Artists

Bruce Crossman’s sound world embraces Asian traditional musics, free form improvisation and European influenced interval-colour sonority towards a personal Pacific identity. He has been mentored by Chinary Ung and studied composition with Ross Edwards, David Blake and Jack Speirs.

Allan Crossman has had the great pleasure to write for soloists and ensembles worldwide, including many commissions and awards. Millennium Overture appeared on the eponymous GRAMMY-nominated album from North/South Consonance; Music for Human Choir shared Top Honors at the Waging Peace Through Singing Festival in Oregon; Flyer, for cello solo and string orchestra, was written in 2003 for the centenary of the first Wright Brothers flight and premiered/recorded by the North/South Chamber Orchestra (NYC) under Max Lifchitz, with cellist Nina Flyer.

The Crossing is a GRAMMY®-winning professional chamber choir conducted by Donald Nally and dedicated to performing new music. It is committed to working with creative teams to make and record new, substantial works for choir that explore and expand ways of writing for choir, singing in choir, and listening to music for choir. Many of its nearly 150 commissioned premieres address social, environmental, and political issues.

Richard Crosby was born in Ashland OH and raised in Largo FL. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Music Education (1979), a Master of Music degree in Piano and Wind Conducting (1981), and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Piano (1990) from the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music. His principal piano teachers at CCM were John Meretta and Richard Morris.

Rosśa Crean (they/them) jokingly says they “create music that they like to listen to when they are by themself, eating raw cookie dough in a dark closet,” but in truth, their music has been referred to as being “funny...and virtuosic” (Classic Concert Nova Scotia), having “exceptionally different, outstanding quality” (Download), and music that “stirs you deep, undertones of humanity” (Access Contemporary Music).

John J. Craven (b.1971) was enthusiastically drawn to listening to classical music, music theater, and popular music as a child. He studied piano and flute and began to compose at age 11. He was a winner in the Fourth International Aaron Copland Competition for Young Composers at age 12. He studied piano at the Peabody Conservatory of Music from 1989 to 1991. From 1992 to 1994 he received a B.A. in Communication Studies at the University of Iowa; in 1997 he completed a B.F.A. in music composition at SUNY Purchase. He returned to Peabody in 2009 to receive a M.M. in composition.

Heralded by Reno Arts News for her “tender” playing, Sarah Coyl enjoys a diverse musical career playing and teaching violin and viola. She is a member of the Reno Philharmonic Orchestra and an instructor of violin at the University of Nevada, Reno. As an emerging chamber musician, she has performed in concert on viola with world-renowned pianist Joyce Yang. Recent solo engagements include a performance of the Bruch Violin Concerto with the Tahoe Symphony Orchestra.

I'lana Cotton is a composer, improviser, and pianist who has created works for a broad range of genres, from solo piano and small chamber groups to large choral and instrumental ensembles. Her concert music has been performed in the United States, the UK, Europe, and China.

Through her depth of expression as an internationally recognized harp soloist, actor, writer, and teacher, Rita Costanzi, in the words of Irish Author, Treasa O’Driscoll, “bears the mark of the true artist whose task it is to rise above the tumult of the times. A force of truth and love in herself and a musician of exceptional accomplishment, her playing never fails to touch the souls of listeners in deep and unexpected ways.”

A graduate of the University of Alberta (B.M., Piano) and The Juilliard School (M.M., D.M.A., Piano), Maria Thompson Corley has performed in venues like the Liszt Academy. Her solo and collaborative recordings are released by Naxos, Albany, MSR Classical, and others. Excerpts from her albums have been featured in films and television soundtracks, as well as on radio and digital platforms, nationally and internationally.

Charles Corey is an American composer holding a Ph.D. in Music Composition and Theory from the University of Pittsburgh. His approach to composition exploits and subverts the relationships that exist between different tuning systems. Corey's compositions, known for their unexpected, evocative harmonies and their strong dramatic arcs, have been played across Europe and the Americas by performers including Cikada Ensemble, Iktus Percussion, Kjell Tore Innervik, Ere Lievonen, Inverted Space, and Entelechron, and recognized by the Young Virtuosos Foundation, the Foundation for Modern Music, and the Sociedade Pró-Sinfônica de Limeira.

William Copper is an American composer of contemporary classical music, a theorist, and the authority on Intonalism, the science of structuring music according to intonation. His music is praised for its beauty, structural integrity, and innovative originality. He has been a life-long supporter and volunteer as Board Member and officer for music and cultural organizations.

The Newberry Consort presents historically-informed programs of early music—often drawn from the collections at the Newberry Library—through an annual concert series in Chicago, national and international touring, residencies at colleges and universities, and recordings. The Newberry Consort was founded in 1986 and has offered an annual concert series continuously since 1988. The ensemble incorporated as an independent nonprofit organization in 2009.

Concorde was founded in Dublin in 1976 to promote the regular performance of new music. The group made its debut in the American Embassy in Dublin and has since performed widely throughout Ireland, Europe and North America.

Described by audience members as “silky smooth butter in musical form” and “voices like I imagine angels might sound,” Voices of Concinnity is Connecticut’s versatile professional vocal chamber ensemble illuminating the breadth of choral music through innovative programming and richness of choral sound. Sponsored by Consonare Choral Community, Voices of Concinnity consists of 12 dedicated, seasoned choral artists from diverse backgrounds with a mission to connect with the community through exquisitely crafted, innovative choral programming that fosters inclusion, promotes collaboration, illuminates variety, and ensures affordable access. As an ensemble, Concinnity focuses on individual expression within a cohesive whole, harnessing each singer’s unique vocal qualities into a rich collective sound; thus embracing an honesty that enhances the listening experience and resonates with audiences.

David Colson (b. 1957) is an American educator, administrator, percussionist, conductor, and composer of classical music. He is Professor of Music at the Western Michigan University (WMU) Irving S. Gilmore School of Music, where he has taught composition, music theory, and leads the new music ensemble Birds on a Wire. He served as Director of the School of Music from 2007 to 2014 and Director of the Gwen Frostic School of Art at WMU from 2017 to 2021. He came to WMU from California State University–Chico, where he taught composition and music theory, chaired the Department of Music, and was the David W. and Helen E.F. Lantis University Professor, the University's first endowed professorship.

New York City native Michael Cohen has a diverse and expansive career as a composer. His many compositions include works for chamber ensemble, musical theater, opera, and television. He attended the High School of Music and Art and the Dalcroze School of Music, graduated cum laude from Brandeis University, and studied composition with Harold Shapero and Irving Fine.

Composer Gerald Cohen has been praised for his "linguistic fluidity and melodic gift," creating compositions with "a strong sense of tradition- one that embraces Brahms, Bartok, and Britten on one hand and his own Jewish heritage on the other" (Gramophone Magazine). His deeply affecting compositions have been recognized with numerous awards and critical accolades.

Alla Elana Cohen is a distinguished composer, pianist, music theorist, and teacher who came to the United States in 1989 from Russia. Graduating from the Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory with the highest honors of distinction, Cohen lives in Boston and is a professor at Berklee College of Music.

William Coble’s premieres include the Richmond Symphony, Hudson Valley Philharmonic, Syracuse Symphony, Moravian Philharmonic, Concerto Soloists Chamber Orchestra, Composers Conference Chamber Orchestra, Contempo Chamber Orchestra, eighth blackbird, New York New Music Ensemble, Alea III, and the Pacifica String Quartet. He has been performed by Matt Albert, David Tanenbaum, Scott St. John, Steve Harlos, Charles Mokotoff, Daphne Gerling, Susan Synnestvedt, William Hite, Jay Morrissey, Walter Huff, Elizabeth McNutt, Sharon Garvey-Cohen, Chuong Vu, Janelle Ott, Lisa Kaplan, Judy Pannill, and Heran Yang.