Artists

Angelique Poteat (b. 1986) is a native of the Pacific Northwest, and many of her works are inspired by the natural beauty of the region. Her music has been described as “engaging, restless” (New York Times), “serious and nicely crafted” (American Record Guide), and “extremely accomplished and vividly picturesque” (Seattle Times), receiving performances on four continents by ensembles including the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, arx Percussion Duo, Emerald City Music, CernaBella, and Trio Claviola. Poteat is the recipient of the 2015 American Prize in Orchestral Composition for her work Beyond Much Difference (2014), and has held Composer-in-Residence positions with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra and the New Music on the Rock Festival.

Ukrainian-born Natalya Pasichnyk, prize winner of several international piano competitions, has with Stockholm as her base, and with her deeply intellectual and creative interpretations, established herself as one of Europe's leading concert pianists. Sweden’s biggest classical music journal OPUS magazine listed her twice (2014, 2022) as one of Sweden's most influential cultural personalities. She has over the years also dedicated much energy on uncovering the unknown Ukrainian musical treasure for the Western audiences, and she has frequently appeared in both radio and TV.

With a musical palette ranging from traditional Jewish prayer modes to minimalist textures with rich melodic contours, and from jazz-influenced rhythms to imaginative orchestrations of the natural world, composer Dr. Meira Warshauer’s music has been performed live to critical acclaim and heard on broadcast and online media worldwide. In much demand for commissions, she writes for orchestras, chamber and vocal ensembles, and soloists, as well as opera.

Huang is the Full Professor of Violin at James Madison University School of Music and contributes to the community as a concertmaster of the Waynesboro Symphony. Her recordings of the complete Sonatas of Eugène Ysaÿe, Partitas and Sonatas of J.S. Bach for unaccompanied violin, and music by William Walton and Benjamin Britten in a collaboration with longtime friend and pianist Robert Koenig, are all on the Centaur Records label, have been excellently reviewed. “. . . her incisive technique and an exceptionally rich and beautiful tone. . .” was noted by Phil's Classical Reviews, Audio Video Club of Atlanta.

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.

Michael Clark is a pianist devoted to the interconnection of performance, scholarship, and pedagogy. He has appeared in 15 U.S. states as a soloist, chamber musician, and clinician, specializing in 20th and 21st century repertoire. An advocate for the music of Florence Price, Clark has presented numerous lecture recitals on her piano works and made his solo album debut with Price’s complete waltzes and selected character pieces for Navona Records.

Gustav Hoyer was born in Denver CO in 1972. His musical pursuits began in high school following a life-changing encounter with the music of Beethoven and Mozart. He subsequently studied music theory, piano, and violin and pursued collegiate degrees in composition. He has written music for a wide variety of ensembles, media, and settings. His recorded music has been heard in film, on radio, and in performance around the world. He continues to create new orchestral music that draws on the tools of classical vocabulary while fully modern in their contemplations. 

Inspired by the worlds of nature and literature, Michael Matthews creates music that compels the listener to step beyond the every day to dwell for a while in images of paradox, to consider the ever-changing tapestry of life. Matthews has a deep love for the contemporary symphonic tradition and has established himself as a master of large-scale musical structures, motivic relationships, and organic wholeness, all of which lie at the core of symphonic thought. The symphony is, for Matthews, both a vital form and a special challenge that allows for musical ideas to be carried between movements. Compositional influences include Beethoven, Mahler, Schoenberg, Shostakovich, Schnittke and, more recently, Scandinavian composers Pettersson and Aho.

Internationally acclaimed veterans of contemporary music, Sirius Quartet combines exhilarating repertoire with unequalled improvisational fire. These conservatory-trained performer-composers shine with precision, soul and a raw energy rarely witnessed on stage, championing a forward-thinking, genre-defying approach that makes labels like 'New Music' sound tame.

Mari Tamaki is a Japanese cellist, composer, performer, and producer whose great improvisational and compositional skills create fascinating music, fluidly crossing genres both classical and contemporary. As a composer, she has successfully created works in a variety of styles, including classical music, progressive rock, free improvisation, avant-garde, and collaboration with the Butoh dance form. In her pieces, she skillfully transitions from tense dissonance to complete harmonization by the end. She employs a lyrical style while emphasizing dissonance. 

Nicholas Weininger (b. 1978) is a composer, singer, software engineering manager, and leadership coach. Weininger's works for a cappella chorus have been performed by ensembles across the United States, ranging from the International Orange Chorale of San Francisco and the NYC-based ensemble Choral Chameleon to the West Genesee High School Chorale, the Germantown Friends School Concert Choir, and the festival ensemble Coro Mundi. In March 2023, the Empire City Men's Chorus premiered his cantata Hakol Hevel (All is Mere Breath) for TTBB chorus, orchestra, and soloists. Weininger's works are published through Personage Press and ArrangeMe. 

Now celebrating 30 years, Empire City Men's Chorus (ECMC) has resounded with the heartbeat of humanity, transcending the realm of a traditional choral ensemble to become a transformative movement. From its founding in 1993 as The Gay Gotham Chorus, ECMC has remained dedicated to giving back to the LGBTQ community, initially supporting AIDS-related healthcare services and evolving to fearlessly confront the pressing challenges of New York City’s at-risk individuals, making a resounding impact in the greater community.

Vince Peterson is a respected choral conductor, composer/arranger, and teacher of music in the United States. His 20-year hybrid career spans the worlds of choral music, theater, sacred music, and music education. He has, however, established himself most prominently in the world of choral music, notably having founded the "shape-shifting" vocal ensemble Choral Chameleon in 2008. Across his work, he is responsible for presenting nearly 300 premieres of new choral and theater music in the last 15 years and has won critical acclaim in The New York Times, Time Out New York, The New York Concert Review, I Care If You Listen, The Examiner, and other publications. He is also a recipient of the prestigious ASCAP/Chorus America Award for Adventurous Programming.

Vincent Kennedy is a composer and conductor from Dublin, Ireland, who received his earliest music education in CBS Westland Row, Dublin. He won the under 18 category in the Feis Ceoil national music competition at age 12, and two years later won the adult Feis Ceoil. He was performing trumpet with the National Symphony Orchestra by the age of 19, and holds a master’s degree from Dublin City University in humanities (music and composition). Kennedy’s life experiences have defined his musical purpose, and he describes it as thus; “Music has been a faithful friend: always there to uplift, distract, colour, and comfort. I write music to enrich life and take my inspiration from many sources and possibilities, like a bee using the nectar of different flowers to produce a unique honey.”

The RTÉ Concert Orchestra (Principal Guest Conductor Stephen Bell; Associate Principal Conductor Gavin Maloney; Associate Artist Guy Barker; Conductor Laureate Proinnsías Ó Duinn; Leader Mia Cooper) is part of RTÉ, Ireland’s national public service multimedia organization. Founded in 1948, the orchestra specializes in eclectic programming and has performed with Luciano Pavarotti, Lang Lang and Cleo Laine, and Irish artists, including Sinéad O’Connor and Imelda May. A recent series of 1990s dance music events won the IMRO radio Outstanding Achievement Award for 2018, and the RTÉ CO is now collaborating with Jenny Greene on a new set. The RTÉ CO has performed in seven Eurovision Song Contests and holds numeral film credits, including Stephen Rennicks’ score to Room and Brian Byrne’s Golden Globe-nominated score to Albert Nobbs.

Eric Marshall Price was born November 8, 1944 in Philadelphia PA. He was raised in Abington PA, and graduated from Abington High School in June, 1962. Not exposed to classical music during his childhood and adolescent years, Price’s desire to compose did not begin until his early college years, when a roommate with a massive classical record collection introduced him to classical music. Also interested in a career in Psychology and Medicine, Price pursued classical composition as a side gig. He studied under Donald Rappoport at Settlement Music School in Philadelphia for a number of years. Price’s first major classical piece, which he called his Student Sonata, (Piano Sonata #1 in A minor) came around his 36th birthday.

Anthony Wilson (b. 1962) developed a strong interest in music from an early age. He spent many hours at the piano as a child,  experimenting with various combinations of sound. His parents’ record player also provided the wonderful experience of being able to enjoy both the world of classical music and popular music.  

In a career of over 50 years, award-winning composer, pianist, and recording artist Margaret Brandman has followed her passion to create appealing music with strong melodic content, sensitive harmonies, and rhythmic ingenuity. Her output includes works for orchestra, chamber ensembles, choir, solo voice, and solo instruments, composed across a wide range of genres from Contemporary Classical to Jazz and Latin-American. 

Octavian Nemescu (1940-2020) was born in Pascani (Romania). He studied composition with Mihail Jora at the Conservatory of Music in Bucharest, obtained the Ph.D. in Musicology in 1978, at the Conservatory in Cluj, under the guidance of Sigismund Toduta. The title of his doctoral thesis was: “The Semantic Capacities Of Music,” published as a book, at Editura Muzicala Publishing House, Bucharest, 1983. He was an assistant and then lecturer at Brasov University (School of Music) between 1970-1978.

As a writer, producer, and director, Michael Roush has had a lengthy career in the development  of creative content for independent film and theater production. During his years in Colorado at Cherry Creek High School (a Grammy® Signature School), Roush was active in Performing Arts as a performer in Musical Theatre and Drama, as well as Choral, drawing upon a heavy Fine Arts course load which also included theory, composition, and music appreciation.