Artists

Sebastian Quesada is a Costa Rican composer interested in exploring the ambiguous and subjective nature of music to evoke specific imagery. Through a blend of diverse genres and processes, his compositions aim to explore musical narratives that are connected to our cultural and social perceptions. His work spans a variety of media, including large and chamber ensembles, rock music, incidental works, installations, and more. This diverse range of mediums has contributed to his intention of synthesizing different elements to explore extra-musical concepts.

The Canadian Encyclopedia calls Christina Petrowska Quilico, C.M., O.Ont, FRSC, “one of Canada’s most celebrated pianists. Equally adept at Classical, Romantic and Contemporary repertoires… she is also a noted champion of Canadian composers.” She was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2020 “for her celebrated career as a classical and contemporary pianist, and for championing Canadian music” and to the Order of Ontario in 2022 “for opening the ears of music lovers through her performances and recordings, her teaching at York University and her establishment of The Christina and Louis Quilico Award at the Ontario Arts Foundation and Canadian Opera Company.”

Howard Quilling (b. 1935) was born in Enid, Oklahoma and grew up in Napa CA. He received his Bachelor of Music and Master of Music from the University of Southern California and his Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He studied music composition with Ingolf Dahl, Robert Linn, David Raksin, Ernst Kanitz, Emma Lou Diemer, Edward Applebaum, and Peter Racine Fricker.

All Classical Radio is consistently ranked in the United States’ top three classical radio stations. The network is recognized for its bold collaborations and outreach, and for broadcasting 98% locally-produced programming, including innovative music playlists, interviews, and live broadcasts. Home to the award-winning Recording Inclusivity Initiative and the International Children’s Arts Network, All Classical Radio is one of the first classical stations in the nation to name artists in residence and to develop robust youth journalism mentorships.

Driven to create a musical bond with her listeners, saxophonist Heidi Radtke is attracted to the many musical traditions that claim the saxophone as their own. With influences ranging from contemporary classical to jazz and popular genres, Radtke gravitates towards music that dances, sings, and tells a story. As a performing artist, Radtke seeks to entertain, provide emotional connection and release, stir creativity, pique curiosity, generate compassion, and above all, inspire the artistic voice in others.

Nada Radulovich is a dynamic and versatile artist who combines her skills as a cellist, transcriber and concert organizer to present unique concerts that synthesize the familiar and unfamiliar in a way that both entertains and educates the audience. A native of Detroit, she developed her artistry and craft at Smith College, the Manhattan School of Music and The Peabody Institute.

Georges Raillard was born in Basel, Switzerland in 1957, where he completed his education, culminating in studying foreign languages at the University of Basel. From 1983 to 2001 he resided in Madrid, Spain, where he worked as a language teacher, translator, and writer. From 2001 to 2019 he worked as a writer, composer, translator, and archivist, mainly in Basel. Returning to Madrid in 2019, he has since been focusing on his artistic endeavors.

Composer Yves Ramette (b. 1921) was born in Bavay, France, where his father was the director of a school. From a very young age Ramette was instinctively attracted towards music. When he was seven years old he started learning musical notation as well as to play the violin and the piano. At age fourteen, while pursuing his secondary studies at the Beauvais Lycée, he also began taking advanced lessons in harmony.

Hailed in the LA Times as offering a “stunning rendition” of the Mozart Clarinet Concerto, and an “exciting” version of the Copland Clarinet Concerto, Joshua Ranz is Principal Clarinet of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (LACO). In addition, he holds the chair of Principal Clarinet of the New West Symphony and the position of Bass Clarinet with the Pacific Symphony.

Maurice Ravel, in full Joseph-Maurice Ravel, (born March 7, 1875, Ciboure, France—died December 28, 1937, Paris), was a French composer of Swiss-Basque descent, noted for his musical craftsmanship, perfection of form and style, and distinct musical language. Ravel was born in a village near Saint-Jean-de-Luz, France, of a Swiss father and a Basque mother. His family background was an artistic, cultivated one, and the young Maurice received every encouragement when his musical talent became apparent at an early age.

Thomas L. Read, composer and violinist, is Professor Emeritus at the University of Vermont. Born in Erie, Pennsylvania in 1938, he studied violin, composition and conducting at the Oberlin, Mozarteum, New England and Peabody Conservatories with such noted musicians as Andor Toth Sr., Richard Burgin, Bernhard Paumgartner, Leon Fleisher, and Benjamin Lees. As violinist he has been a member of the Erie Philharmonic, Baltimore Symphony, Boston Festival Arts (under Harold Farberman), Vermont Symphony and the Saratoga Festival of Baroque Music.

American composer, conductor, orchestrator, and producer Dan Redfeld has had his music and arrangements performed internationally from the concert hall to the musical theatre stage to the recording studio. Redfeld received his training at Boston's New England Conservatory before transferring to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) where he graduated with a degree in composition with an emphasis in conducting. Instructors include composers William Thomas McKinley, Irwin Kostal, and David Raksin, and conductors Jon Robertson, Sir Simon Rattle, Zubin Mehta, and Roger Norrington.

Mona Lyn Reese concentrates on opera, orchestra, and choral music. Her work is melodic and accessible with an emphasis on driving or complex rhythms, movement, and contrasting textures. Her music communicates and expresses emotions traditionally or experimentally without allowing a prevailing fashion to dictate style, form, or harmony.

A composer of over 80 works for traditional Japanese instruments, Marty Regan is a Professor and Head of the Department of Performance Studies at Texas A&M University. Widely regarded as the authoritative source on the subject, his translation of Minoru Miki’s Composing for Japanese Instruments was published by the University of Rochester Press in 2008. His music has been broadcast on American Public Media’s Performance Today and NHK’s Hōgaku no hito toki/A Moment for Traditional Japanese Music. His chamber opera, titled The Memory Stone, was commissioned by the Houston Grand Opera as part of the HGOco's Songs of Houston: East + West initiative and was premiered in 2013 at the Asia Society Texas Center.

Composer Sally Reid was born in East Liverpool, Ohio, in 1948. She holds the Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin and is Professor of Music and Director of the School of Music at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee. Reid was editor of the ILWC Journal (International League of Women Composers) from 1991-1995 and served as President of the International Alliance for Women in Music (IAWM) in 1999-2000. She is also a member of the Society of Composers, Inc., the Southern Composers League and the Nashville Composers Association.

Bruce Reiprich's music has been described as having "unapologetic lushness" (New Music Box), "post-romantic radiance" (Danbury News-Times), and "a contemplative mood, its sedate pace subtly dilating the flow of time" (Eagle Rock Patch). It has also been characterized as "a deeply personal mediation on the poet's feelings" (San Francisco Classical Voice), "very powerful" (All Music Guide), "lovely and evocative" (Guitar Review-New York), "very impressive" (Cumhuriyet-Turkey), and "of special interest" (Guitar International-England). Praise for the Navona Records recording of his Lullaby for violin and orchestra highlights “what would make for a really gorgeous encore number” (Cinemusical), and “emotional effects so powerfully instantiated” (Textura).

Alyssa Reit is an independent composer, arranger, performer, teacher, and storyteller. As a harpist, she has performed with institutions ranging from the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, the Pittsburgh Symphony, and the Metropolitan Opera, to contemporary music groups and Irish bands. She has given concerts with John Cage, toured Europe with the legendary Martha Clarke, and traveled the United States playing with the world famous vocal group, Anonymous 4. Her main body of work has been creating theatrical-musical settings of myths, classic stories, and fairy tales; these have been performed at such venues as the Caramoor Center for the Arts, the NYU Steinhardt’s storytelling series, and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, to critical acclaim.

The music of Wieslaw Rentowski has been performed at hundreds of international festivals, concerts, and conferences in Europe, Russia, Asia, New Zealand, the United States, and Canada. In 1988, Rentowski was awarded the 1st Prize in the National Competition for Young Composers in Warsaw, Poland. He has received several composition prizes for his orchestra, chamber, and solo works from the Polish Composers’ Union, the Fr. Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw, the City of Elblag (750th anniversary), Louisiana Music Teachers Association (1st Prize in 1990 & 1998, LMTA All State Competition).

Dr. Diane Retallack has been Artistic Director of the Eugene Concert Choir organization since 1985 and is the founding director of the chamber ensemble Eugene Vocal Arts and the Eugene Concert Orchestra. She earned a Doctor of Music in Choral Conducting from Indiana University where she studied conducting with Margaret Hillis, founding director of the Chicago Symphony Chorus, and score analysis with master choral scholar Julius Herford. She has also drawn experience and inspiration from workshops and festivals with Helmuth Rilling and Robert Shaw. 

Phillip Rhodes was born in Forest City, North Carolina in 1940 and received degrees from Duke University and the Yale University School of Music. His principal teachers have been William Klenz, Iain Hamilton, Donald Martino, and Mel Powell.