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Theater of Korea, Rubin Museum, was named Downbeat’s 2017 Rising Star Female Vocalist, and is a Fulbright scholar speaking 10 languages…
Miles Okazaki is a NYC-based guitarist originally from Port Townsend, a small seaside town in Washington State. His approach to the guitar is described by the New York Times as “utterly contemporary, free from the expectations of what it means to play a guitar in a group setting — not just in jazz, but any kind.”…
Milena Casado is a composer, flugelhorn and trumpet player from Spain. She has performed with acclaimed artists such as Terri Lyne Carrington, Kris Davis, Jorge Rossy, Kenny Werner, Bill McHenry or Francisco Mela, among others…
Maya Keren is a pianist, vocalist, composer, and songwriter from Philadelphia. They are interested in the process of environing people, voices, instruments, and sounds in ways that invite connection with one’s erotic instinct, embody compassionate and queer relations with the self and the collective, and destabilize learned systems of domination…
Julian Miltenberger is a drummer and composer from Philadelphia, currently attending the Harvard/Berklee dual degree program in Boston. With roots in Philadelphia's swing, R&B, and avant-garde music traditions, Julian seeks to explore broader musical lineages throughout the Atlantic world with his work…
Eden Girma is a multi-instrumental musician, singer, and composer. Hailing from Madison, WI but of no particular home; grown at the nexus of many artistic traditions, drawing from it all to create and perform music that not only resonates with individual hearts, but brings people closer together in a spirit of intimacy and empathy.
Peter Wikle is a tenor/bass trombonist and tuba player from Santa Ana, California. In high school, he participated in some of the most prestigious honor jazz ensembles including the Grammy Camp Jazz Session and Next Generation Jazz Orchestra. He has studied with musicians including Dave Taylor, Barry Harris, Lee Konitz, and Jim McNeely…
Matt Chilton is a New York City native active in a various media as a composer, technician, and multi-instrumentalist. Previous collaborations with Metropolis Ensemble include METABUSKING! for Biophony 2021. Recent credits include post-production mixing for short film plural (love) (WP Theater Pipeline Festival, 2022), sound design, tenor sax, and composition for myname’sound with..
jc is an NJ/NYC-based experimental musician, improviser, A/V engineer, and abolitionist activist/organizer. Originally trained in piano, drumset, classical percussion, and Balinese gamelan, they now thrive in the queered outer edges of instrumental, vocal, electroacoustic, and theatrical performance…
Elijah Shiffer is a New York-based saxophonist and composer. He is the leader of the Robber Crabs, a quartet combining the influences of early jazz and avant-garde jazz. The Robber Crabs' debut album, "Unhinged", was released in 2018. Elijah has performed in a wide variety of venues around New York City as both a leader and a sideman...
Susan D. Mandel's diverse interests have led to a career focused in new music and collaboration. As a cellist, Susan has been active in the studio with performance credits on numerous albums and film scores including Judas and the Black Messiah (2021) directed by Shaka King, scored by Mark Isham and Craig Harris, Here Today (2021) directed by Billy Crystal, scored by Charlie Rosen, and Nian (2021) directed by Lulu Wang, scored by Alex Weston…
Clarinetist Mark Dover is a man of many horns, always striving to have his feet in as many different genres as he can. As the clarinetist of Imani Winds, he maintains a busy touring schedule throughout the United States and abroad. In addition to his work with Imani Winds, Mark is the clarinetist of Manhattan Chamber Players, and has performed with The Detroit Symphony under Leonard Slatkin, The Cleveland Orchestra under David Zinman at Kent Blossom Music Festival, The Knights, The New World Symphony, and many other ensembles throughout the country…
Lavinia Pavlish is a New York City-based violinist. She has performed as a soloist with The Cleveland Orchestra in an morning education concert series entitled Time Travel with the Cleveland Orchestra and recently performed alongside cellist Rose Bart with the Lake Tahoe Festival Orchestra at the Lake Tahoe Music Festival…
Laura Sacks is a New York-based violist who enjoys a multifaceted career. She has performed on stages from Carnegie Hall to Madison Square Garden, and is highly in demand as a studio session player. This season Laura performs with NOVUS, the Chamber Orchestra of New York, the Washington Heights Chamber Orchestra, the Sullivan County Chamber Orchestra, and the North/South Consonance Ensemble, as well as numerous performances with the High Line String Quartet…
Sivan Cohen Elias is an electroacoustic experimental composer and intermedia artist, originally from Israel, who aims to expand the field of sound art into new mixed-media experiences and to sharpen the connection between our senses. She received numerous international awards, residencies, and commissions including Impuls competition, Akademie Schloss Solitude fellowship, Ernst von Siemens commissions, Music Theatre Composition Competition Staatstheater, Darmstadt, and most recently she has received the Fromm Commission Award…
Cole Blouin is a Queens-based sound-maker whose practice incorporates improvisation; score-based composition; and song. They are interested in the isolation and juxtaposition of temporal streams; the interactions of memory, imagination, desire, and presence; the historicities carried within material, and how those historicities may be fragmented or recontextualized; and the fragile threshold between the narrative and the poetic…
American violist Matthew Cohen is a dynamic and versatile artist whose captivating performances have made him one of the most sought-after violists of his generation. A recipient of numerous accolades and prizes, he has been awarded the 2018 Center for Musical Excellence International Performing Arts Grant..
Korean American violist Halam Kim is a passionate performer and educator who enjoys a versatile career in solo and chamber music as well as in education. Her major solo accomplishments include performances of Walton’s Viola Concerto with the Eastman Philharmonia and Philharmonie Baden-Baden…
Cellist Jared Blajian has performed as soloist as well as a chamber and orchestral musician on some of the most prominent stages in the world including Carnegie Hall and Severance Hall in Cleveland. He is committed to engaging audiences, communicating passion and joy, and changing lives through music…
Ms. Wang has established herself as an internationally active soloist and chamber musician. Following her solo debut at age eleven in Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, Ms. Wang has performed in renowned venues across the United States, Canada, Europe, South America, and East Asia…
Clarinetist Kristina Teuschler has been a member of the West Point Band since 2018. She is a versatile musician that performs with a variety of ensembles; from symphony orchestras, to indie bands, to contemporary ensembles in the New York area…
Lauren Siess is an NYC-based composer, violist, and improviser. Mass, chaos, and irrationality are integral to her work. By combining and manipulating found objects, she enjoys discovering the nuance and life inside of physical materials. 2021 projects included works for National Sawdust Ensemble, SICPP Festival, and and Line Upon Line Percussion…
Shara Lunon is a multidisciplinary vocalist based in New York City. Her artistic career leads with a Black American focus, using the full range of the voice in sound, wordplay, and visual art. Shara combines both improvised and scored vocals with intention of lyric (text and melody) over beat-heavy rhythms and ethereal ambiance. She has toured with several bands and as a soloist in South America and Europe. Shara received her undergraduate degree in Ethnomusicology from the University of Florida and a Vocal Certificate from the University of São Paulo, Brazil. Shara is currently working towards her Masters in Music in Performance and Composition at the New School.
Tyrone Allen is a recent graduate of Berklee College of Music’s Global Jazz Masters Program, led by Artistic Director Danilo Perez. While at Berklee, he was fortunate enough to study, and preform with some of the leading jazz artist of our time. Tyrone plays in two of drummer Ralph Peterson’s bands; the Fo-tet and Aggregate Prime, and also plays in saxophonist George Garzone’s quartet occasionally. Tyrone and Tyson Jackson met at Berklee in the fall of 2017, and have been playing together ever since.
Austin Cannon is an award-nominated producer and songwriter based in Nashville, TN. His sound can be defined as modern analog: where classic synthesizers meet relevant production. He specializes in Pop, Electronic, and Christian Contemporary Music and is signed to CURB|Word Music Publishing.
Adriel Shane Vincent-Brown is a Trinidadian musician in living in New York. Brown has managed to establish himself as a worthy contender and is already beginning to make a name for himself and his country. Growing up in Trinidad, his love for music began as a child watching his father Kenneth Vincent-Brown play the drums in church, the instrument that would eventually claim him…
Joshua received a bachelor’s degree at The Juilliard School studying with Alan Baer, Michael Moore, and Joseph Alessi. The 2017 National Young Arts Finalist recently performed the Vaughan Williams Tuba Concerto with the Georgia Symphony Orchestra, and was a featured artist with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. Joshua performs for the Soulful Symphony and is an Ear Training Teaching Fellow.
Wendy Eisenberg is an improviser and songwriter who uses guitar, pedals, the tenor banjo, the computer, the synthesizer and the voice. Their work spans genres, from jazz to noise to avant-rock to delicate songs; their performances span venues, from international festivals to intimate basements…
Constellation Chor is a vocal performance collective founded and directed by Marisa Michelson. Its intention at inception, and still to this day, was to create a space for humans to sing virtuosically together while also prioritizing deep embodied experience and movement. Since 2016, Constellation Chor has been in residence at Judson Memorial Church in NYC, meeting weekly.
Born in Taipei, Taiwan, Shao-Che (Sean) started playing the violin from the young age of five in a local music classroom. Growing up, Sean participated in many national music competitions, and often as prize winners. Sean moved to New York City at the age of thirteen to pursue a career as a violinist, he studied under both Mr. I-Hao Lee and Mr. Hyo Kang in The Juilliard Precollege…
I Cheng Liu has appeared across Taiwan as an outstanding soloist and as a chamber musician. Born in Changhua, Taiwan. I Cheng began his cello lessons at the age of thirteen. After attending Municipal Datongguomin Junior High School and Taichung Municipal Cingshuei Senior High School, I Cheng started to participate in many music contests and earned great results…
Fengwan Chen currently studies at The Juilliard School under the guidance of Joseph Lin. Fengwan has worked with Lewis Kaplan, Boris Kuschnir, Regis Pasquier, Midori Goto, Mayuko Kamio, and Ning Feng, among others. As an avid musician, she won the fellowships of Aspen Music Festival, Tanglewood Music Center, and the Music Academy of the West. Fengwan also performed at Juilliard ChamberFest and Seiji Ozawa Music Academy in Japan.
Xavier Del Castillo is a saxophonist and composer based in Brooklyn, New York. He has performed with numerous Jazz, New Music and Folk ensembles including Adam O'Farrill's Stranger Days, Cat Toren's Human Kind, Inti and the Moon, Los Guachinangos, Ben Rosenblum's Nebula Project, Tim Rachbach's Under One Moon and Alec Goldfarb's Laughing Coffin…
Marina Kifferstein (she/they) is a violinist and generative artist based in NYC. Equally comfortable in major international venues and DIY performance spaces, Marina enjoys a diverse career that encompasses contemporary chamber music, improvisation, composition, and classical performance…
Grounded in the traditions of the Djembe Orchestra, Kweku Sumbry is a multi-percussionist from Washington, DC. With the djembe, drumset, and a multitude of West African Percussion instruments, Kweku is bringing forth a new sound to the jazz world…
“Theodore Swanson began studying trombone at the age of 11. In 10th grade, he began private study with Dr. Anthony Williams from the University of Northern Iowa. Following this, he placed second in the final round of the 2019 Northern Festival of Bands Solo Competition…
Trombonist Levi Boylan began his musical journey studying the piano at the age of four. He turned to the trombone at age ten, studying with Ann Arbor low brass teacher Jonathan Holtfreter. During middle and high school, he performed in many recitals and school band and orchestra programs under the direction of David Leach at Pioneer High School…
Deandre Desir is a fourth year undergraduate at the Juilliard School and recipient of the Jerome L. Greene full tuition scholarship. Mr. Desir is the principal tubist of the Montclair Orchestra and serves as tuba faculty for the Metropolitan Concert Artists and ECTA Organization. He also serves as an Ear Training and Music Theory faculty for the Juilliard Pre-College as well as Teaching Fellow for the Juilliard Graduate Ear Training program…
Neta Raanan is a tenor saxophonist and composer raised in New Jersey. As a teenager, Neta was drawn to the mysterious black and white photos of Bird and Dizzy, Thelonious Monk and Lester Young perched on the walls of the record stores in New York City. She began attending creative music workshops all over the east coast, participating in youth orchestras and ensembles…
Kayvon Gordon was born and raised in Detroit. At a young age, he was taken under the mentorship of legendary trumpeter Marcus Belgrave. Later, he went on to the University of Michigan where he studied with Robert Hurst and Benny Green. Gordon has performed In Europe, Africa, South Asia, The United Arab Emirates, and North America…
Dave Adewumi is an award-winning trumpet player, composer, and educator captivated by the intangible nature of music. His work is derivative of the great black improvisers and composers of the past yet pushes forward to capture the totality of the human experience…
NYC artist Sami Stevens harnesses Jazz, Singer-Songwriter, and classic RnB influences to create truly intimate original music. In writing songs, singing and accompanying herself on keyboard, she crafts a musical world based in silence, delivering dynamic, personal performances. Though performing solo is where she takes complete control of the stage, Sami is also an avid collaborator...
Miriam Parker has been Working within the avant-garde jazz community as an artist and collaborator since birth, she uses movement, installation, paint, and media to build modular kinetic environments that become extensions of the choreographed body. Through re-organizational practices, Parker refines her understanding of individuality, outside of traditions built from oppressive ethics…
JOSH HENDERSON is enjoying a multi-faceted career as a cross-genre violinist, violist, and composer. As a classical soloist, he has performed with the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra, China Performing Arts Broadcasting Troupe, Starling Chamber Orchestra, Accent X Festival Orchestra, Colour of Music Festival Orchestra, Bard Conductors Festival Orchestra…
Guitarist, singer and producer Grey Mcmurray has been called “sublimely odd” (New York Magazine) and “the world’s least obtrusive guitarist” (The Guardian). He will release his first solo album on Figureight Records in summer 2019. He has performed/recorded with Gil-Scott Heron, Meshell Ndegeocello, Tyondai Braxton, Alarm Will Sound, Olga Bell, Skuli Sverrissonn, Ali Sethi, Theo Bleckmann, Beth Orton, ACME, Colin Stetson, So Percussion, Shahzad Ismaily, Sam Amidon and John Cale, among others…
Claire Dickson is a vocalist, composer, and producer from Medford, Massachusetts, currently based in Brooklyn. Much of her work is self-contained: using her voice, field recordings, synthesizers, and samples she builds instruments and sound worlds that investigate dream states and sensation…
Pablo O’Connell (he/him) is an NYC-based oboist, multi-instrumentalist, and composer. Pablo’s varied musical life includes composing and interpreting contemporary concert music, improvising, performing music of the European Baroque on period instruments, writing and recording indie folk songs, studying traditional Andean music, and more…
Alec Goldfarb is a Brooklyn based guitarist, composer, and Hindustani classical musician. Active in the NYC improvised and new music communities, Alec directed the chamber ensemble “Laughing Coffin” and served as Jonah Bokaer Choreography’s inaugural Composer in Residence for 2018...
Martine Thomas is a violist and poet based in New York City. She began her Doctorate of Musical Arts at CUNY Graduate Center in Fall 2021 and she has a Masters in Viola Performance as well as a Bachelor of Arts in English from the Harvard-New England Conservatory dual degree program…
Stephen Boegehold is a drummer and composer based in New York City. As a collaborator, Stephen has worked with many of his generation’s forward-thinking jazz and improvising artists including Roulette Intermedium Artists in Residence Sonya Belaya and Nick Dunston, whose 2020 release Atlantic Extraction: Live at Threes appeared on Downbeat’s best albums of 2020 list…
Trent Ransom is a graduate student at the DePaul University School of Music studying violin performance. Trent currently studies with I-Hao Lee. He previously studied with Cyrus Beroukhim and Teri Einfeldt. Trent has attended Green Mountain Chamber Music Festival, I- Hao Lee Program (China), Round Top Festival Orchestra, Boston University Tanglewood Institute, and Preludio Program for Advanced Violinists at the Ithaca College Suzuki Institute. Honors include winning the Connecticut Youth Symphony concerto competition, and winning the Hartford Musical Club Competition.
Marisa Tornello is a composer, vocalist, performance artist, poet, mover, and maker. Tornello cultivates an artistic practice that explores the art of living scores and thematic development through dual lens of trauma and healing. Their works have been shown at Roulette, the Tank, Jack, La MaMa ETC, Snug Harbor Cultural Center, Vital Joint, Invisible Dog Arts Center, and Judson Church…
Ledah Finck is a violinist, violist, improviser, and composer who resides in NYC. A passionate creator, performer, and curator of contemporary classical music, she is a member of the contemporary-music string quartet Bergamot Quartet, currently the Graduate String Quartet in Residence at the New School…
Tal Yahalom is an Israeli guitarist, composer and bandleader based in Brooklyn, New York.
In his music he seeks to create engaging storytelling, attentive interplay and distinct sonic environments, weaving together influences and elements of hard-bop, alternative-rock, impressionistic classical music and improvised music…
What is Biophony?
Join our annual festival at Brooklyn Botanic Garden, featuring 90+ musicians performing the World Premiere of 15 newly commissioned works, and celebrating the kick-off of Biophony Pop-Up NYC.
You’re invited to explore the stunning 52-acre gardens and discover 20+ musician pods for an outdoor musical adventure. Each listener’s experience will be unique, determined by the wide range of instrumentations, the topography of the site, and the freedom given to participants to explore and discover.
This year’s festival is inspired by nature’s first musicians — birds. Biophony takes place on World Migratory Bird Day 2022, an annual event raising awareness about the need for the conservation of migratory birds and their habitats.
Support our Artists
Metropolis Ensemble is on a mission to empower outstanding performers and composers through the creation of new work, during and beyond the pandemic. Make a sustaining gift today.
Biophony: The Festival 2022 is co-commissioned by Metropolis Ensemble and Brooklyn Botanic Garden, presented with additional support from Make Music New York. Biophony is made possible in part by the New York State Council on the Arts and New York City Cultural Affairs’ City Artist Corps.