Composition

Jordan Abramson is a Toronto-born composer who is in his first year of a master’s degree in composition, entering MSM with the conservatory’s prestigious President’s Award. As a University of Toronto graduate with a major in composition and a minor in biology, he has been awarded the Ben McPeek Scholarship, the France-Canada Cultural Exchange Experience France
Award, the Glenn Gould Memorial Scholarship, and is a two-time recipient of the Arthur Plettner Scholarship. Jordan has previously studied with renowned composers Gary Kulesha, Kevin Lau, and Larysa Kuzmenko and will now begin studying with Ashkan Behzadi at MSM.

In the summer of 2022, Jordan was accepted into the EAMA summer music institute in Paris for
the submission of his String Quartet no. 1: “To Fly Through Dark Clouds,” and in the summer of
2023, was accepted into the Vienna Summer Music Festival where he studied composition that
July. He has had several world premieres including his composition, “Rondo for Chamber Orchestra: ‘Russian,” at the Schola Cantorum in Paris, and his, “Sonata for Cello and Piano,” by the PHACE ensemble at the Palais Ehrbar in Vienna. He has also worked with the internationally renowned soloist Irvin Arditti who premiered his “Ideé Fixe” for solo violin at the Sal Brahms in Vienna. This last spring, Jordan had his conducting debut at the University of Toronto,
premiering one of his own works for mezzo soprano and chamber ensemble, “The Lost Mistress.” In May, he was also selected as the principal student composer for the Jewish Voices in Music Concert in Toronto. Jordan had two of his works performed at the concert and was the
only living composer featured.

Ked Adams (b. 2000) is composer and performer from Jacksonville, FL. They graduated from the University of North Florida in May of 2022 with a bachelor’s in music performance. Ked has extensive performance experience in many kinds of ensembles, including wind symphonies, symphonic orchestras, saxophone quartets, pit orchestras, and more. They have also been awarded outstanding musicianship multiple times at UNF, as well as being selected as a winner of the 2022 Annual Concerto Competition.

Website: https://kedrickadams6.wixsite.com/ked-adams

William Bastianon is a Canadian composer, performer, and copyist from Ontario, Canada. He is currently studying composition with Dr. Reiko Fueting.

In his work, Will seeks to blend music and storytelling, drawing from a deep love of musical theatre, jazz, popular, and classical traditions, blurring the lines between genres.

Using this eclectic mix of musical languages, Will strives for humour and clarity through a marriage of carefully chosen convention and emotionally charged content.
Throughout his ongoing musical exploration,

Will is constantly deepening his love and respect for the artistic process, collaboration, and his connection to the artists who came before him.

Will has worked as an arranger and copyist for clients such as Nicolas Dromard (Broadway performer), Kate Schutt (singer-songwriter), and Voices Rock Canada (Canadian choir). He has written music for two Toronto Fringe shows (one of which he also performed in) and two independent short films (one of which he acted in).

Website: www.willbastianon.com

Ross Bello (b.1999) is a composer and percussionist based in New York City. Ross’ music is intentionally eclectic, exploring various sonic spaces and compositional techniques. He is unafraid to exist within or outside of any preexisting aesthetics. His music often explores the vast wonders of the world we exist within, and introspective reflections of human experiences.
As a performer, he has performed solo recitals, worked in large and chamber ensembles, and is particularly dedicated to performing marimba and keyboard repertoire. Notably, Ross was the 2021 Wind Ensemble Concerto Competition winner at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, performing Gillingham’s 2nd Marimba Concerto.
Ross holds a BM in Music Composition for New Media from the University of Massachusetts Lowell, with an additional degree in Music Performance. During this time, he studied closely with Dr. Brandon Vaccaro. He is currently working toward a MM in composition, studying with Susan Botti at the Manhattan School of Music.

Website: https://www.rossbellomusic.com

Sebastian Block is a composer and classical guitarist. He is studying at the Manhattan School of Music under Professor David Adamcyck.
Sebastian was born and raised in Los Angeles, and currently resides in New York City. He started to take an interest in composition when a music teacher introduced him to Steve Reich’s Different Trains, opening him to the limitless nature of “classical music.” Since then, Sebastian has been inspired and influenced by a number of composers, including Lili Boulanger, Heitor Villa-Lobos, and John Adams.
Growing up in Los Angeles, Sebastian played in the rock band Swandive, and he was immersed in the city’s young artists’ scene. His many friends in art, film, and music also have greatly influenced his compositions.
Sebastian’s latest work, String Quartet No. 1, seeks to explore our minds and the memories we keep inside. It combines philosophical and scientific elements to create an immersive experience of exploring consciousness and perspective.

Maya Borisov is a composer and soprano born in 2004. From 2017 to 2022 she studied composition with Dr. Craig Levesque at the Westminster Conservatory of Music as well as voice with Danielle Sinclair. Maya graduated with High Honors from the Westminster Conservatory Honors Music Program, where she double majored in composition and voice. In 2020 she won the Westminster Conservatory of Music scholarship for achievement in composition. Maya was a participant in the Curtis Institute Young Artist Summer Program (2020), and the Atlantic Music Festival (2021), where she had her pieces A Purple Forest, To What Used to Be, and On the Flipside performed. She is currently an undergraduate student at MSM studying composition with Dr. Nirmali Fenn.

Vincent Bos is a Dutch-Indonesian (or ‘Indo’) Composition student born in Delft, Netherlands. Vincent originally trained as an electric guitarist, however, at the late age of 17 he developed an incredible interest in music composition and went on to devote his time towards this practice. Vincent draws much of his inspiration from composers such as Mahler, Ravel, and Beethoven.
In 2021 Vincent started taking music composition lessons with Aris Antoniades.
He is currently pursuing his undergraduate composition degree at MSM with Dr. J. Mark Stambaugh.

Marco Catella is a freshman student composer from Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was exposed to music throughout his life but developed a stronger interest in writing in 2019, at age 16. Although his musical influences are noticeably diverse, he attempts to unite them by creating vividly dramatic works. Wagner, Mahler, Strauss, and many film composers like Hermann and Rosza enkindled his love for drama. He majored in economics for one year in Argentina but decided to take the risk and study music. While unfamiliar with US music schools, he quickly fell in love with the Manhattan School of Music. After going through the thorough application process, including a very engaging interview, he visited the school and attended a concert. After that day, he had no doubt about which place would be best to cultivate his musical potential.

Szilvia Cimino is a composer, arranger, soprano, pianist, brass player, actor, and poet from Fairfield, Connecticut. In 2022, Szilvi was awarded the prestigious Leonard Bernstein Musicianship Award, the John Philip Sousa Band Award, the CAS Outstanding Arts Award. She was also the 2022 recipient of the Halo Award for Best Leading Actress in a Play. She has performed at many renowned venues such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Radio City Music Hall.

Szilvi’s works are largely narrative and highly emotional. Her poetic nature allows her to create expansive settings and intense feelings that transcend verbal language. Her style is influenced by the Hungarian folk music she grew up surrounded by and her background in theatre. She enjoys going out of her comfort zone, as she views such a challenge as a learning experience.

Mashi Coleman is a California native, born in Pasadena, California. He is now pursuing a bachelor’s degree in composition under the studies of Professor Reiko Fueting. He attended the California School of the Arts, where he received multiple composition awards. He attended the Brevard Music Center in the 2022 summer season. He is a skilled classical pianist, who has played in several concerts around Los Angeles. He was lead keyboardist for the rock band “Space Hotel” and has written several songs and classical works. He is interested in composing and studying various styles of music ranging from Classical music to alternative rock and R&B.

The music of Joshua C. DeLozier (b. 1998) seeks an integration of form and content to create richly varied interrelationships between ideas at different scales of time. DeLozier’s works have been heard at the Lake George Music Festival, at June in Buffalo, and on WGTE Public Media’s radio program “Morning Classics.” His works have been recognized by Bowling Green State University’s “Competitions in Music Performance” (Composition Division Finalist, 2022 and 2023) and by the ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer Awards (Semi-Finalist, 2024). An active pianist, DeLozier’s repertoire spans from J.S. Bach to the music of our own time, such as compositions by Charles Wuorinen and Michael Hersch. He received his BM from Baylor University (summa cum laude), his MM from Bowling Green State University, and is currently pursuing a DMA at the Manhattan School of Music.

James Warner Duquette (b. 2000) is a composer. He has worked with ensembles and performers including Les Percussions de Strasbourg, ASKO Schönberg, the Talea Ensemble, the Mivos Quartet, the ETHEL Quartet, GRAMMY® nominated violinist Peter Sheppard Skærved, and renowned thereminist/founding member of the NY Theremin Society Rob Schwimmer.
James Warner Duquette studied composition with Michael Hersch, and has had additional composition lessons with Du Yun, Reiko Füting, Michael Harrison, and Samir Odeh-Tamimi, among others. He also studied Indian Classical Music with La Monte Young and Michael Harrison.

https://jameswarnerduquette.com

Alaina Ferris is an interdisciplinary composer, poet, and performer who specializes in choral works, opera, and contemporary theater. Her music is described by The New York Times as “arrestingly lovely,” and “haunting.” As an active pianist and Celtic harpist, her music is inspired by a love of Renaissance chorales and her former work as a music therapist. She is one half of the indie-folk duo, Physical Kids, alongside Matt Schlatter.

She is the recipient of fellowships and grants from Hermitage Artist Residency, NYC Women’s Fund, New Music USA Creator Development Fund, Cité International des Arts residency in Paris, & The Norman Mailer Center; she was an artist-in-residence at The Movement Lab at Barnard College, a composer Fellow at The American Opera Project, a co-winner of the Brooklyn Youth Chorus Composer Competition, and a National Sawdust Summerlab Musician.

Her composing credits include: The Lydian Gale Parr, libretto by Karinne Keithley Syers, a poetic incantation with dance about a child emissary on an infinite quest to ask for an end to violence (co-produced by Amanda+James/The Tank, hosted by Target Margin Theater); Mia Rovegno and Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew’s adaptation of The Blind or Les aveugles, Maurice Maeterlinck’s symbolist play about 12 blind people lost on a forested island (HERE Arts Center); Joshua William Gelb’s adaptation of The Black Crook, the first American Musical (Abrons Arts Center), The Offending Gesture by Mac Wellman, a humorous indictment of American foreign policy in Iraq, told through the true story of Hitler and his dog, Blondi (The Connelly Theater); and Scott Adkin’s The Kioskers, which follows two young city dwellers as they escape urban life on a floating kiosk (St. Ann’s Warehouse Puppet Lab). Her work has also been presented at SoHo Rep, Barnard College/Columbia University; and she has collaborated with the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, artists César Alvarez, Coco Karol, Sxip Shirey, Ellen Winter, Amanda Palmer, Timothy Stoddard, Jason Webley, Steve Earle, Anne Waldman, Eliza Bent, William Burke, Tyler Gilmore (Blank For.ms.), and more.

Her poetry chapbook, ‘While Listening,’ was released by The Operating System in 2016. Her manuscript, ‘To Be Awake Means to Will’ was a 2015 Finalist for the National Poetry Series and a 2018 Finalist for Fence Modern Poets.

She is the founder of The Music Room, a membership space (a guild!) for composers and music teachers who are dedicated to the art of practicing music, located in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

Alaina was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada and later moved to Boulder County, Colorado. She earned her B.A. in Music and Creative Writing from the University of Denver and her M.F.A. in Poetry from New York University.

http://www.alainaferris.com/

Jonathan Gold (b. 2001) is an American composer of contemporary classical music based in New York City. Originally from New Jersey, Jonathan’s musical journey began as a drummer in rock and heavy metal bands, but a transformative encounter with Morten Lauridsen’s choral music led him to devote himself solely to composition in his senior year of high school.

While studying composition and choral conducting with Alla Cohen and Geneviève Leclaire at Berklee College of Music, Gold was profoundly influenced by his discovery of works by Arvo Pärt, Alan Hovhaness, and Morton Feldman. In 2021, he saw the premiers of his first piano pieces, which were especially informed by Feldman’s late avant-garde sensibilities. He is currently pursuing his M.M. in composition at Manhattan School of Music.

His compositions often unfold slowly and quietly with dense carpets of sound and a localized, highly delicate treatment of texture and dynamics. His work embodies, as Gold describes, a desire to, “envelop and drench the spirit, so that it may pause and sense only the gradual, subtle, perpetual changes that occur in things without the human imposition of control. We do not dictate the nature of things, we are only meant to care for them – that power is reserved for God alone.” Gold’s music also reveals a deep religiosity involving sensations of absorption, presence, mortification, and purification.

Various orchestras, chamber ensembles, and choirs around New England have performed Jonathan’s music, including at Berklee and Atlantic Music Festival, as well as seasonal concerts by Crepusculum Choir and the Berklee and Boston Conservatory Chamber Singers. His works have received national and international recognition, including a second prize and special prizes for best free composition and best religious vocal music at the International Antonín Dvorák Composition Competition, a second prize at the MTNA Young Artist Composition Competition, a national semi-finalist at the American Prize Composition Competition, and the Rick Applin Award in Fugue from Berklee College of Music.

www.jonathan-gold.com

Emily Green grew up in Ottawa, Ontario. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in composition from the University of Toronto, and is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in composition at the Manhattan School of Music, where she studies with Reiko Fueting. Green has been commissioned by numerous ensembles, including the Ottawa Children’s Choir, the Exultate Chamber Singers, Pax Christi Chorale, and Modern Sound Collective. Being a vocalist herself, she has a particular interest in vocal and choral music and enjoys exploring the full range and capabilities of the human voice. She also strives to challenge and expand the technical boundaries and expectations as to what a vocalist is capable of, ranging from alternative tuning systems to simultaneous percussion parts played by the vocalist(s).

Green is also a passionate music educator. She especially enjoys working with beginner students, and has taught voice, theory, and composition both privately, and with several organizations including Sistema Toronto, which provides free, after-school music instruction to students from low-income families. She is passionate about developing a personal curriculum which incorporates a wide variety of musical skills and concepts, in order to create well-rounded musicians with the necessary foundations to enter any musical discipline, whether it be performance, composition, conducting, or otherwise.

Website: https://www.emilygreenmusic.com

Chongguang Guan is a classical composer, pianist, and electronic music performer who graduated from the Music Middle School Affiliated to Shanghai Conservatory of Music where he studied composition with Weihao Qiang. Currently he is studying composition at the Manhattan School of Music with Marjorie Merryman for his Bachelor of Music. His timbral approach is very unique and was well received in Elinor Armer’s master class (2015 May) and the Winter Master Class Program (2016) run by UCLA’s music department. His works have not only been influenced by various music genres, but also by his rich variety of experiences as a performer. He performed in the 2018 Electric Daisy Carnival Shanghai as a Guest DJ, and he also performed at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music as a jazz pianist in 2016.

Julian Bennett Holmes is an award-winning composer and theorist, a doctoral student at the Manhattan School of Music, and Sacred Music Coordinator for Columbia University. He studied with Lowell Liebermann, Richard Danielpour, and Marjorie Merryman. As a teenager, he toured internationally, playing in experimental bands.

He has won prizes including the Society for New Music Israel/Pellman Award, the Society for Chamber Music in Rochester Young Composer Competition, the National Federation of Music Clubs Young Composers Award, and Second Prize at the Seventh International Antonín Dvořák Composition Competition.

He performs weekly organ improvisations at Columbia University, which you can watch on YouTube.

www.julianbh.com

Alexander Howard was born in 2004 in Chandler, AZ. He has been studying the saxophone and clarinet for seven years and participated in two All-State competitions with both. He discovered his desire to compose in elementary school and continued forward with his passion. In high school, he studied saxophone and clarinet privately with Mr. Don Goldstone, piano with Mrs. Blair Myers, and composition with Dr. Mathew Fuerst.

He is obsessed with a medley of composers and of the folk music from many cultures. He strongly believes that music is a universal medium and music must be able to resonate as strongly with everyone playing and listening. His music possesses strong melodicism and richly colorful harmonic palette, focusing on the intense joys and the cataclysmic lows of the human condition. He often derives music from nature, and alongside his synesthetic responses, finds music in every tenet of life.

Besides music, he loves reading, studying butterflies and geology, hiking in the mountains, and talking with his friends and family.

 

Shouye Huang was born in the AnHui province China and began to learn the piano at the age of five. He graduated from the Tianjin Conservatory of Music in 2023 with a Bachelor of Music degree in composition.
In ancient China, there was a totem called tai chi. Its connotation means moderation and harmony between black and white. Shouye was influenced by the ancient Chinese philosophy of naive materialism.
With an open mind and an inclusive mind, Shouye learns from foreign cultures and inherits the essence of his own nation. Gradually achieve cultural consensus and integration of ideas. He is willing to contribute his own national music and strength to the MSM and the art world.

Eric Impey is a contemporary classical composer and multi-instrumentalist, taking inspiration from pop, metal, jazz, and classical.
He began composing as a young child independently from the music classes he had been exposed to. He recalls seeing and hearing music in his head for as long as he can remember, which eventually became a desire to share those visions with an audience.
Eric’s development as a composer has been intense and unexpected. His formal composition instruction began at the age of 17, and his body of work spans early 2022 – present. While he studied piano, tuba via public education, and later guitar as an adolescent – he was not exposed to intensive music education in his youth. While he enjoyed his experience with the world of performance, he quickly recognized a more prominent and ever-present interest in composition that had underlined his musical journey.
This led to attending the Atlantic Music Festival, summer of 2022, followed by the Boston University Tanglewood Institute Young Artist’s Program, summer of 2023. His orchestra work, ‘The Floodgates’ had the honor to be debuted during the Tanglewood on Parade Young Artist concert.
As Eric embarks on his B.A. in Music at the Manhattan School of Music with mentor, Reiko Fueting, he seeks to expand his style and vocabulary within his compositions and experience the variety of music available during his time at MSM.

Website: https://ericimpeymusic.com

Jingyu Jin is a composer and pianist from Wuhan, China. She graduated from the Wuhan Conservatory of Music in 2024 with a Bachelor of Music degree in composition and is currently pursuing a master’s degree in composition at the Manhattan School of Music, where she studies with Professor Susan Botti. Her compositions are typically related to literary works, and she is also exploring the fusion of Chinese and Western musical instrument cultures. Her works are characterized by delicate and rich timbres, and she has a diverse range of compositions, including art songs, instrumental solos, various chamber music pieces, and symphonies. During her undergraduate studies, she pursued a minor in solfeggio and aural skills, and she also possesses nearly three years of experience in teaching these subjects to children.

She has received the following awards: 2020: a prize in the College Cup competition of Wuhan Conservatory of Music; 2022: the third price in the 18th SUN RIVER PRIZE Student’s New Music Composition Competition; 2022: her piece was selected to join in Wuhan Conservatory of Music 2022 Academic Traditional Chinese Style Works Show; 2023: the second price in the Regulations on JEAN SIBLIUS Composition Competition On-Line; 2024: her piece was shortlisted for the Le Domaine Forget de Charlevoix New Music Session.

Martín La Rotta is a queer multi-disciplinary artist from Colombia that merges acoustic and electronic realms by electronically processing acoustic ensembles, representing their personal mythology through drag performance as an alchemical vehicle. Their work explores the immense dimension of gender and transcendent identity, and how their harmonic union reveals the immediacy of liberation.  Their intentionality varies with each work, for renewal is constant in the realm of change, but their center (the center) is always one and the same: boundless and supremely tender. Currently based in New York City, they’re studying in the study of Susan Botti at the Manhattan School of Music. Their various creations have been represented with numerous performance identities: Alquimia, om, Sonora Atemporalis, Mar de Rott and Geometría.

Sun Lee (Hyesun Lee) is a South Korean composer with a profound interest in incorporating various art and music genres into her compositions. From 2019 to 2023, she studied composition with Dr. Michael Timpson at Ewha Womens’ University and completed works of various combinations. In addition to contemporary concert music, she also dedicated herself to composing different music genres, including pop music, background music, and musical theater.
During her undergraduate years, she explored the fusion of Korean traditional music with Western style mini-opera while participating in an exchange program at UNM. She also worked on jazz and blues piano playing and merged different styles into her music. In 2021, she composed and directed a musical theater production centered around Korean history, incorporating Korean traditional music styles.

Motivated by a genuine curiosity for interdisciplinary collaboration and an exploration of diverse musical genres, she’s furthering her education as a master’s student at the Manhattan School of Music under the guidance of Dr. Susan Botti.

French undergraduate composer Gabriel Legros pronounced his wish to work in the field of Music from his early juvenescence.
Gabriel started his classical training in voice at age 4 and developed, throughout the years, an utter interest in multiple instruments such as the Piano, Classical Guitar, Bass Guitar and Cello.
Years later, he began working intensely on his theory and ear training under the private tutelage and mentorship of Juilliard School professor Dr. Wayne Oquin.
Being an avid performer, Gabriel has performed in various venues including events involving high representatives of the French government, charitable organizations, and musicals amongst others.
Soon after turning 17, Gabriel commenced showing a deep interest in Composition, which led him to ask Dr. Oquin to specifically instruct him on the subject. From there, Gabriel’s passion for composition never ceased to grow, to a point where he came to conclusion to pursue his studies in Conservatoire.
In September 2023, Gabriel will begin his Bachelor of Music at The Manhattan School of Music under the guidance of Dr. Reiko Füting, where he will develop his musical endeavors.

New York-based creative Alexa Letourneau (any pronouns) is a composer, flutist, singer, researcher, and educator. An Ohio native, Alexa began playing the flute at eight years old. Within weeks, they were taping 5 pens together to draw a staff on which to begin composing. At present, their works are focused upon an exploration of shared human identity through sonic journeys. Alexa is a founding member of Mosaic Composers Collective, Aglet Ensemble, and the MOLLUSC Orchestra Project; a member of C4: the Choral Composer-Conductor Collective, the New York Chamber Choir, and TRANScend Community Chorale; and the creator of the podcast Classical Schmassical: the anti-Classical classical music podcast. They are a lover of extravagant sci-fi cosplay, lemongrass tea, and nighttime thunderstorms.

www.alexaletourneau.com

 

Shuwen Liao (b.2001), a Chinese composer, is currently pursuing her doctoral studies at Manhattan School of Music, where she studies with Susan Botti and Reiko Füting. In 2018, Shuwen graduated from the Music Middle School Affiliated to Shanghai Conservatory of Music, where she majored in composition with Dr. Wenpei Ju. Shuwen graduated from Manhattan School of Music with a Bachelor of Music degree in composition in 2022, and she received the degree of Master of Music in composition from the school in 2024.

Shuwen became the first young Chinese composer included in the New York Philharmonic’s “Very Young Composer” program. Her work, Shadow of the Wolf, was performed by the New York Philharmonic in Lincoln Center, and Shanghai Symphony Orchestra concert hall. She later wrote an international music postcard, The Skeleton Demon, which was premiered in New York by the New York Philharmonic and subsequently toured around the world.

Shuwen has received many prizes and scholarships. Her composition, Wolf Shadow, won the first place in the chamber music group in the Third “Spring Awakening” National Composition Contest. Shuwen’s string quartet Pure. Fire, won the third place of the Manhattan Prize at MSM. Her wind quintet, Warm Station, was commissioned by Windscape to perform in New York.

Shuwen also received the Giampaolo Bracali Award for Music Composition and the Jan Williams Award for Composition/Contemporary Performance Collaboration at Manhattan School of Music. Her piece, The wind comes across the sea, laughing in the leaves won the first place in the Kaleidoscope Music Competition Composition Competition in Canada. Shuwen’s orchestral piece, Elegant Cloud, won the Grand Prize in the Red Maple Composition Competition in Canada.

In her music, Shuwen seeks to create an illusion — something wild and unexpected, but in a subtle and expressive way, quietly exciting, full of lightness.

www.shuwenliao.com

Tongyu Lu is a composer from China who is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in composition at Manhattan School of Music with Professor Reiko Fueting.

Tongyu was born into a musical family and began to learn the piano at the age of five and the trumpet at the age of eleven. In 2016, he was admitted to Central Conservatory of Music Middle School with excellent results, and studied trumpet with Professor Chen Guang, piano with Professor Li Xiang, solfeggio practice and music theory with Professor Wang Yusu, Associate Professor Zhang Juan and Professor Li Tong. He also joined the China Youth Symphony Orchestra (Central Conservatory of Music Youth Symphony Orchestra). In 2020, he officially began to study composition, under the guidance of Professor Xu Zhitong and Professor Liu Kanghua.

He has an extensive passion to compose various styles of music and create his own new works. Also, he has a great interest in art and nature under the influence of his family. Many of his works are inspired by them.

Yuang Luo studied composition and compositional theory at the Shanghai Theatre Academy in China. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in classical composition at the Manhattan School of Music. At the Manhattan School of Music, she studies with Professor Reiko Fueting.

Yuval Medina is a composer, pianist, and computer programmer based in Brooklyn, New York. He is currently pursuing his master’s in composition at the Manhattan School of Music, studying under David Adamcyk, where he was awarded the merit-based Presidential Scholarship.

After working at Google as a software engineer on the Education on Search team, Yuval quit his job to pursue his dream — music composition. At MSM, Yuval plans to integrate his skills in programming, electronics, and signal processing into his classical compositions, and enhance his melodies and deep and rich harmonies from the rich tradition of Western classical music and Jewish folk music, with textural- and sound-based elements from the modern age. The master’s in composition is a natural continuation of his studies at the Juilliard Extension Division, having completed two years of composition classes under Elliot Cole and Conrad Cummings, as well as private study under Matthew Ricketts.

Before coming to New York, he completed his bachelor’s in computer science at Duke University, where over the course of his studies he combined his passions for data, experimental coding, music-writing, and signal processing, and created a generative engine to visualize biological river data through sound, i.e. data sonification.

Yuval is always excited to collaborate artistically with others. He composed the soundtrack for a video game developed by a colleague at Duke. He also performs as a pianist and organizes GroupMuse concerts around the city regularly.

Please feel free to reach out if you feel inspired by Yuval’s work and want to collaborate.

www.yuvalmedina.com

Zeke Morgan is a composer, violinist, and fiddle player from Jackson, Mississippi; and a master’s student at the Manhattan School of Music studying with Ashkan Behzadi. In May 2024, he graduated Bard College-Conservatory with degrees in composition and the written arts, and through his studies in poetry, developed a special interest in vocal music, resulting in the composition of multiple art songs and two operas: Vivisection and Requiem. Zeke has performed and composed in a wide variety of musical settings— from orchestras to folk and rock bands. For inspiration, he engages with pure improvisation, folklore/myth, electronica, philosophy, and occasionally; the world around him. He is most interested in the reconciliation of different (sometimes strikingly different) stylistic genres and art-forms as a way of accessing the human psyche, but also has an undying desire for beautiful noise.

While still an undergraduate at Bard, Zeke ran the Sinfonietta Project, a student-led new music initiative designed to provide opportunities for living composers and performers to engage in music-making together. He organized multiple student composition concerts, including one where performance and composition students wrote music for one another.

His music has been performed at an incredibly high level by the Da Capo Chamber Players, The Orchestra Now, and members of ICE. Notable teachers and mentors include Joan Tower, Missy Mazzoli, George Tsontakis, and Jorge Variego.

Nhat Nguyen was a fellow at The Loretto Project (2021) and has been commissioned by the Amorphous Collective and James Alexander. He was also the winner of the Manhattan Prize in 2019 and recipient of the Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts Grant.
His works have been performed by Transient Canvas, James Alexander, Yarn/Wire, Lydian String Quartet, Longleash, Unheard-Of//Ensemble, Ensemble Linea, Manhattan School of Music Orchestra, Hanoi New Music Ensemble, Ripieno Ensemble, Ajax Quartet, confluss duo, members of the Contemporary Performance Program at Manhattan School of Music and conducted by Jeff von der Schmidt, Kee Yong Chong and Joseph Carlomagno.
In 2016, he was nominated by Kim Ngoc Tran to represent Vietnam in the Goethe-Institut Manila Composers Lab for young Southeast Asian composers.
Nhat has participated in important musical events, including the Divergent Studio (2022), the Collaborative Composition Initiative (2020), Etchings Festival (2019), Hanoi New Music Festival (2018), Fresh Inc Music Festival (2018), the Asia-Europe New Music Festival (2014) held in Hanoi.
Nhat earned his Bachelor of Music in Composition at the Manhattan School of Music in 2019 under the tutelage of Dr. Reiko Fueting and Professor Susan Botti, and his MFA in Composition at Brandeis University, studying under Prof. Yu-Hui Chang and Prof. Eric Chasalow.

Website: https://nmnhat.squarespace.com

Laura Nobili (b. 2006) is a Canadian composer from Richmond Hill, Ontario. She has written for several professional and student musicians including the Springdale Trio, the West Coast Chamber Orchestra, the Rachmaninov Trio, the Alexander Mackenzie High School Symphonic Band, and the Victoria Conservatory of Music Chamber Orchestra featuring soloist Jonathan Crow (the concertmaster of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra).

As a young child, Nobili found joy in improvising at the piano and constantly creating melodies. While she had significant struggles learning to read music from the ages of 4 to 11 years old, she studied piano by secretly learning every piece by ear. Eventually, she gained the ability to read music as she began exploring music theory.
At the age of 12 years old, Nobili notated her first official composition – a string quartet entitled The Mysterious Galaxy, which would soon win a scholarship from Kiwanis Music Festival. Not long after, she began taking private composition lessons with Christine Donkin. While studying with Ms. Donkin, Nobili participated in the Victoria Conservatory of Music Composition Club, where she co-published A Journey Through Canada,  a collection of nine piano pieces. All proceeds from this book were donated to OrKidstra, a music charity in Ottawa. Nobili also published a book of 12 piano pieces, where she discussed her personal experiences with synesthesia.

At the age of 15, Nobili returned to studying composition independently. Two weeks after her sixteenth birthday, she completed her first full-length musical, entitled Macbeth the Musical. She produced and directed the premiere of this show on May 17, 2023. She finished composing her second musical, “Gatsby” in May 2023, and it premiered on October 18, 2023.

In July 2024, she attended Opera Lucca’s vocal composition program, where she studied under Maestro Raphael Fusco and worked with 16 musicians, for two Italian premieres and one world premiere. This inspired her to write her first full-length opera entitled Heaven and Hell, which was completed in August 2024.

Nobili is currently pursuing her undergraduate composition studies at Manhattan School of Music and studying privately with Dr. Ashkan Behzadi.

www.lauranobili.com/home

Gabriel Ordás (Oviedo, 1999), who already showed his precocity at the age of 11 by debuting as a soloist with his own piece for violin and string orchestra, now has a catalog that exceeds 70 works.
In his compositional career, he has had multiple symphonic premieres with orchestras such as RTVE, OFIL, OSPA, and the Oltenia Philarmonic Orchestra (Romania); two chamber operas commissioned by the Cultural Association “La Castalia”, and commissions for several symphonic-choral works from the University of Oviedo. Among the awards he has received, notable mentions include the “Marino Gutiérrez” Composition Prize 2020, the Extraordinary Prize for Higher Artistic Education in Asturias 20/21, and the AMAS in the category of Film Music 2021. More recently, he has been awarded the “Leoncio Diéguez Marcos” Composition Prize organized by CONSMUPA, where he completed his higher studies in 2021.
His works, in which the intervention of his teachers Fernando Agüeria and Manuel Martínez Burgos has been decisive, have received praise and congratulations from international figures such as David Lockington, Óliver Díaz, José Peris, Leonardo Balada, Aldo Ceccato, and Jorge Muñiz. The latter premiered Ordás’ works in Indiana (USA) in 2015 and 2016.
In his violinistic facet, he began studying this instrument with Gayané Pogosova and continues to do so under the guidance of Lev Chistyakov. As a soloist, he has performed in several concerts offered by OSPA; he premiered his Concerto for violin, choir and orchestra “El Aura” in the Cathedral of Oviedo, and won the National Prize for Professional Artistic Education in 2016. He is also a member of various chamber groups, with which he won the CONSMUPA Chamber Music Prize – Fundación Caja Rural 2019 awarded to the Trío 4Tercios, and the ISLIM 2020 Prize for the duo he forms with violist and pianist Jorge Diego Valera.
Currently, he is pursuing a Master’s Degree in Composition for Audiovisual Media at Katarina Gurska in Madrid, while also completing his higher studies in Piano at CONSMUPA under the tutelage of Martín Acevedo. He has also been admitted as a student in the Composition Master’s program at Manhattan School of Music.

Website: https://gabrielordas.com/en/

Guiomar Ortiz is a composer and pianist born in Madrid, Spain, in 1999. She defines herself as a multidisciplinary artist, she focused her career on music, but she always had an interest in other branches of art production, such as plastic or visual arts, that kept reflecting on her music.

She started her musical career focusing on piano competitions, receiving lots of international awards, while she began to arouse interest in composition and improvisation. At the age of 14, she premiered her first “album of improvisations” and started writing music for the screen. In 2016, she composed her first piece for contemporary dance, which was choreographed by the Royal Conservatory of Contemporary Dance of Spain.

In 2017, she started a Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance in Madrid, where she met the pianist Pelayo Ciria and started the piano duo “Duo Rex”. They won several chamber music competitions and gave recitals around Europe. During those years, she focused her composition career on film scoring and achieved different awards in Spain, Los Angeles and Argentina, as well as in Music for Theater, as she became head composer of the Polytechnic University of Madrid.

In 2021, she started to work as a resident composer in a prestigious art gallery in Madrid (EstArt) focusing on music for contemporary performance, visual and plastic artists, and experimental projects. She found her path in that world and continues investigating how to combine different types of arts.

Meanwhile, she continued composing classical music for chamber ensembles, ballets and solo pieces, which earned her one of her most important awards thanks to her first piano trio, “First Prize Vienna Classical Music Academy” in Chamber Music. This year she premiered her album “La Luz”, which has also been recognized with many international awards, both for the musical and the video art and photography.

Siddharth S. Ragavan is a composer, cellist, mridangist, and pianist from New Jersey pursuing his undergraduate classical composition degree under Dr. Stambaugh. He has been writing original compositions, scores for films/games, and arrangements for many years. His work has won awards such as the NJPTA State Award of Excellence, Top 50 in the all-ages Score the World Competition, and semifinalist in the FMC Composition Competition. His original compositions have premiered in places such as the Patriots Theater at the Trenton War Memorial and the Bridgewater Temple in New Jersey.

On the Mridangam, Siddharth has been a performer for over 6 years, and has played hundreds of concerts, festivals, and fundraisers across the tristate area. He has won many awards in competitions from many Carnatic music organizations – his efforts also earned him a Diploma in Fine Arts from the Nam Dhi Academy of Indian Percussion through the completion of his Arangetram (graduation concert) in 2023. He is also fluent in Konnakol, which is the Indian art of spoken rhythms, and has assisted his guru in teaching lectures on Konnakol in places from CarnaticOn to NYU.

Siddharth intends to help spread the reach of South Indian Carnatic music into the west’s wider music scene and has projects ranging from concerti to dance ensembles which attempt to blend his two musical cultures together to form a new, vibrant sound. He hopes to bring awareness to his native tradition of music as well as dissolve stylistic boundaries that separate it from that of the western world.

Siddharth is also an able cellist whose academic lineage traces back to greats such as Rostropovich and Starker.

Shahar Regev, born in 1992 in Israel, is an interdisciplinary Composer, Singer and Cellist. Regev Graduated from the Composition Department at the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance. She was instructed by famous Israeli musicians – Professor Josef Bardanashvili, Professor Yinam Leef, and Professor Michael Klinghoffer. Recently, Regev completed her master’s degree in Composition at the Mannes School of Music, studying with Dr. Lowell Liebermann in New York City. She is currently studying in the professional studies Composition program at the Manhattan School of Music with Susan Botti.
Her works include various styles of orchestrations – vocal, chamber, and orchestral music. Her pieces were performed by ensembles and orchestras at concerts and festivals in Israel and overseas. Artistic engagements include commissions and collaborations and with Symphonette Raanana Orchestra (Israel), Tzlilim Bamidbar Festival (Israel), Toscanini Quartet (Israel), Ensemble diX (Germany), Alambic duo (Italy) Bulgarian Concert Evenings in New York (Bulgaria, USA), Mestizo Sax Quartet (Italy), MMS project – Mediterranean Miniature Sketches (Greece), The IPO for Kids (Israel), Duo BassGuitar (Israel), Meitar Ensemble (Israel). She also composes music for the theater, musical arrangements, and original songs.

www.schacharregev.com

Victor Schwartz (b. 2006) is a composer from the San Francisco Bay Area studying at Manhattan School of Music. He enjoys writing neo-romantic music, especially for large ensembles such as orchestras. In addition to composition Victor also plays several brass, woodwind and string instruments each, with his main instruments being the Horn, Violin, Viola and Oboe.

www.victorschwartz.com

Sarah Senior is a pianist and composer from Caracas, Venezuela. She studied Music and Film Studies at Barnard College, Columbia University while being part of the cross-registration program with Manhattan School of Music, where she studied Classical Piano with Dr. Inesa Sinkevych and Phillip Kawin. She was also part of the Music Performance Program at Columbia for Chamber Music. She graduated magna cum laude, with department honors, and was awarded the Ethel Stone LeFrak prize. She is now pursuing her Master of Music in Composition at MSM with Dr. Reiko Füting.
Though she started composing music to play herself and continues to do so, she is excited about collaborating and working with other musicians. She has written for the ensembles PinkNoise and Ekmeles for performances in New York City. Sarah has also scored the music for a number of short films, combining her love of film and music. She is eager to continue working on this medium and exploring Latin American genres moving forward.

https://www.instagram.com/bysarahsenior/

Hao Shen was born in China and graduated from China Conservatory of Music with master’s degree and from Minzu University of China with bachelor’s degree in composition. Currently, he is a graduate student in composition at Manhattan School of Music, studying with Reiko Füting.
In 2021, his Piano Quartet won the Third Prize of Pennsylvania Piano Quartet Composition Competition, held by the China Conservatory of Music, 2021. In 2021, his ensemble piece The Sketch of Music won the Third Prize of theEnsemble Workstation, also held by China Conservatory of Music, 2022. Sketch of Music was published by Modern Press in 2023.

Chinese composer Cengxing Shi is interested in exploring dream-like musical atmospheres. She is first prize winner of the second YinZhongCup Prize International Composition Competition in 2016, and winner of the Camerata Nova Commission Prize in 2023. She began studying composition at the age of 10 and was admitted to the Shanghai Conservatory of Music Affiliated School in 2014.

Cengxing was joined the Winter Master Class Program (2016) held by UCLA’s music department and obtained Certificate of Outstanding Exchange Student. She was invited by Shanghai Hongkou Official Adult Chorus as composer, musical instructor, and pianist in 2018. She was also admitted to the L.A. Music Industry Summer Academy program in 2022 and collaborated with composer and Grammy-nominee Ariel Chobaz and prominent producer Essay Jones at Paramount Music Studio. In 2024, Cengxing collaborated with renowned American conductor George Manahan for a symphony performance and held her recital in New York. That same year, she composed original music for a ROARINGWILD brand advertisement and served as Chief Music Producer for GWANTSI’s “Beautiful Life Space” exhibition. Her compositions have premiered in New York, Los Angeles, and Shanghai.

Cengxing studied with Dr. Marjorie Merryman and is currently pursuing her Master of Music in Composition at the Manhattan School of Music under the mentorship of Dr. J. Mark Stambaugh. She is a recipient of the MSM Merit Scholarship (2024-2025) and received the Deolus Husband Scholarship for Composition for four consecutive years (2020-2023).

R.S. Stricklin III, born in 1994 in Dallas, Texas, has had his music performed across the United States and in Europe. He has worked on performances of his music with loadbang, Frances-Marie Uitti, and members of the Ostravská Banda and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Stricklin graduated from Southern Methodist University in 2017 with a BM in composition and honors in the liberal arts, and Manhattan School of Music in 2020 with an MM in composition, where he is currently pursuing a DMA in composition, studying under Reiko Füting.

Composer Jacob Tantleff was raised in Los Angeles and currently resides in New York City. After his debut at David Geffen Hall, he has forged a unique style and strong artistic presence as an award-winning classical composer in New York. Recent performances include Gingko Groove for the Juilliard MAP Faculty Recital at Paul Hall, Sunday Man for Kyo-Shin-An Arts at the Tenri Cultural Center, LAC! for Living Arts Collaborative at SoHo’s Bone’s Loft and Central Valley, New York, and Chase for the Alvin Ailey Studios, choreographed by Natalie Lomonte. He was recently the featured composer of the New York Philharmonic’s VYC Alumni concert at David Greer Recital Hall, with performances by percussionist Justin Jay Hines, pianist Will Healy, and the award-winning Cassatt String Quartet. Pieces performed included the world premieres of Pestis for string quartet and Muse for piano and viola. A rearrangement of Sunday Man (originally for shakuhachi, cello, piano, and percussion) was the concert’s finale. Early performances include Sentiment of Shooting Stars for pianist Karen Dryer at NYU Steinhardt, Adios Gracias for the Cassatt String Quartet, Justin Jay Hines, and electric violinist Machiko Ozawa at the Marjorie S. Deane Little Theater, and Rhetoric of Romance for pianist Beata Moon, which won Honorable Mention at Tribeca New Music’s annual Young Composer Competition. He was honored to serve as the resident composer for the New York Jazz Workshop’s retreat in Tuscany, Italy.

Jacob has studied under composer and percussionist Justin Jay Hines for nearly a decade. Additionally, he has studied extensively under saxophonist Marc Mommaas, pianist Will Healy, and composer Daniel Felsenfeld. He previously studied at the Juilliard School under Greg Knowles and Rick Baitz, and currently studies at the Manhattan School of Music under J. Mark Stambaugh. He recently completed Stillborn of Gaia, a solo violin commission for famous violinist Jennifer Choi, as well as In Forest She Dances, a duet for Broadway oboist Keve Wilson. He also fully scored Hellbent on Fishing, a short film created for the New Zealand 48 Hour Film Competition. Upcoming works include Calamitas, an apocalyptic rock opera, and Moonlight Percussion Ultra, a solo percussion piece performed in complete darkness.

Akshay S. Tiwari (b. 2002) is a music composer and multi-instrumentalist from Princeton, New Jersey. Over the years, he has studied the viola, piano, and bağlama saz in depth. Influenced by rich folk traditions from around the world, his works draw from a colorful palette of musical styles and idioms. His journey into composition began by writing and arranging various world folk pieces for an ensemble he started consisting of a string quintet and mixed percussion, which performed at several venues around New Jersey.

Over the years, he has developed a particular affinity for the folk music of Turkey, Eastern Europe, Northern and Western Africa, and his family’s native India. This blending of often overlooked folk idioms with standard western ensembles forms the core of his work, and as he studies composition at the Manhattan School of Music, he plans on expanding his musical language, guided by the fundamental belief that music of every tradition offers a new perspective which, when combined with other perspectives, provides a more complete view of the human spirit.

Currently working as a private viola teacher, his ambitions include film and video game scoring as well as composing contemporary concert and art music.

Angela Tse is a freshman student at MSM. She was brought up in two cities of China, Beijing and Guangzhou. Angela discovered her ability to compose in a very early age. Although she didn’t receive much formal composing education since she had been studying in public schools, her insistence and determination in composing got her in her favorite school and now studying with Reiko Fueting.
Angela is obsessed with some old arts. She has been influenced by her favorite artist Antonio Lucio Vivaldi from the Baroque period, having many similar preferences in composing. To reappear the charm of Baroque and classical art in a modern language is one of her major goals in music.

Her music often focuses on some moments of certain human emotion. They can be explosive, colorful and sophisticated, which are reflected and marked on the highly varied and passionate melody in her compositions. She believes good pieces of music are able to impact people’s emotion and mood, so she wants to enlighten people through music. In addition to orchestra music, she also writes pop music, and she has recently been invited to participate in the writing of the music for a film in China.

Apart from music, she develops deep interests in many other subjects such as art, literature and astronomy. She is also a talented and skilled painter, and she studied English Literature in high school, which helps her to write lyrics and novel in her spare time.

Hsin-Yi Tseng (Lisa) is a musician and artist born in 2001 in Taiwan. She graduated from Taipei National University of the Arts, where she majored in composition and minored in fine arts. She is now a master’s student at Manhattan School of Music, studying composition with Reiko Füting.

Elias Valle (b.2006) is a Pianist, Bassoonist, and Composer. He is currently under the tutelage of Dr. Reiko Fueting. He has also received mentorship from world-renowned artists including Mrityunjay Sathyanarayanan, Dr. Kelly Anderson, Dr. Stephen Cook, Dr. Mathew Ward, Dr. Ruby Wang, and Dr. Hyoungwuk Kim.

His music focuses on elements of natural change and organic texture. He enjoys exploring alternative ensembles, and unique methods of sound production. His inspiration revolves around nature, and processes of growth and movement. His string quartet “A Lily” was a national finalist in the prestigious MTNA Composition Competition in 2023. He has also been recognized by associations such as the International Association of Professional Music Teachers, Reno Tahoe Piano, and the California School of the Arts.

Elias is currently pursuing a B.M. in Composition at the Manhattan School of Music.

Yingshu Wang is a first-year undergraduate student majoring in music composition at the Manhattan School of Music. She is studying with Professor Susan Botti. Yingshu has won multiple awards in the music composition category of numerous international competitions. Most recently, she earned second prize at the 2023 World Master Open Music Competition and second prize at the 2023 Vivaldi International Music Competition. In addition, Yingshu presented her research on music education and musicology at the 2023 and 2024 International Conference on New Music Concepts in Italy, 2024 Orfeo Festival in Italy, and 2024 International Conference on the Arts in Society in South Korea. She has published her research in the 2024 issue of the “International Journal of Music Science, Technology and Art”. In 2023, Yingshu completed the Professional Certificate in General Music Studies from the Berklee College of Music.

Dylan Wolf is an American composer, born in Queens and raised in a rural town in the Midwest. He studied Composition and Voice at the University of Illinois under the tutelage of Steven Taylor (for Composition), Jerold Siena, and Ricardo Herrera (for Voice).
Wolf’s music explores a wide variety of exploratory styles and concepts. Utilizing his studies at the University of Illinois, he studied the work of Ben Johnston, one of the fathers of microtonality. Other influences include Rautavaara, Poulenc, and Berg. Wolf combines colors from the harmonic series and other modern techniques with his love of Romanticism and Mysticism. He was recognized by the Illinois Modern Ensemble in 2022, with the premier of his work Torn. He was a runner up for the University of Illinois ACDA Chapter’s choral works competition.

Chen Shuhe Yue (Yue Chen), a composer, soprano and multi-genre artist, was born in 1995 in SiChuan, China. Yue was awarded bachelor’s degree in Opera Acting from The Central Academy of Drama in Beijing, and went to Mannes School of Music to study with Huang Ruo in Music Composition for master’s degree. Now she is in the professional study program in composition at the Manhattan School of Music, studying with Reiko Füting.

As a composer, Yue writes in various styles. Her works include solo, chamber, opera, music theater electroacoustic music and sound installation. Yue has cooperated with many notable musicians such as Jack Quartet, PHACE Ensemble, International Contemporary Ensemble, David Fulmer, and musicians around the world. As a soprano, she used to perform traditional operas such as The Magic Flute, Così fan Tutte and La bohème. Now she is active in performing contemporary vocal music, including her own music. As an interdisciplinary artist, Yue has traveled to more than 20 countries and has participated in many Art festivals and art projects such as Street Installation, Performance Art, Immersive Theatre… In 2017, Yue founded the nonprofit subscription “DramaEtMusica” based on Weibo and WeChat social media, dedicated to public music education of Opera and classical vocal music and new music in China.

https://www.chenshuheyue.com

Yuqing Zhang (b. 2004) is a classical music composer from China. She is currently pursuing her bachelor’s degree at Manhattan School of Music with the Professor Ashkan Behzadi. In her unremitting efforts of exploring the world of music, she drew inspirations from her daily readings and the trivialities of her routine life. Her musical works usually evoke philosophical contemplation and manifest its connection with music. Emotions such as awareness, introspection, reflection and understanding are the common elements found in her works.
“Music is eclectic and all-embracing; it encompasses the meaning of life and depicts everything in the Universe.”