Collaborators
Ashley J Chong creates experiences for connection by using different methods of expression and blending science with the arts. She works primarily through writing and music, often pulling from her identity as a Korean diasporic person. Her first chapbook, A Flower Petal Space, was awarded the Iowa Chapbook Prize and she is presently working on her next collection of writing on mental health as well as a short story collection. She has curated an online anthology titled Welcome to Madang featuring writing, artwork, and music by Korean diaspora as well as an exhibition featuring her poetry and translation titled Fractals of Identity.
During her undergraduate career, she was also involved with music of varying types. Ashley has played violin through her college years at the University of Iowa and went on tour in Western Iowa with her chamber ensemble as part of the Summer Music Tour supported by Arts Share. She also created a musical duo title the Dashi Project and performed covers and originals mixing Korean, English, Hindi, and Hebrew at campus events and local coffee shops. Ashley uses her familiarity in both music and writing for collaboration. She helped curate a collaboration event between the International Writing Program and the Chiara String Quartet titled Memory as Creative Fuel. From this event, she connected with violinist Hyeyung Yoon and is now working with her to create an online platform for Asian Americans in classical music. Ashley is also currently writing poetry for jazz musician and composer Alexandro Cazares’ debut album Within Sight which will be available early spring.
During her undergraduate career, she was also involved with music of varying types. Ashley has played violin through her college years at the University of Iowa and went on tour in Western Iowa with her chamber ensemble as part of the Summer Music Tour supported by Arts Share. She also created a musical duo title the Dashi Project and performed covers and originals mixing Korean, English, Hindi, and Hebrew at campus events and local coffee shops. Ashley uses her familiarity in both music and writing for collaboration. She helped curate a collaboration event between the International Writing Program and the Chiara String Quartet titled Memory as Creative Fuel. From this event, she connected with violinist Hyeyung Yoon and is now working with her to create an online platform for Asian Americans in classical music. Ashley is also currently writing poetry for jazz musician and composer Alexandro Cazares’ debut album Within Sight which will be available early spring.
Portland, Oregon mezzo-soprano and composer Lisa Neher (b. 1985) thrives in the crossroads of the concert hall and the theatre stage. Trained as a stage actress, her compositions are shaped by her keen sense of dramatic timing and feature aching, lyrical phrases, energetic rhythmic motives, and intense harmonies. Lisa’s particular passion for text and poetry has led to works such as her chamber opera White Horizon, about a nineteenth-century Arctic expedition gone wrong. Lisa’s commissions include works for Durward Ensemble, the Glass City Singers, Coe College Orchestra, Kirkwood Community College Chamber Singers, pianist Michael Kirkendoll, and flutist Rose Bishop. Her marimba duo Thaw was premiered by Mayumi Hama and Chris Froh at the Sacramento State Festival of New American Music. Lisa is in high demand as a performer of contemporary and standard repertoire and was recently heard performing at New Music Gathering in Boston. She is the creator of the One Voice Project, a call for new musical works for unaccompanied voice. Lisa spends her free time training for and competing in triathlons, watching science fiction movies, and baking delicious treats involving copious amounts of chocolate. For more information, visit her website, www.lisanehermusic.com.
With performances and readings from renowned ensembles such as Apollo Chamber Players, University of Cambridge Concert Band, and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Tony Manfredonia's music is played across the world. Actively bringing new music to his rural home, Love Awakens: for concert band has been performed in multiple regions of the Northern MI area. In 2017, Tony was a semi-finalist in Symphony Number One's Fourth Call for Scores. Other recent awards include Brazosport Symphony Orchestra's Composer Competition and the inaugural Texas A&M University’s Composition Competition and Symposium.
Tony also works as a video game composer. Current soundtracks include Kharon's Crypt and Call of Saregnar. Other recent projects involved incorporating sacred music: the orchestral score for Saint Luke Productions' latest film, Faustina: Messenger of Divine Mercy and a concert band piece commissioned by Holy Ghost Preparatory School in Bensalem PA, Rejoice in the Holy Spirit, which premiered in September 2018.
Tony also works as a video game composer. Current soundtracks include Kharon's Crypt and Call of Saregnar. Other recent projects involved incorporating sacred music: the orchestral score for Saint Luke Productions' latest film, Faustina: Messenger of Divine Mercy and a concert band piece commissioned by Holy Ghost Preparatory School in Bensalem PA, Rejoice in the Holy Spirit, which premiered in September 2018.
Michigan-born American composer Stephanie Ann Boyd (b. 1990) writes melodic music about feminine subject matter and the natural world for symphonic and chamber ensembles. Her work has been performed in nearly all 50 states and has been commissioned by musicians and organizations in 37 countries. Boyd’s work has been choreographed by New York City Ballet Principal Dancers Ashley Bouder and Lauren Lovette.
Boyd’s music has been commissioned and performed by concertmasters of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Singapore Symphony, the New York City Ballet Orchestra, the Des Moines Symphony, the Faroe Islands Symphony, the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra, the Fort Smith Symphony, the Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra, and principal players in the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. Her music has been played the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, the New England Conservatory Philharmonic, the Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra, the New York Jazzharmonic, the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, the Roosevelt University Orchestra, the Eureka Ensemble, the JVL Festival Orchestra, the Texas State University Symphony, the Cremona International Academy Orchestra, the UW La Crosse Symphony, and the El Paso Youth Symphony. Her work has been presented by the Thalia and her Sisters concert series, the Moirae Ensemble, and Sandcastle New Music in New York City, Aepex Contemporary Music in Michigan, Cincinnati Soundbox, Collage New Music and the New Gallery Concert Series in Boston, and others. Stephanie has worked with conductors such as Andrew Litton, Cliff Colnot, Gill Rose, Earl Lee, Nathan Aspinall, Julian Benichou, Kristo Kondakci, Lina Gonzales, and Kevin Fitzgerald.
Recent commissions include a new violin concerto for Kurt Nikkanen and the Chesapeake Youth Symphony Orchestra, a ballet for the Ashley Bouder Project, a Mass for women’s choir, soprano solo and orchestra for The Eureka Ensemble, and a piece for the Chicago College of Performing Arts Wind Ensemble.
Boyd was the 2016-18 Composer in Residence for the Eureka Ensemble in Boston, the 2013/14 Collage New Music Fellow, and has had composition residencies at summer festivals in Italy, Canada, and the US. Boyd has taught composition privately for eight years and her students have been accepted into the music schools at University of Toronto, University of Michigan, Indiana University, UC Boulder, Michigan State University, and others. She is a recipient of the Donald Martino Award for Excellence in Composition and is a two-time recipient of the CCPA Vector Award, and has won numerous grants from the Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy. She holds degrees from Roosevelt University and New England Conservatory (with honors). Boyd was one of the last violin students of renowned pedagogue John Kendall.
Stephanie’s music has been praised as “[with] ethereal dissonances” (Boston Globe), “[music that] didn’t let itself be eclipsed” (Texas Classical Review), “arrestingly poetic” (BMOP), and “wide ranging, imaginative” (Portland Press Herald). Boyd belongs to the Iceberg New Music Composers Collective. Her catalog is published by TRN Music and FEMOIRE. A critic for American Record Guide and I Care If You Listen, Boyd lives in Manhattan. She is dressed by MILLY for this season’s concerts and events.
http://stephanieannboyd.com
Boyd’s music has been commissioned and performed by concertmasters of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, the Singapore Symphony, the New York City Ballet Orchestra, the Des Moines Symphony, the Faroe Islands Symphony, the Anchorage Symphony Orchestra, the Fort Smith Symphony, the Arkansas Philharmonic Orchestra, and principal players in the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. Her music has been played the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, the New England Conservatory Philharmonic, the Cape Cod Chamber Orchestra, the New York Jazzharmonic, the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, the Roosevelt University Orchestra, the Eureka Ensemble, the JVL Festival Orchestra, the Texas State University Symphony, the Cremona International Academy Orchestra, the UW La Crosse Symphony, and the El Paso Youth Symphony. Her work has been presented by the Thalia and her Sisters concert series, the Moirae Ensemble, and Sandcastle New Music in New York City, Aepex Contemporary Music in Michigan, Cincinnati Soundbox, Collage New Music and the New Gallery Concert Series in Boston, and others. Stephanie has worked with conductors such as Andrew Litton, Cliff Colnot, Gill Rose, Earl Lee, Nathan Aspinall, Julian Benichou, Kristo Kondakci, Lina Gonzales, and Kevin Fitzgerald.
Recent commissions include a new violin concerto for Kurt Nikkanen and the Chesapeake Youth Symphony Orchestra, a ballet for the Ashley Bouder Project, a Mass for women’s choir, soprano solo and orchestra for The Eureka Ensemble, and a piece for the Chicago College of Performing Arts Wind Ensemble.
Boyd was the 2016-18 Composer in Residence for the Eureka Ensemble in Boston, the 2013/14 Collage New Music Fellow, and has had composition residencies at summer festivals in Italy, Canada, and the US. Boyd has taught composition privately for eight years and her students have been accepted into the music schools at University of Toronto, University of Michigan, Indiana University, UC Boulder, Michigan State University, and others. She is a recipient of the Donald Martino Award for Excellence in Composition and is a two-time recipient of the CCPA Vector Award, and has won numerous grants from the Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy. She holds degrees from Roosevelt University and New England Conservatory (with honors). Boyd was one of the last violin students of renowned pedagogue John Kendall.
Stephanie’s music has been praised as “[with] ethereal dissonances” (Boston Globe), “[music that] didn’t let itself be eclipsed” (Texas Classical Review), “arrestingly poetic” (BMOP), and “wide ranging, imaginative” (Portland Press Herald). Boyd belongs to the Iceberg New Music Composers Collective. Her catalog is published by TRN Music and FEMOIRE. A critic for American Record Guide and I Care If You Listen, Boyd lives in Manhattan. She is dressed by MILLY for this season’s concerts and events.
http://stephanieannboyd.com
Jonathan Annis is a graduate research assistant at the University of Oklahoma pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in music composition. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Carson-Newman college with majors in music composition, music theory, and saxophone performance, and a Master of Music degree from the University of Oklahoma in music composition. His primary composition teachers include Marvin Lamb, Ryan Garber, Jeff Gorbski, and Bruce Reiprich. He has also participated in a masterclass taught by Nancy Van de Vate in Vienna. Jonathan was chosen to present “This Title May Vary” on the CMS Pacific Southwest conference 2012 held in Tucson, AZ. His music has also been performed at the International Saxophone Festival in Poland in 2014, the NASA biannual national conference in 2016 and 2018, and the MusCan 2018 National Conference at MacEwan University in Alberta. Jonathan has also been chosen as the composer in residence for the 2018 Mana Saxophone Institute hosted by San Jose State University. Recent performances also include the World Saxophone Congress 2018.
Alan Theisen (b. 4 October, 1981) is a composer, saxophonist, music theorist, and educator. His philosophy of creating and sharing new music with joyously unrestrained enthusiasm is evident in Theisen’s multiple artistic endeavors. Inspired while reading a biography of Leonard Bernstein in high school, Theisen decided to likewise forge his unconventional career of comprehensive musicianship not by choosing between composing, performance, scholarship, conducting, advocacy, and pedagogy but by tirelessly combining those paths.
Theisen's compositions encompass a wide array of genres and instrumentation including chamber music, art song, solo piano, concerti, jazz, symphonies, and more. An autodidact, his works have been praised by composer Dimitri Terzakis as being "the product of a unique talent" and are frequently commissioned/performed by professional musicians around the world. Though Theisen's catalogue of over fifty pieces is stylistically diverse, all of his compositions exhibit unabashed emotional sincerity, memorable melodic ideas, sensuous yet complex harmony, and intricate formal designs—characteristics that inspire enthusiastic audience response and repeat performances. Some recent premieres of Theisen's music have occurred at National Sawdust (Brooklyn), New Music Gathering (Peabody Conservatory), and the World Saxophone Congress (Strasbourg, France).
Theisen is Associate Professor of Music at Mars Hill University where he has coordinated the music theory/composition curriculum since 2011. Previously he was Visiting Assistant Professor of Music Theory at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. A native of Michigan, he has spent the majority of his life in the Deep South of the United States and currently resides near Asheville, North Carolina. alantheisen.com/
Theisen's compositions encompass a wide array of genres and instrumentation including chamber music, art song, solo piano, concerti, jazz, symphonies, and more. An autodidact, his works have been praised by composer Dimitri Terzakis as being "the product of a unique talent" and are frequently commissioned/performed by professional musicians around the world. Though Theisen's catalogue of over fifty pieces is stylistically diverse, all of his compositions exhibit unabashed emotional sincerity, memorable melodic ideas, sensuous yet complex harmony, and intricate formal designs—characteristics that inspire enthusiastic audience response and repeat performances. Some recent premieres of Theisen's music have occurred at National Sawdust (Brooklyn), New Music Gathering (Peabody Conservatory), and the World Saxophone Congress (Strasbourg, France).
Theisen is Associate Professor of Music at Mars Hill University where he has coordinated the music theory/composition curriculum since 2011. Previously he was Visiting Assistant Professor of Music Theory at the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. A native of Michigan, he has spent the majority of his life in the Deep South of the United States and currently resides near Asheville, North Carolina. alantheisen.com/
Trinton Prater is an American composer, pianist, vocalist, percussionist, and producer who is actively expressing and pursuing realism and humanity through music. Prater specializes in theatrical, chamber, and cross-over music, with interests spanning from popular music to the avant garde. His recent releases include video opera, Chimera Jones and the Planet Where You Can Only Be One Thing, which was nominated for the Hines Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Research in the Arts, Piano Sonata no. 1: G Minor, played by Carnegie Hall performing pianist, Tracy Xian, and artpop album, Fifteen Weeks, which Prater composed and produced. Trinton Prater graduated from LaGrange College in 2019 with a Bachelor of Music in Composition and Music Technology. He is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Composition from the University of Iowa.