Artists

David William Ross is a versatile musician with an embracing approach. He regularly performs classical repertoire but also works in jazz and other improvisatory styles. An advocate of new music, he has worked closely with composers and has recorded and premiered many works by composers from all over the world. Ross frequently collaborates with dancers, choreographers, and multimedia artists in creating original works. A producer and engineer, he has recorded and produced many projects, including his own.

Andrea Cheeseman is a clarinetist and teacher living in Columbia SC. Throughout her career, she has been committed to playing good music and collaborating with inspiring people who challenge her.

Alla Elana Cohen is a distinguished composer, pianist, music theorist, and teacher who came to the United States in 1989 from Russia. Graduating from the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory with the highest honors of distinction, Cohen lives in Boston and is a professor at Berklee College of Music.

Philip Koplow’s first association with professional Cincinnati musicians was the Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra’s performance of his tone poem Generations in 1980. Koplow has had fine orchestral success — his music has been performed by the Cleveland Symphony, the Cincinnati Symphony, the Cincinnati Pops, the National Symphony, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Wyoming Symphony, the Columbus Symphony, the West Chester Symphony, the Blue Ash Symphony, the Northern Kentucky Symphony, and has been recorded by the Silesian Philharmonic in Poland.

Thad Anderson (b. 1980) is a faculty member at the University of Central Florida where he has roles in the percussion, composition, and music technology fields. In addition to his teaching duties, he also oversees the Collide Contemporary Music Series and directs the UCF New Music Ensemble. Actively composing in instrumental, electronic, and multimedia genres, Anderson has composed pieces for the Omojo Percussion Duo, George Weremchuk, Grand Valley State University, Nora Lee Garcia, the Heisler/Yeh Duo, the Patterns Quartet, and Korry Friend. He frequently collaborates with immersive visual artist Diana Reichenbach and composed music for the award-winning documentary film Standard Deviation.

Richard Carr is a violinist, composer, and music educator who lives in Rosendale NY (85 miles north of New York City). He holds a doctorate in music education from Columbia University. He has recorded numerous albums under his own name and with artists such as Bill Laswell, Fred Frith, Bootsy Collins, Sly & Robbie, The Swans, Milt Hinton, Bucky Pizzarelli, John Pizzarelli Jr., Alan Dawson, Howard Alden, and Karl Berger.

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.

Frederic D’Haene is a Belgian avant-garde composer and creator of his own composition technique called ‘paradoxophony’ or ‘paradoxical coexistence.’

Reigakusha was established in 1985 as an ensemble of professional gagaku instrumentalists dedicated to the study and performance of the classical gagaku repertoire and the creation of new music for ancient instruments. Led by the distinguished musician and composer Sukeyasu Shiba–a specialist in music for the ryuteki flute and biwa, and a former member of the Music Department of the Imperial Household Agency–Reigakusha has around thirty members.

Critically acclaimed as “a passionate pianist and scholar,” Svetlana Belsky is a highly-demanded recitalist and chamber pianist, noted for her remarkable rapport with audiences and stylistic versatility. She has appeared in Italy, Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Canada, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and the United States. Belsky has received awards both for her performances in international piano competitions and for her advocacy of new American music.

Dr. Phil Salathé spent his formative musical years playing jazz trumpet, making homemade musique concrète on an old tape deck, and getting in trouble for surreptitiously composing in chemistry class. His music has been performed in the United States, Canada, South America, Europe, and Asia. It ranges widely in scale and scope, from multi-movement orchestral works to hand-programmed "chiptunes" for independent video game publishers.

Paul Lombardi holds a Ph.D. in music composition from the University of Oregon, and studied composition with David Crumb, Robert Kyr, Stephen Blumberg, and Leo Eylar. His music has been performed in more than 30 states across the United States, as well as in other areas in North America, South America, and Europe. Recordings of his music are available from PARMA Recordings, Capstone Records, Zerx Records, ERMMedia, and Thinking outLOUD Records.

Tower Duo is a flute and saxophone ensemble based in Columbus, Ohio that specializes in creating engaging musical experiences with a particular interest in performing and premiering contemporary works by living composers. Tower Duo, whose members are flutist, Erin Helgeson Torres and saxophonist, Michael Rene Torres, has been performing together since 2007 and gave its inaugural recital at the Brevard Music Center Festival and Institute in North Carolina. The duo has since performed all across the United States at universities, conferences, and festivals. Highlights include the Omaha Chamber Music Society’s Eko Nova series, the Cleveland Uncommon Sound Project’s Re:Sound New Music Festival, and multiple North American Saxophone Alliance Biennial conferences. Tower Duo recently recorded their debut album, Crosswind, which features the duo’s favorite collaborations with composers from the first decade of their artistic work. Crosswind was released under the PARMA Recordings label in January of 2019.

Ted Coffey makes acoustic and electronic music, sound installations, and songs. His work has been presented in concerts and festivals across North America, Europe and Asia, at such venues as Judson Church, The Knitting Factory, Roulette, Symphony Space, and Lincoln Center (NYC), The Lab, New Langton Arts, Zellerbach Hall, and The Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (SF), Wolf Trap and The Kennedy Center (DC), the Korean National University of the Arts (Seoul), The Carre Theatre (Amsterdam), and ZKM (Karlsruhe, Germany).

Campbell Ross is a guitarist, composer and teacher who lives in Brisbane, Australia. He developed a passion for the guitar at an early age and almost immediately began writing for the instrument. Raised in New Zealand, Campbell won the Christchurch Guitar Competition before embarking on tertiary study at the Wellington Conservatorium of Music under the tutelage of Matthew Marshall.

The University of Alabama at Birmingham Chamber Trio consists of Dr. Denise Gainey, clarinet, Dr. James Zingara, trumpet and Dr. Christopher Steele, piano. The group was established in 2012 and has performed throughout Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia including appearances at the Alabama Music Educators Conference, the College Music Society Southern Region Conference, the Birmingham Art Music Alliance, the National Association of Composers USA Conference, and the National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors National Conference. The title Many New Trails to Blaze has a double meaning; as an unusual chamber grouping with little available published works, the UAB Chamber Trio actively seeks out new music, many of which are featured on this recording. Secondly, the people and sports teams of the University of Alabama at Birmingham proudly carry the nickname Blazers, and the title is an acknowledgment of the support and positive creative environment provided by our university, college, and department.

Dr. James Zingara has performed throughout the United States as well as England, Germany, the Czech Republic, Denmark, China, and Singapore. Currently he serves as Assistant Professor of Trumpet at the University of Alabama at Birmingham where his responsibilities include applied trumpet and brass methods, coaching and conducting brass ensembles, performing with the UAB Faculty Brass Quintet and UAB Chamber Trio, and coordinating the annual Brass Symposium. Former positions include Associate Professor of Trumpet at Troy University, and principal cornet/trumpet soloist with the US Air Force Heritage of America Band. He has held positions with the Northwest Florida Symphony, National Symphonic Winds, Sinfonia da Camera, Illinois Symphony, Virginia Symphony, Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, Pensacola Symphony, and the Cheyenne Symphony. He has recorded on the Telarc, Zephyr, Capstone, and Mark labels, including performing on a Grammy® Award-winning album in 1994.

Corey Fant (b. 1989) is an American composer, producer, recording engineer, and performer, who has studied at the University of Alabama and Belmont University. Fant is currently studying composition at the University of Alabama under Dr. Amir Zaheri, and he has also studied with Dr. C. P. First. Compositionally, Fant is engaged in a numerous collaborations with his colleagues ranging from acoustic to electroacoustic works for a large variety of ensembles.

Joshua Harris holds degrees in music composition from Appalachian State University, Brigham Young University, and a Ph.D. from the University of North Texas. He began his career teaching high school band and choir before turning to composition full time. He is currently on the music faculty at Sweet Briar College in central Virginia. Previously he taught at Southeastern Oklahoma State University (2012-13), the University of North Texas (2009-2012), and Brigham Young University (2006-08).

Jennifer Bernard Merkowitz (b. 1981) is a composer, pianist, and violist whose diverse inspirations have included liturgical chant, basketball games, the growth patterns of plants, and frog calls. Her music has been performed in national and international venues such as the Society of Composers, Inc. National Conference, the National Flute Association Convention, the International Computer Music Conference, and the Percussive Arts Society International Convention. Recent commissions include And The Dish Ran Away with the Spoon for percussionist Joseph Van Hassel, which has been released on Soundset Recordings; Brothers and Sisters for Otterbein University’s Concert Choir; and The Best of Both Worlds for the Ohio Music Teachers Association.