Artists

Yoko Hagino was born and raised in Japan, where she began her piano studies at the age of 4. As a child, she performed her own compositions, which took her to Europe and the United States, including performances as a concert soloist with the Czech Symphony, the University of Southern California Symphony, Kyoto City Symphony, and Ensemble Orchestra Kanazawa. Hagino has appeared as a soloist with Osaka Century Orchestra, UMass Boston Chamber Orchestra, Key West Symphony Orchestra, White Rabbit Sinfonietta, and has also performed various piano recitals ranging from the music of Bach to contemporary repertoire. Hagino is a prize winner of the Steinway Society Piano Competition, the First International Chamber Music Competition, the All-Japan Selective Competition of the International Mozart Competition, and Chamber Music Competition of Japan.

Rachel Lee Guthrie was born on November 3, 1979 in Des Moines IA. From an early age, she played the piano by ear and resisted formal lessons until the age of fourteen when she began studying with various college-level instructors. In 2004, Guthrie earned a degree in piano pedagogy from Drake University, graduating cum laude. Her passion has always been for Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Impressionist masters, and she has composed a number of new pieces in the classical tradition as well as works in a contemporary style.

The McCormick Percussion Group is recognized by critics and composers throughout the world for their unique recordings and interpretations of music decidedly outside of the mainstream. MPG often collaborates with other non-percussion musicians to explore and develop new trends of compositional thought. Among the most recorded ensembles of the genre, MPG has recorded many award winning albums for Ravello Records (dist. by Naxos). To ensure the original intent of each work, composers are often invited to rehearse with the ensemble and supervise recording sessions. Under the direction of Robert McCormick, MPG is a resident ensemble at the University of South Florida in Tampa.

Joel Gressel (b. Cleveland, 1943) received a B.A. from Brandeis University and a Ph.D. in music composition from Princeton University.  He studied composition with Martin Boykan and Milton Babbitt, and computer music with Godfrey Winham and J.K. Randall.  His computer music has been recorded on the Odyssey,  CRI, and American Composers Edition labels.  He currently lives in New York and works as a computer programmer, maintaining and extending software that models tax-exempt housing-bond cash flows.

Jackson Greenberg is a Los Angeles-based composer, producer, and performer born and raised in Philadelphia. From a young age, Jackson was a featured soloist in various Philadelphia all-city youth jazz ensembles. He was close to pursuing a career in jazz performance when, during his senior year, his high school drama teacher insisted he write the score for her two plays: Dracula and The Tempest. It was these experiences of witnessing his compositions supporting drama that led Jackson to instead pursue a career in composition.

Masatora Goya is a composer extensively writing a new kind of chamber music for everyone. Trained as a vocal performer first, he explores the musical landscape of drama, space, and emotion. Described as a "composer of cultural crossroads" by American Composers Forum, his unique eclecticism has attracted many musicians performing in nontraditional chamber ensembles.

Stephen Goss’s music receives hundreds of performances worldwide each year. It has been recorded on over 80 CDs by more than a dozen record labels, including EMI, Decca, Telarc, Virgin Classics, Naxos, and Deutsche Grammophon. His output embraces multiple genres: orchestral and choral works, chamber music, and solo pieces. He is considered ‘One of the guitar’s finest living composers’ (International Record Review).

David K. Gompper (b. 1954) has lived and worked professionally as a pianist, conductor, and composer in New York, San Diego, London, Nigeria, Michigan, and Texas. He is currently Professor of Composition and Director of the Center for New Music at The University of Iowa. From 2002 to 2003 Gompper was in Russia as a Fulbright Scholar, teaching, performing and conducting at the Moscow Conservatory. 

Anne H. Goldberg-Baldwin blurs the definitions of music and dance as a composer, choreographer, performer, and educator, a vanguard of interdisciplinary performance art. She is co-founder and Artistic Director of the Tempus Continuum Ensemble, a new music ensemble premiering and performing the works of emerging and living composers. Goldberg’s music has been premiered and performed by ensemble mise-en, the Boston New Music Institute, the Novatrio, NeoLit Ensemble, and at festivals such as the International Ferienkurse für Neue Musik Darmstadt and the Summer Institute for Contemporary Performance Practice at New England Conservatory. Her artistry has been featured in New York venues such as Symphony Space, the Kitchen, the Flea Theater, and many others nationally and internationally.

Glancey’s music embodies a unique blend of traditional and progressive musical elements, and expresses a fervent harmonic language, coloristic textures, and intricate formal designs. A background in and affinity for all popular styles and film music infuse his writing with sonic freshness and rhythmic energy. His music has been programmed throughout the United States and Europe, as well as featured in a number of independent films. 

J. Ryan Garber is an Associate Professor at Carson-Newman College where he teaches music composition, theory, organ, and bassoon. A native of Virginia, he earned degrees from James Madison University and The Florida State University. Garber has received awards, grants; and recognition from five national organizations. In 2002, the Tennessee Music Teachers Association presented Garber with its "Composer of the Year" award. His Concerti no for orchestra is featured on ERM Media's "Masterworks of a New Era" series. and his music has been performed in many parts of the US and in Germany and Austria.

Darryl Friesen has given acclaimed performances as a soloist and collaborative artist across Canada, the United States, Europe, China, and Brazil. He has performed as soloist with the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, and as a collaborator and recitalist with many distinguished artists, including Elliot Madore, Andrew Wan, Allen Harrington, Catherine Daniel, Millicent Scarlett, Valdine Anderson, the Adaskin String Trio, and the Martha Graham Dance Company. Friesen’s debut album, CURLICUE: The Solo Piano Works of Karen Sunabacka, was released by Ravello Records in September 2022.

Mike Frengel is an internationally recognized composer, performer, researcher, and educator. Born in Mountain View, California, Mike graduated with a B.A. in electroacoustic music from San Jose State University in 1995, where he studied composition and sound production with Allen Strange and Dan Wyman. He spent another three years in the San Francisco Bay Area working at Apple Computers Inc. as well as remaining affiliated with the C.R.E.A.M. Studios at SJSU as a Research Scientist. Mike completed his M.A. in electroacoustic music composition at the Bregman Studios at Dartmouth College in 1999 under the tutelage of Jon Appleton, Charles Dodge, Larry Polansky, and Christian Wolff. He completed his Ph.D. at City University, London, where he studied composition with Denis Smalley.

The 2014 and 2018 Latin Grammy® Nominee for Best Classical Album and 2008 Grammy® Nominee for Best Instrumental Soloist without Orchestra, pianist Allison Brewster Franzetti has received international acclaim from critics and audiences alike for her stunning virtuosity and musicality, both as a soloist and chamber musician. Her performances include the live Latin Grammy® Awards television broadcast, the Grammy® Awards Classical Music Tribute to Earl Wild and Lang Lang at the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, the American Classical Music Hall of Fame, the Robert Schumann Festival at the Marcella Sembrich Museum in Lake George NY, the Campeche Festival in Mexico, and at the opening of the VI International Festival of Music at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Lukas Foss (1922-2009) German-born American composer of primarily stage, orchestral, chamber, choral, vocal, and piano works that have been performed throughout the world; he was also active as a conductor. He started piano and theory studies with Julius Goldstein-Herford at an early age and began composing at age seven. After studies in composition in Paris from 1933-37, he studied composition with Rosario Scalero at the Curtis Institute of Music from 1937-39.

Avner Finberg is an Israeli-American composer and violinist. He studied composition with Ari Ben-Shabtai at The Jerusalem Academy of Music, with Robert Cuckson at The Mannes College, and with Susan Botti at Manhattan School of Music, where he earned a doctorate dfasin composition in 2015.

Finberg’s music has been described by Steven Stucky as “reined, mature work of impeccable technique, original voice, and considerable ambition.” His musical inspirations stem from his Israeli roots and his current life in the United States, combining without discrimination multiple world music traditions with contemporary and classical music techniques and modern technology.

Ken Field is a saxophonist, flautist, and composer. Since 1988 he has been a member of the internationally acclaimed electronic modern music ensemble Birdsongs of the Mesozoic, with whom he has recorded eight CDs. He leads the Revolutionary Snake Ensemble, an experimental & improvisational brass band, and performs with the community-based Second Line Social Aid & Pleasure Society Brass Band. Since 2015 he has annually led a pick-up band of unafiliated musicians at the HONK!Oz Festival in Wollongong, NSW, Australia. His solo releases document his work for layered saxophones and his soundtracks for dance and film. Field was named a 2017 Finalist in Music Composition by the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

With a charismatic blend of technical flair, polish, and grace, Portuguese-Canadian clarinetist Wesley Ferreira is widely considered a gifted expressionist. Equally at ease performing masterworks and contemporary repertoire, he has been praised by critics for his “beautiful tone” and “technical prowess” (The Clarinet Journal) as well as his “remarkable sensitivity” (CAML Review), and Fanfare Magazine notes that he is “clearly a major talent.”

With music “[thriving] in the sustained tension, like the kinetic energy emanating from the corners of a frame, the opposing forces holding up a house” (Rachel Evangeline Chiong, 2022), Toronto-based composer Juro Kim Feliz has internationally presented his work across Southeast Asia, North America, and Europe. Born and raised in the Philippines, he studied composition at the University of the Philippines and McGill University under Jonas Baes and Melissa Hui. He also sought further mentorship from composers Liza Lim, Dieter Mack, Linda Catlin Smith, and Japanese koto artists Hiroko Nagai and Masayo Ishigure.

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.