Emily Smith

Emily Smith

 

Emily Smith

A violinist praised as playing “gorgeously” and with “gracefulness and easy rapport” (The Boston Globe), violinist Emily Daggett Smith performs regularly as soloist, recitalist, and chamber musician. Her performances have taken her across the United States, Europe, South America and Asia, and she has appeared on many of the world’s greatest stages including Carnegie Hall, Caramoor, The Kennedy Center, Ravinia, and Tanglewood.

As a soloist, Dr. Smith made her New York concerto debut at the age of 21 in Alice Tully Hall, playing the Beethoven Violin Concerto with the Juilliard Orchestra and conductor Emmanuel Villaume.  Since then she has performed concerti with many orchestras including Iris Orchestra, Festival Mozaic Orchestra, New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra, and the New York Classical Players. She has performed solo recitals across the country at venues including the Kennedy Center’s Terrace Theater, Music in the Loft in Chicago, and Washington Performing Arts’ “Music in the Country”. As a concertmaster of the Juilliard Orchestra she worked with renowned conductors including Michael Tilson-Thomas and Leonard Slatkin, and has appeared as guest concertmaster of orchestras including Iris Orchestra, The Orlando Philharmonic, and The Knights.

 
 
 

Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson

Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson

 

Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson

Questlove is an American drummer, DJ, music journalist, and record producer. He is best known as the drummer of the Grammy Award-winning band The Roots.

As the son of doo-wop star Lee Andrews (of Lee Andrews & the Hearts), Thompson was exposed to music at an early age. He was performing on drums by the age of seven, and by 13 had become a musical director. His parents then enrolled him at the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, where he was exposed to a wide range of music and other performing arts. In 1987 Questlove co-founded The Roots with high school classmate Tariq Trotter. He has been with the group ever since. The group is now the house band for Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

Questlove has also maintained an active career in music outside of his work with The Roots. He has produced for artists such as Common, D'Angelo, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, and Jay-Z, and more recently, Al Green, Amy Winehouse, and John Legend. He has played drums on albums by Christina Aguilera, John Mayer, and Joshua Redman, to name a few, and was one of a handful of musicians picked to back Hank Williams Jr. on a new version of "All My Friends Are Coming Over Tonight" for the season premiere of Monday Night Football.

The list of Questlove's side projects is equally impressive. In 2001 he helped create The Philadelphia Experiment, a collaborative instrumental jazz trio with bassist Christian McBride and avant-garde jazz pianist Uri Caine. In 2011 he teamed up with Parisian star Keren Ann to present Philly-Paris Lockdown, a one-night celebration of 1900s Paris that took place at the Philadelphia International Festival of the Arts. The two were joined by a slew of artists to present an event awash in jazz, classical, and hip-hop styles. The collaboration reworked compositions by Satie, Ravel, Debussy, and Stravinsky.

In addition to the list of awards and nominations he has received as a member of The Roots, Thompson was awarded an Esky for Best Scribe in Esquire magazine's 2006 Esky Music Awards, was ranked #2 in the "50 Top Tweeters in Music" by Rolling Stone, and placed 8th as Rolling Stone Reader's Pick for "Best Drummers of all Time."

 
 

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Ayaka Matsui

Ayaka Matsui

 

Ayaka Matsui

Ayaka is a harmony creator on the piano. Keenly sensitive to emotions in music, combined with pitch-to-color Synesthesia, Ayaka brings colors and sensibility to her musical storytelling. Classically trained as a pianist in Tokyo, Ayaka has journeyed through jazz, rock, funk, pop, metal, experimental and improvisation over the past 30 years. Ayaka translates energy, colors and emotions into harmonies, which serve as a container for stories to flow through the audience. Her collaborative platform Flow in Harmony showcases musical meditation, poetry piano improvisation, and live painting to music improvisation. Her art always pushes the boundaries of existing art mediums to expand sensory experiences.

 
 
 

Adam November

Adam November

 

Adam November

Adam November is a creative technologist and musician living in Brooklyn, New York. Adam combines electronics, code, sound, and light to create new experiences and products, often centering on music technology and LED art. Currently he is Director of Physical Technology at NYC-based innovation lab Future Colossal, and tours with bassist Karina Rykman on guitar and electronics.

 
 
 

Ricardo Romaneiro

Ricardo Romaneiro

 

Ricardo Romaneiro

Ricardo Romaneiro was born and raised in Sao Paulo, Brazil and moved to the U.S. at an early age. A graduate of The Juilliard School in composition, Ricardo’s music synthesizes his major musical influences and passions: classical music and electronic music. The New York Times described his work as “a blissful and compelling mix of Minimalist-derived rhythmic ecstasy and nightclub beats.” Ricardo is the co-founder of an audiovisual studio called SUBHAZE, creating immersive concerts, festival installations with an array of artists, brands, ensembles, and venues that transcends the traditional forms of presentation experience.

 
 
 

Hannah Sumner

Hannah Sumner

 

Hannah Sumner

Hannah Sumner has already established herself as one of New York’s finest alternative artists. As a producer, vocalist, and songwriter, the triple-threat has performed on a myriad of the city’s stages including sold-out shows at Barclays Center, National Sawdust, Perez Art Museum, Miami’s Art Basel, Le Poisson Rouge (LPR), Webster Hall, and House of Yes.

In the winter of 2015, Sumner released her debut EP ‘To The Almost’ - a work consisting of Sumner’s original songs arranged and produced by Avi Gunther (Snarky Puppy, Lalah Hathaway) to critical acclaim.

"An absolutely incredible voice" - BBC Radio 

“Sumner creates pop music of a beautiful atmospheric hue” - Clash Magazine

With her long list of her own performances and recordings, Sumner has also managed to expand into creating with a variety of well-known names such as, Bravo TV, Tori Burch, Nu Deco Ensemble in Miami, FL creating original compositions for Lululemon’s ‘Beats Per Moment’ tour, composer Ricardo Romaneiro (Terrence Malick, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra), producers J Chris Griffin (Madonna, Kelly Clarkson, John Legend, Kanye West), Avi Gunther (Snarky Puppy, Lalah Hathaway), Gazzo, Pool Cosby, Adam Neely, and Kastra, as well as pianists Julien Marchal and Ola Gjeilo.

 
 
 

Mélanie Genin

Mélanie Genin

 

Mélanie Genin

Hailed as “a globe-trotter” and “singular harp virtuoso” by L’Union France and the Epoch times of New York, Mélanie Genin is known for her “desire to re-shape and re-invent classical music” (Justine Philippe, L’Union, France).

Since her solo debut at Carnegie Hall with the International Shining Stars, Ms. Genin has performed in some of the most prestigious halls in the world, including Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Royal Albert Hall London, KKL Luzern, Audi Hall München, Avery Fisher Hall, Salle Pleyel, Théâtre du Châtelet, and Théâtre des Champs Elysées, under conductors such as Pierre Boulez, Sir Mark Elder, Matthias Pintscher, Alan Gilbert, Pablos Heras-Casado, and Leonard Slatkin.

 
 
 

Terry Sweeney

Terry Sweeney

 

Terry Sweeney is an avid chamber musician and collaborator. In addition to Sandbox Percussion, Terry is a member of quaquaqua, and The Percussion Collective and has performed over 250 concerts across the United States.Recent projects include a world premiere of Seven Pillars, a percussion quartet by Andy Akiho, QUIXOTE – a multi-year collaboration with the theatrical ensemble HOWL, and a world premiere piano/percussion quintet by Chris Cerrone. Terry’s 2021/2022 season will feature world premieres by composers: Jessica Meyer, Tawnie Olson, Loren Loiacono, Molly Joyce, Tyshawn Sorey, and David Crowell. 

Sandbox released their debut album And That One Too on Coviello Classics in 2020. In 2021, Sandbox released Seven Pillars which was subsequently nominated for two GRAMMY® awards.

As an educator, Terry directs the percussion studies for the Yellow Barn Young Artist Program, is a faculty member at the University of Missouri Kansas City, co-directs the NYU-Sandbox Seminar, and during the 2019 Spring semester was a visiting artist at the University of Massachusetts. Terry holds degrees from the Peabody Conservatory and the Yale School of Music and endorses Pearl/Adams musical instruments, Zildjian cymbals, Vic Firth sticks and mallets, Remo drumheads, and Black Swamp accessories.

 
 
 

Victor Cacesse

Victor Cacesse

 

Victor Caccese is the founder of the Brooklyn-based percussion quartet, Sandbox Percussion. As a member of Sandbox, Victor has performed over 150 concerts worldwide and taught at institutions such as The Peabody Conservatory, The Curtis Institute, Michigan State University, Vanderbilt University, University of Kansas, and University of Massachusetts Amherst. Victor has collaborated with composers such as Amy Beth Kirsten, Andy Akiho, David Crowell, James Wood, John Luther Adams, and Thomas Kotcheff. In the Spring of 2020, along with Sandbox Percussion, Victor will give the world premiere of an evening-length work by Andy Akiho entitled Seven Pillars at the Mondavi Center in Davis, CA. Next summer Victor will teach and perform at the fifth annual NYU Sandbox Percussion Seminar, a chamber music festival accepting students from around the world to study and perform some of today’s leading contemporary percussion pieces. 

Also a composer and arranger, Victor has written a number of pieces for percussion. His works have been performed by Sandbox Percussion more than 50 times throughout the United States. While music and percussion is at the core of his professional life, Victor has also worked as a photographer and videographer. As head of media and content development for Sandbox Percussion, he has developed and maintained a YouTube presence consisting of performance videos, workshop documentaries, and travel vlogs.

Victor holds degrees from the Peabody Conservatory and the Yale School of Music. He is also a member of The Percussion Collective, a stunning ensemble founded by performer and pedagogue Robert van Sice. Victor serves on faculty at the Dwight Conservatory in Manhattan and was a visiting artist at the University of Massachusetts Amherst with Sandbox Percussion as the ensemble in residence in the Fall of 2019. Victor endorses Pearl/Adams instruments, Vic Firth drumsticks and Remo drumheads.

 
 
 

Luke Marantz

Luke Marantz

 

Luke is a pianist, composer, photographer and person from dallas, texas currently living in brooklyn, new york. born to a musical family, his studies began at an early age with piano, voice, saxophone and visual art. he attended the booker t. washington high school for the performing and visual arts and upon graduating moved to boston, massachusetts to attend the new england conservatory of music and upon graduating moved to new york city. 

As a leader and a sideman he has traveled the world playing and recording music having performed across america, europe, japan and south america playing alongside the likes of gilad hekselman, walter smith iii, dayna stephens, john ellis, jason palmer, jeff tain watts, nate wood, jochen rueckert, adam o’farrill, olli hirvonen among many others. he has played at the montreux, copenhagen, pori and monterey jazz festivals, the kodak theater in los angeles, the meyerson symphony center in dallas, jordan hall in boston as well as jazz clubs in new york city and all around the world.

 
 
 

David Jacobs-Strain

David Jacobs-Strain

 

David Jacob-Strain is a striking slide guitar player and song poet from Eugene, Oregon. His deep love of blues and roots music is evident in every one of the songs he writes. He studied masters like Robert Johnson, Taj Mahal and Jackson Browne, but plays his own sound, his own song, with a virtuosity that is uniquely his. David began playing on street corners and at farmers markets as a teenager, and bought his first steel guitar with the quarters he saved up.  Before he dropped out of Stanford to play full time, he had already appeared at festivals across the country, often billed as a blues prodigy, but he had to fight to avoid being a novelty act:  “I wanted to tell new stories, it just wasn’t enough to relive the feelings in other people’s music.” 

 
 
 

Christopher Botta

Christopher Botta

 

Christopher Botta is a NY based producer and engineer. He runs Fer Sound, a mixing, mastering, and production studio in Bushwick Brooklyn. Chris works closely with non-profit organizations such as Found Sound Nation (OneBeat, Mosaic, Dosti Music Project, Broken Orchestra), JACK Studios, the Metropolis Ensemble, The MET, and Hear Her Song. He’s worked closely with artists such as Yaeji, Emily Wells, the JACK Quartet, Valee, and Shahzad Ismaily. His interests are positioned uncomfortably between contemporary chamber, electronic, and popular music forms.

 
 
 

Stephan Crump

Stephan Crump

 

Memphis-bred, Grammy-nominated, Echo Award-winning bassist/composer Stephan Crump is an active bandleader with twelve critically-acclaimed album releases in addition to numerous film scoring contributions.

 
 
 

Paul Wiancko

Paul Wiancko

 

Paul Wiancko has led an exceptionally multifaceted musical life as a composer and cellist. As a performer, he has collaborated with Midori, Yo-Yo Ma, Richard Goode, Mitsuko Uchida, Nico Muhly, and members of the Guarneri, Takács, JACK, Parker, Orion, and Juilliard quartets. Chosen as one of Kronos Quartet’s “50 for the Future”, Paul’s own music has been described as “dazzling”, “compelling” (Star Tribune) and “vital pieces that avoid the predictable” (Allan Kozinn). His 25-minute quartet LIFT is featured on the Aizuri Quartet’s Grammy-nominated album Blueprinting, one of NPR’s top 10 classical albums of 2018.

 
 
 

Ayane Kozasa

Ayane Kozasa

 

Hailed for her "magnetic, wide-ranging tone" and her "rock solid technique" (Philadelphia Inquirer), violist Ayane Kozasa is a founding member of the Aizuri Quartet, whose GRAMMY-nominated debut album “Blueprinting” was released on New Amsterdam Records in 2019. Her duo with composer and cellist Paul Wiancko—known as "Ayane & Paul"—actively performs and commissions new works for viola and cello and recently collaborated with Norah Jones on her album “Pick Me Up Off the Floor.”

 
 
 

Emi Ferguson

Emi Ferguson

 

Emi Ferguson can be heard live in concerts and festivals with groups including the Metropolis Ensemble, Handel and Haydn Society, AMOC*, the New York New Music Ensemble, and the Manhattan Chamber Players.

 
 
 

Juniper CreativeArts

Juniper CreativeArts

 

Juniper Creative Arts is a Vermont-based Black and Dominican family collective with a mission-driven practice of creating art that involves and celebrates historically excluded communities.