Artists

A native of Houston, Andrew Schneider is a composer, pianist, and vocal coach whose virtuosic technique and daring interpretation has cemented his reputation among clients as a fearless musician. His extensive collaborative activity encompasses early music, standard operatic and art song repertoire, as well as contemporary music. Proficient for coaching purposes in French, German, Italian, and Latin, as well as adept with less frequently encountered languages, especially Slavic ones, Schneider enjoys using his considerable linguistic skill to help make challenging texts accessible to his clients. His wide ranging musical activities also include harpsichord and organ performance and conducting.

Pierre, a French native, came to music as a child, studying classical piano and transcribing themes from movie composers on the family’s piano. Emotions are in the center of his work, and reviewers have often noted cinematic elements in his music, while describing “an imaginative musical craftsman at work, capable of evoking real wonder, mystery, reverence, and celebration.”

The music of Phillip Schroeder (b. 1956, Rancho Cordova CA) for soloists, chamber ensembles, live electronics, orchestra, band, and choir has been described by critics as "wonderfully evocative," "ethereal," "rich in subtle detail," and "full of elegant nuance." He has appeared as a guest composer, lecturer, and performer at venues throughout the United States and Europe and has been very active and dedicated New Music advocate as performer, producer, and festival/conference host.

Laudon Schuett is a lutenist and early music specialist. He has been called “a masterful performer ...[and] a brilliant educator” (Classical Voice of North Carolina) with “immaculate articulation and sensitive phrasing” (Fanfare). In addition to performing and expanding the solo repertoire, he formed the lute song duo BEDLAM with Kayleen Sánchez. They have toured the U.S. and recorded two albums, BEDLAM, and Died for Love, both for Soundset Recordings. Schuett has a forthcoming book on the lute being published by Mel Bay, which includes many of his solo works. He studied with Paul O’Dette, Frank Koonce, and Chuck Hulihan. He holds a D.M.A. in Early Music from the Eastman School of Music.

Australian composer Andrew Schultz studied at the Universities of Queensland and Pennsylvania and at King's College London and has received various awards, prizes and fellowships. His music, which covers a broad range of chamber, orchestral and vocal works, has been performed, recorded and broadcast widely by many leading groups and musicians internationally. He has held numerous commissions, including from the major Australian orchestras.

Flutist Julie Scolnik’s tonal enchantment and communicative gifts have captivated audiences in America and France. The Boston Globe writes that “she plays with an urgency full of fire that melts into disarming delicacy,” and a French critic from La Provence praises “her vast palette of sultry colors and magical phrasing.” Scolnik has enjoyed a diverse musical career as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral flutist. As a guest flutist at festivals across the United States and France, Scolnik has collaborated with countless world-class artists and chamber groups that include the Brentano, Arabella, and Borromeo String Quartets. She is active as a soloist and for many years presented an annual fall recital at the Salle Cortot in Paris. She currently offers concerts each summer in Provence.

Pianist Sophie Scolnik-Brower’s innate grace and musical sensitivity have moved audiences across the United States and abroad. Her playing has been called “soulful artistry that underlines gorgeous harmonic change.” She has performed extensively at the Perlman Music Program, La Jolla Music Festival, Aspen Music Festival, the American Conservatory at Fontainebleau, and the Pablo Casals Festival. She is a member artist of Mistral Music and a frequent guest on WCRB Radio in Boston.

Deb Scott grew up on the flat plains of Lubbock, Texas. With not much else to do but play trombone, she began soloing at an early age. By the time she was in high school, she had performed the Lars-Erik Larsson Concertino with her high school orchestra, performed with professional symphonies, and played regularly in a jazz combo. She graduated with top honors from Texas Tech University and also received the top award for her master’s degree at the University of Northern Colorado.

Jim Scully (b. 1979) is a composer, performer and educator in the fields of contemporary classical music, electroacoustic music and jazz studies. He is currently a member of the music faculty at CSU Bakersfield, where he is tasked with teaching an array of courses in the fields of Music Theory, Jazz Studies, Composition and Music Technology. In addition, he serves as Director of the CSU Bakersfield Guitar Arts Series, Director of Small Jazz Ensembles, Director of the Audio/MIDI Lab and Assistant Director of the Bakersfield Jazz Festival.

Sami Seif is a Lebanese composer and music theorist. His music is inspired by the aesthetics, philosophies, paradigms, and poetry of his Middle-Eastern heritage. His work has been described as “very tasteful and flavorful” with “beautiful, sensitive writing!” (Webster University Young Composers Competition).

Duo Sequenza’s passion is to build new audiences for today’s classical music and promote the work of living composers. The duo has toured extensively, premiering American new music throughout the United States, Asia, and Europe. Lauded as "… brilliant, gossamer, and completely engaging…a delight to hear..." by Arts Indiana Magazine, they have been honored with invitational performances at the 21st Century Guitar Conference, Flute New Music Consortium Festival, Mid-Atlantic Flute Festival, National Flute Association Convention, and others. Award-winning adjunct projects, composer collaborations, and residencies augment their impact on today’s classical music, as have more than 20 new works written for them.

Sophia Serghi (b. 1972) was born in Nicosia, Cyprus and is now a resident of the United States. She has written works for stage, orchestra, and chamber ensembles, along with her vocal and multimedia works, and her compositions have been performed throughout Europe and the United States.

Barry Seroff was born in Flushing, Queens on July 4th 1978. He earned his Bachelors Degree at the Aaron Copland School of Music where he studied theory with Joe Strauss, composition with Paul Alan Levi, Jeff Nichols, and Bruce Saylor, and musicology with Henry Burnett. At the same time outside of school, he studied classical flute with Michael Laderman and Petina Cole, modern and traditional jazz guitar with Joe Giglio and Bern Nix, and shakuhachi with Ronnie Nyogetsu Seldin.

An explorer of sonic realms, Judith Shatin is equally known for her acoustic, electroacoustic, and digital music. Called “highly inventive on every level” by the Washington Post, her music has been commissioned by organizations including the Barlow Endowment, Fromm Foundation, Carnegie Hall, the Library of Congress, Wintergreen Performing Arts, and the Lila Wallace Reader’s Digest Arts Partners Program.

Jonathan Sheffer is a Grammy-nominated composer and conductor whose diverse career in music spans the worlds of classical, opera, dance, and film and television. Born in New York City, Sheffer graduated from Harvard University, where his teachers included Leonard Bernstein, and later attended The Juilliard Extension School and the Aspen School of Music. Sheffer’s range of works comprises television and feature film scores, works for orchestra, solo piano, concertos, musicals, and short operas. In addition to several scores for Hollywood films, including Encino Man, Pure Luck, A Shallow Grave and others, his most recent films include the documentaries Mann v. Ford (HBO) and the German/Israeli film, The Decent One, which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival.

Scott Anthony Shell was born in Omaha Nebraska USA but grew up near Chicago IL. He earned a degree in music composition at DePaul University while studying voice and singing in choirs. Instead of pursuing academic degrees, he immersed himself in the Chicago indie rock scene and created a record label and rock band (singer / songwriter / guitarist) called Cats & Jammers that released several recordings and toured all over the USA. S.A. is fluent in Spanish and has spent quite a bit of time in South America. Currently he resides in in Patagonia AZ.

Laurence Sherr is recognized for his uniquely interconnected work on music related to the Holocaust, uniting his activities as composer of remembrance music, researcher, lecturer, producer of remembrance events, author, and educator. He has presented this work in the Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, England, Norway, San Marino, Israel, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, and across the United States. Containing “sacred beauty and abundant lyricism,” and “moments that convey energy, lyricism, drama, and bravado” (EarRelevant), Sherr’s album – FUGITIVE FOOTSTEPS: REMEMBRANCE MUSIC – was awarded a Gold Medal in the Global Music Awards. He designs events that feature remembrance music enriched by stories of Holocaust-era creators and concurrent musical and historical developments.

When Bill Sherrill (b. 1939) departed for college with piano and voice scholarships, there were fond hopes within his family of a musical career for him. College tennis and the study of Chemistry soon displayed and delayed those hopes. After college and during a working career which included stints as a Naval Flight Officer, Intelligence Officer, and Chief Administrator for large law firms, he kept in touch with music by singing in varied oratorio and symphonic choruses. He retired early to study music and has been composing ever since. He also serves as a Church Musician which provides a ready venue for conducting, composing, and arranging.

Clare Shore the second woman to earn the Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Composition from The Juilliard School, has received critical acclaim for her works, with reviewers from The New York Times, New York Post, Boston Globe, Washington Post, and others hailing her works as "provocative," "immensely dramatic," "unpretentious," "ingenious and evocative," "intriguing," and "romantic to the core."

Benjamin Shorstein is a composer of classical and jazz music and a founding member of the creative music collective Madre Vaca. He has been named a finalist for several national and international competitions, including the Franz Schubert Conservatory World Championship in Composition, the American Prize for Chamber Music Composition, and the Ernst Bacon Memorial Award for the Performance of American Music. Shorstein’s music has been performed at the New York Musical Theatre Festival, recorded for film, and featured in concerts and recordings. His jazz arrangement of Franz Schubert’s song cycle Winterreise was named one of the best jazz recordings of 2020 by the Chicago Tribune, with critic Howard Reich writing that “Benjamin Shorstein has created the best kind of jazz-meets-the-classics merger, the two worlds intermingling rather than crashing up against each other.”