Artists

Walter Ross (b. 1936), whose works have been performed in over 40 countries, is perhaps best known for his compositions featuring brass and woodwinds. Raised in Nebraska, he became a professional orchestral French horn player by the age of seventeen and went on to gain more performance experience in college as member of the University of Nebraska symphonic band, as a string bass player in a polka band, and as a flute player with a baroque ensemble. Currently he plays bass in the Blue Ridge Chamber Orchestra in Charlottesville VA.

David Rosenboom is a post-genre composer-performer, interdisciplinary artist, author, and educator known as a pioneer in American experimental music. Since the 1960s, his multi-disciplinary work has traversed ideas about spontaneously evolving musical forms, languages for improvisation, new techniques in scoring, cross-cultural and large-form collaborations, performance art and literature, interactive multimedia and new instrument technologies, generative algorithmic systems, art-science research and philosophy, and extended musical interface with the human nervous system. He was Dean of The Herb Alpert School of Music at California Institute of the Arts from 1990 through 2020, where he now holds the Roy E. Disney Family Chair in Musical Composition.

One of the most decorated saxophonists of her generation, Nicki Roman has won prizes at prestigious competitions such as the North American Saxophone Alliance (NASA) Solo Competition, Music Teachers National Association Young Artist Solo Competition, William C. Byrd International Competition, Fischoff, and the Kate Neal Kinley Memorial Fellowship. She has been a featured concerto soloist with the Eastman Symphony Orchestra, Eastman Wind Ensemble, UW-Milwaukee Wind Ensemble, Illinois Wind Symphony, University of North Florida Orchestra, and the Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra. Across North America, Europe, and Asia, Nicki has shared solo and chamber music performances at venues such as the China National Centre for the Performing Arts, Shandong University of the Arts, Zagreb Academy of Music, Krannert Center for Performing Arts, Rio All-Suite Casino in Las Vegas, Brevard Summer Music Festival, and the Zelazo Performing Arts Center.

Karolina Rojahn is a Los Angeles based pianist who has dedicated the last decade of her career to premiering and recording contemporary music repertoire. She has premiered over a hundred new works and collaborated with various classical music labels, most notably Naxos, having released over 43 recordings of chamber and solo piano music, including 5 piano concertos written specifically for her.

Holly Roadfeldt is a versatile performer whose concerts regularly mix newly composed music with established masterpieces. Equally adept at both languages, Roadfeldt’s mission is to inspire and advocate for piano music of the highest caliber. Her most recent project celebrates the piano prelude. The goal for this endeavor is to commission new preludes to be performed alongside works from the standard repertoire. As part of her Preludes Project, new preludes were premiered by Roadfeldt at Oklahoma State University, Wichita State University; the Peabody Institute; University of Nebraska-Kearney; Mars Hill University; Western Carolina University; Carson-Newman University; the College of Southern Maryland; Westminster College; the University at Albany; and Manchester University.

John Ritz is a composer, improviser, experimental music performer, sound artist, and educator. He is a proponent of interdisciplinary arts and collaborates regularly with visual and performing artists. His recent concert music focuses on chamber music for instruments and interactive computer systems. He is an Assistant Professor of Music Composition and Creative Studies at the University of Louisville.

Alan Rinehart has over 45 years experience as a professional classical guitarist with many contributions to the guitar world as a performer, teacher, and music editor. Upon completing university he studied lute repertoire and technique in London, England at the Early Music Centre.

For over two decades, cellist Rhonda Rider was a member of the Naumburg Award-winning Lydian Quartet and Triple Helix Piano Trio. An advocate of contemporary music, Rider has premiered and recorded works by composers including Raven Chacon, Yu-Hui Chang, John Harbison, Lee Hyla, Laura Kaminsky, and Elliott Carter. Her interest in presenting music in unusual places has led her to be an Artist-in-Residence at both Grand Canyon and Petrified Forest National Parks. Rider has adjudicated at the Fischoff, Stulberg and Concert Artist Guild Competitions. She is Professor of Cello at Boston Conservatory at Berklee where she was twice awarded Teacher of the Year. Rider is heard on over thirty chamber music and solo recordings.

Midwest-native composer Marga Richter grew up in Wisconsin and Minnesota prior to moving to New York, where she earned her bachelor's and master's degrees in composition from The Juilliard School. Her compositional output consists of over 150 works encompassing virtually every genre of classical music. Her orchestral music has been played by more than 50 orchestras including the Atlanta and Milwaukee Symphonies and the Minnesota Orchestra, and recorded by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, the Polish Radio National Symphony Orchestra, the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, and the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra.

Lucie Rejchrtová is a pianist and keyboard player from Prague. Classically trained and influenced by her minister-father's love of jazz and gospel music, she enjoys playing different styles including jazz, blues, rock, ambient/electronic and her own compositions. She has gigged and recorded with a number of Czech and UK bands and musicians, e.g. Joe Carnation Band and The Crazy World of Arthur Brown.

Sarah Belle Reid is a performer-composer who plays trumpet, modular synthesizer, and an ever-growing collection of handcrafted electroacoustic instruments. Her unique musical voice explores the intersections between contemporary classical music, experimental and interactive electronics, sound installation, visual arts, noise music, and improvisation. Often praised for her ability to transport audience members through vivid sonic adventures, Reid’s sonic palette has been described as ranging from “graceful” and “danceable” all the way to “silk-falling-through-space,” and “pit-full-of-centipedes” (San Francisco Classical Voice).

William Jason Raynovich uses (or rather abuses) computers to create musical repetition out of the idiosyncrasies of physical performances. With the open-source visual programming language, Pure Data, he creates interactive compositions with new notational systems and explores self-similarity systems with live audio processing. He is constructing a series of unconventional instruments to accompany these algorithmic compositions. The works in this series include tre’ for voice, instruments, and computer,and his cello solo piece, now for cello and computer.

audiences across the United States, they have quickly become known as one of today’s most exciting wind quintets. Exploring the fringes of the quintet repertoire ­— new music, forgotten gems, original arrangements and music for children — Madera also engages audiences with the classic repertoire and beauty of the wind quintet sound.

Renowned for their award-winning performances, the Fuego Quartet is devoted to the performance of both standard and contemporary works for all audiences. Founded in 2015 at the Eastman School of Music, Fuego is passionate about community engagement and education, striving to bring new sounds into familiar spaces and introduce music of all types to audiences through friendly, creative, and informative performances. They have been successful in numerous competitions, including winning the 2017 Fischoff Gold Medal and prizes in the 2017 Plowman Chamber Music Competition and the MTNA National Chamber Music Competition.

The New Hudson Saxophone Quartet is a rare combina­tion: an ensemble dedicated to presenting American music with a string quartet approach and a beautiful, blending instrumental sound. Their repertoire can range from commissioned works by Robert Sirota and David Noon to classic original repertoire by 19th-century American composers Caryl Florio and the 20th century Alec Wilder.

Internationally acclaimed veterans of contemporary music, Sirius Quartet combines exhilarating repertoire with unequaled improvisational fire. These conservatory-trained performer-composers shine with precision, soul and a raw energy rarely witnessed on stage, championing a forward-thinking, genre-defying approach that makes labels like ‘New Music’ sound tame.

Since the Benda Quartet began performing in 2012 they have achieved a wide variety of musical successes and established themselves among highly respected Czech ensembles. Their first significant landmark was the concert debut they performed at the 60th Jubilee of the Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra in Ostrava in April 2014. The concert was recorded by Czech Radio and garnered a huge audience acclaim. Since then has the collaboration with the studio of Czech Radio continued on regular basis and resulted in a number of publicly appreciated recordings. The Benda Quartet have worked intensively together with the Janáček Philharmonic Orchestra and artist management agency Janáčkův Máj on numerous chamber music and educational projects.

Tom Prescott is an electroacoustic composer, researcher and software developer. He studied computer science and music technology at Keele University. He then went on to an MRes in music which investigated the application of interactive genetic algorithms to the control of granular synthesis and spatialisation techniques. This was followed by a Ph.D funded by the Keele Research Institute for the Humanities which involved the development of compositions and software that investigate a range of approaches to the application of interactive genetic algorithms to sound design, composition and performance. His compositions are inspired by nature and focus on explorations of the formation of planets and the evolution of life on Earth.

Polevaya’s journey as a musician began with classical training on several instruments. She then became immersed in more experimental forms of performance, in particular electroacoustic improvisation with effect pedals. Polevaya’s performance background ties closely with her compositional work, which is often infused with electronics, found objects, and theatrical elements.

Stefan Poetzsch (b. 1963 in Magdeburg, Germany) began studying violin in his early youth in what was formerly East Germany. At the age of 16, he happened to catch a radio show broadcasting a piece focused on the music of Polish violinist Zbigniew Seifert and his subsequent death. Upon hearing Seifert's approach to the instrument, Poetzsch's interest in music from this moment on was forever changed. It instantly made the teenager look at the violin differently and how he approached the sound of its strings.