Combining training in European classical music with influences from free jazz and electroacoustic music, Impromptuo is an improvisation-focused duo of violinist Katherine Kyu Hyeon Lim and pianist Joey Chang. They are recipients of Chamber Music America’s Ensemble Forward Grant and currently are mentored by Tyshawn Sorey.
Alessandro is an Italian composer based in London, working in Film, TV and Advertising.
In the last few years he has worked on a number of projects ranging from Features Films to TV series,
short films, advertisements, animations and documentaries that have been broadcast by the BBC,
on Netflix, on the Italian national television, and shown in countless festivals around the world. He also writes
library tracks for EMI Production Music.
He graduated from the Royal College of Music in 2015 with a master’s degree in Composition for Screen.
In his final year at the RCM he won the Film Orchestra composition contest.
Paula Matthusen (live-electronics) & Olivia Valentine (live-textiles) have collaborated for the past five years under the project between systems and grounds. The project exists through shared space and time, in which sound and textile are woven together simultaneously. The materials presented here are short loops from excerpts of durational events, traversing field recording, multiple layers of feedback, idiosyncratic synths, and, of course, weaving.
Based in Germany, Omri Cohen fell in love with the modular environment and modular synthesis through his work with VCV Rack, a free and open-source virtual modular synthesizer. Combining virtual and hardware, Omri adds also acoustic instruments into the mix like a flute, kalimba, piano, field recordings, and more.
American composer Mike Ladouceur is among the most exciting and significant talents emerging today‚ with many high-profile film and TV projects to his name. Renowned on both sides of the Atlantic, his musical style blends orchestral and ambient electronic textures, and has been described by distinguished conductor and orchestrator Jeff Atmajian as “like listening to a beautiful impressionist painting”. Mike’s distinctive sound is constructed from many intricate lines and textures that combine to create a rapturous force. He employs a diverse sonic palette which allows the listener to become entranced in a meditative state, often triggering deeply emotional responses.
The Honourable Elizabeth A. Baker is a new renaissance artist whose work is best expressed as a constantly evolving practice that doesn’t fit neatly into definition or expectation boxes. It is an artistic body of work vast in scope and scale outside of the confines of a simple elevator pitch, unrestrained and unencapsulated. Elizabeth has received international recognition from press, scholars, and the public for her conceptual compositions and commitment to inclusive programming. Fanfare Magazine proclaimed in Fall 2019 “Perhaps Baker will be the Pauline Oliveros of her generation, and perhaps she will be more than that.” Elizabeth is the 2021-2022 Rieman and Baketel Fellow for Music at Harvard Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.
Adventure and collaboration are at the heart of NYC-based violinist Clara Kim’s multi-faceted career as new music performer, chamber music artist, and educator. By commissioning, premiering, and championing the works of living composers, Clara has quickly established herself at the forefront of her generation in the interpretation of contemporary music.
Internationally recognized as a soloist as well as a chamber musician, Austro-Italian violinist Olivia De Prato has been described as “flamboyant ... convincing” (The New York Times) and an “enchanting violinist” (Messaggero Veneto, Italy). After moving to New York City she has quickly established herself as a passionate performer of contemporary and improvised music, breaking boundaries of the traditional violin repertoire and regularly performs in Europe, South America, China and the United States.
Violist Dana Kelley, praised for her rich and beautiful tone, has been a top prizewinner in the Sphinx Music Competition and the Irving M. Klein International String Competition. She is a member of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra and a former member the Argus Quartet. Dana received an Artist Diploma in String Quartet Studies with Argus as the 2017-2019 Graduate Quartet in Residence at The Juilliard School. The Argus Quartet was named the First Prize Winners of both of the 2017 M-Prize Chamber Arts Competition and the 2017 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition, and were recipients of the 2018 Classical Recording Foundation Award and the 2018 Salon de Virtuosi Award.
Cellist Sarah Rommel is a top prizewinner of the 2014 George Enescu International Cello Competition. She has been the recipient of several awards and grants including a Frank Huntington Beebe Fund Grant and Jack Kent Cooke Young Artists Award.
Sarah has given recitals at Caramoor’s Evnin Rising Stars Showcase and at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, in addition to solo performances in Philadelphia, New York City, Boston, Chicago, Seattle, France, Italy, England, and Romania. She has actively participated in classes at the Piatigorsky International Cello Festival, Academie Musicale de Villecroze, and IMS Prussia Cove where she has worked closely with distinguished professors such as David Geringas, Gary Hoffman, Frans Helmerson, and Paul Katz.
First and Audience Prize winner at the Amsterdam Cello Biennale Competition, Joann Whang has performed as a soloist with the Amsterdam Sinfonietta, NJO New Music Ensemble, and the Dutch Youth String Orchestra, as well as performed in numerous festivals including Ravinia, Birdfoot, Delft, Domaine Forget, Giverny, Grachten, and Storioni. She has also been broadcasted in the Netherlands on Radio 4 and public television station VPRO’s Vrije Geluiden. Joann has performed alongside notable artists such as Martin Beaver, Steven Dann, Misha Dichter, Leon Fleisher, Sol Gabetta, Anssi Karttunen, Johannes Moser, Astrid Schween, David Shifrin, and the Brentano Quartet.
New York based musician, Jessica Han (Jesse), is Principal Flute of Opera Saratoga in Saratoga Springs, NY, a member of Jazz Band, The Gil Evans Project and is a substitute musician for the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, Albany Symphony Orchestra, Princeton Symphony, and broadway musicals Wicked and The Lion King.
Additionally, Ms. Han performed as Guest Principal flute and piccolo for the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (2014) and Opera National de Lorraine/Orchestra Symphonique et Lyrique de Nancy et de Lorraine (2012).
Cole Belt is a performer and teacher living in Brooklyn, NY. His fascination with music was and is perpetuated by a deep enjoyment of collaboration. Cole has performed in venues all over the area including: Jazz! At Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, DiMenna Center, Symphony Space, Whitney Museum, Feinstein’s 54, McCarter Theatre, Institute for Advanced Study, Public Records, Caveat, and Spectrum. He’s also performed with: New York City Opera, Metropolis Ensemble, New York Wind Orchestra, Princeton Festival, and Manhattan Saxophone Quartet. Additional appearances include, New World Symphony, Pensacola Symphony, National Music Festival Orchestra, Hot Springs Festival Orchestra, and Taneycomo Festival Orchestra.
Thomas Giles is a New York City-based saxophonist working at the intersection of contemporary performance, improvisation, and interdisciplinary collaborations. To date Giles has premiered more than 200 new works, many of which are dedicated to him. Recent premieres have included works by Augusta Read Thomas, Marcos Balter, Marc Mellits, and Nicola LeFanu. Giles has enjoyed close working relationships with some of today’s leading composers e.g., Meredith Monk, David Lang, Martin Bresnick, Charles Wuorinen, Mika Pelo, Dan Becker, and the American indie-rock duo Wye Oak.
Bryan McNamara began making music at age 6 in his upstate New York church handbell choir. The saxophone came next at age 10. 18 years later, he is a versatile and happily busy musician and arts administrator living in Brooklyn. Sadly, no handbell gigs have come up lately. Bryan loves performing with Singularity, which he has happily played in since 2013. Recent Singularity performances include joining the opera pits of New York City Opera and The Princeton Festival, and premiering an in-house arrangement of William Brittelle’s Future Shock during an album release party hosted by Metropolis Ensemble, William Brittelle, New Amsterdam Records, and Nonesuch Records at Public Records in Brooklyn. Other favorite performances of Bryan’s include playing saxophone in Philip Venables’ breathtaking opera 4.48 Psychosis with Contemporaneous at the 2019 Prototype Festival, and singing in the October 2018 world premiere of David Lang’s Mile Long Opera on the High Line in New York City. Bryan currently enjoys work as Artistic Operations Manager of the All Souls Unitarian Church music department and Production Manager of Musica Viva NY, and can be found in the All Souls Choir bass section most Sunday mornings.
Brandon Ridenour is a stylistically diverse trumpet soloist, collaborative artist, composer and arranger. Recognized as “…heralding the trumpet of the future” (Chicago Sun Times) and for “demonstrating the trumpet’s huge potential for lyricism” (Cleveland Plain Dealer), he has combined his wide-ranging activities as soloist and chamber musician with his passion for composing and arranging, resulting in his distinctive artistic voice and vision.
At the age of twenty, Brandon became the youngest member ever to join the iconic Canadian Brass, a position he held for seven years. With the group, he played in distinguished venues around the world, performed on television, recorded ten albums, appeared on NPR’s Tiny Desk, and received three Juno Award nominations. He also created a catalog of new arrangements for the ensemble, which are still performed today. Brandon rejoined Canadian Brass in 2019 and continues to create new repertoire for the group.
Sam Wells is a musician and video artist based in Philadelphia. Sam has performed throughout North America and Europe, as well as in China. He is a recipient of a 2016 Jerome Fund for New Music award, and his work, stringstrung, is the winner of the 2016 Miami International Guitar Festival Composition Competition. He has performed electroacoustic works for trumpet and presented his own music at the Bang on a Can Summer Festival, Chosen Vale International Trumpet Seminar, Electronic Music Midwest, Electroacoustic Barn Dance, NYCEMF, N_SEME, and SEAMUS festivals. Sam and his music have also been featured by the Kansas City Electronic Music and Arts Alliance (KcEMA) and Fulcrum Point Discoveries. He has also been a guest artist/composer at universities throughout North America.
Sam is a member of SPLICE Ensemble. Sam has performed with Contemporaneous, Metropolis Ensemble, TILT Brass, the Lucerne Festival Academy Orchestra, and the Colorado MahlerFest Orchestra. Sam has recorded on the SEAMUS and Ravello Recordings labels.
Sam holds degrees in both performance and composition at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, graduate degrees in Trumpet Performance and Computer Music Composition at Indiana University, and a doctoral degree at the California Institute of the Arts. He is an Assistant Professor of Music Technology at Temple University.
Originally from Tennessee, John Gattis is a horn player and educator based in New York City. He is a founding member of the horn trio Kylwyria and has performed with a wide variety of groups such as the Talea Ensemble, International Contemporary Ensemble, A Far Cry, Radio City Orchestra, and the West Point Band. As an avid performer of contemporary music John has had the opportunity to premier dozens works by composers such as John Zorn, Olga Neuwirth, Brian Ferneyhough, and Christian Wolff.
John holds degrees from Stony Brook University and the Cleveland Institute of Music and has studied with Richard King, William Purvis, and Ann Ellsworth. He is on the faculty of the Dwight-Engelwood School in New Jersey.
New York based horn player, Bert Hill, is an active performer who is at home with a wide array of music styles. He has recently been heard in concert with Azlo Orchestra at Carnegie Hall, DCINY Orchestra, Gateway Classical Music Society, Juilliard Orchestra, Sheep Island Ensemble, and The Chelsea Symphony among others. An avid advocate of new music, Mr. Hill is a core member of Ensemble Moto Perpetuo. In addition, he has performed with the Tactus Ensemble under the direction of Jeffery Milarsky, Ensemble Mise-En and many recital and chamber performances of new and contemporary works. He can be heard on the album Journey to Journey, featuring the compositions of Miho Hazama, released on Universal Records (Japan) in 2011. Bert has made solo concerto appearances performing Reinhold Gliere's Horn Concerto, Op. 91, with the Sewanee Summer Music Festival Orchestra and the Schumann Konzertstucke in 2013 with the New York Symphonic Arts Ensemble. As an educator, Bert keeps an active studio of private students and works as a section and orchestra coach for InterSchool Orchestras. In 2011 he was on the faculty of the Rodney Mack Big Brass Seminar, held at the Curtis School of Music. His academic degrees in music are from Indiana State and Temple University where his principal teachers were Brian Kilp and Shelly Showers.
