Composers

Paul Paccione was born in New York City in 1952. Paccione’s love of the popular music of the 1950's and 1960’s awakened his initial musical interests. He studied classical guitar and music theory at the Mannes College of Music (B.M. 1974). While at Mannes, he was influenced by composer Eric Richards to begin composition study.

Iowa-born composer Marilyn Bliss has written many widely performed orchestral, chamber, and solo works. She received her B.M. degree in composition, flute, and voice at Coe College in Cedar Rapids IA, and did her graduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania and the City University of New York. Her composition teachers included such distinguished composers as George Crumb, George Rochberg, Jacob Druckman, Jerry Owen, and Harvey Sollberger. 

Native Floridian Henry Wolking (1948) is a composer, trombonist, conductor, teacher, and author. He completed his Bachelor Degree in music education from the University of Florida, and Master of Music in Composition at the University of North Texas in 1971. At the age of 24, he began his teaching career as head of the jazz area at the University of Utah. He retired in 2011 and is a University Professor Emeritus Of Music. He is the recipient of the 2018 School of Music Camerata Award, which celebrates the contributions of musicians and patrons of the arts to the University of Utah and broader community. He maintains a busy schedule of writing and arranging for classical and jazz groups. There are currently over 75 of his jazz works in the Walrus/EJazzlines online catalog.

David F. Wilborn has emerged as an internationally acclaimed composer, trombonist, conductor, and music educator. He is an award-winning composer whose compositions are enjoyed for their creative use of rhythmic development and innovative musical style. Occasionally, these features intersect with passages of main-stream jazz or Latin jazz, thus making his music accessible to many listeners and performers. Overall, his style may be regarded as contemporary classical while borrowing from traditional music forms.

Originally from the Washington DC area, Edward “Ted” Messerschmidt is a versatile musician who has been recognized in national contests in composition, conducting, and trombone performance. His original compositions, published by Cimarron Music Press and Warwick Music Publishing, have been performed in the United States, Europe, and South America by musicians and ensembles including Andy Akiho, Joseph Bello, Charley Brighton, Ruthanne Schempf, Patrick Smith, Harry Watters, the Luftwaffenmusikkorps Erfurt (forthcoming), and the United States Army Orchestra.

Sophie Dupuis (b.1988) is a francophone composer from New Brunswick, Canada, interested in acoustic, electroacoustic, vocal, and interdisciplinary art music. She finds her inspiration in the picturesque scenery of the Maritimes where she grew up, as well as in various performance and visual art forms. Her work has been commissioned and performed by soloists and groups including Duo Holz, Made in Trio, Din of Shadows, Ballet-Opéra-Pantomime, Thin Edge New Music Collective, ECM+, the Naden Band of the Royal Canadian Navy, Quasar saxophone quartet, and Esprit Orchestra.

William Toutant was born in Worcester MA. He received his B.A. and M.A. from George Washington University and his Ph.D. in music theory and composition from Michigan State University. He joined the music faculty of California State University, Northridge in 1975. During the next 38 years he not only taught in the Department of Music, but he also served in a variety of administrative positions including Dean of the Mike Curb College of Arts, Media, and Communication.

Michael M. Lee is a composer and teacher with a background in composition, theory, post-tonal analysis, and musicianship, and is a graduate of the U.S.C. Thornton School of Music (D.M.A.), Juilliard (M.M.), and Eastman (B.M.). Born in Atlanta GA, and raised in Maryland, he was first introduced to classical music through the trumpet. He can play the piano and took several private lessons in classical guitar at the Peabody Institute in Maryland before starting his bachelor's degree in composition. His music can be heard on Spotify and Apple Music and purchased on iTunes, Naxos, or Amazon. He is currently residing and teaching in Southern California.

Keith Kramer is a composer of over 40 works for orchestra, chamber ensembles, solo instruments and electronic media. Keith Kramer's music is at times subtle and restrained, and other times ferocious and demanding. Always searching for new modes of expression, each piece that Keith composes represents another facet of a continuous journey of discovery. Keith’s music has also been performed and recorded by the Slovak National Symphony Orchestra, the Moravian Philharmonic Orchestra, David Taylor, Leonard Garrison and many others.

Timothy Kramer’s music reflects his fascination with motivic patterns, cyclical relationships, and musical gestures that unfold in a variety of changing speeds and textures. Originally from Washington State, Kramer (b. 1959) began playing the piano at an early age, and, although trained as a pianist, organist, and harpsichordist, he spent many years as a youth playing bass guitar in jazz and rock ensembles. His music reflects this influence, and he sometimes integrates various aspects of American popular music into his pieces.

Malcolm Dedman was born in London, England, on November 3, 1948. Fascinated at an early age by his mother’s piano playing, she taught him to play when he was around 5 years of age. Once Dedman had a basic understanding, he found himself improvising alongside his regular practice. By the age of 12, he realized that he wanted to write some of these ideas down, so this became the starting point to his career as a composer.

Robyn Jacob is a pianist, singer, composer and educator who lives and works on the unceded territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm and Səl’il’wətaʔ Nations, also known as Vancouver. She has toured Canada and internationally with her avant-pop project Only A Visitor, who have released four albums to date, recently signing on with Mint Records. Her recent composition projects include commissions by Third Coast Percussion, So Percussion, Chor Leoni, Re:Naissance Opera, and Little Chamber Music. Her work often explores writing for unusual ensembles, as well as collaborations with visual artists and instrument makers.

Randy Bauer's works have been performed across the United States and Europe by members of the Minnesota and St. Paul Chamber Orchestras, the Brentano String Quartet, eighth blackbird, Nash Ensemble of London, Zeitgeist, and many others, and has been broadcast on WFMT Chicago and Minnesota Public Radio. He has been a McKnight Foundation Fellow, and a resident artist at Yaddo, the Ucross Foundation, and the Atlantic Center for the Arts. He holds degrees from the Peabody Conservatory and Princeton University, and is on the faculty of Macalester College in St. Paul MN.

Ahmed Alabaca is an African American composer, conductor, songwriter, pianist, and community facilitator creating power and possibility, through music, for himself and the diverse communities he is a part of. Raised in San Bernardino CA, in a low-income community, Alabaca knows the value of hard work and perseverance in the face of systemic and interpersonal challenges. Alabaca’s vision is “a new renaissance” for underrepresented composers, which centers on the works of people of color and creates opportunities for them to perform, record, and archive their work.

Gary Smart’s career has encompassed a wide range of activities as composer, classical and jazz pianist, and teacher. Always a musician with varied interests, he may be the only pianist to have studied with Yale scholar/keyboardist Ralph Kirkpatrick, the great Cuban virtuoso Jorge Bolet, and the master jazz pianist Oscar Peterson. A true American pluralist, Smart composes and improvises music that reflects an abiding interest in Americana, jazz, and world music, as well as the Western classical tradition.

Paul Kopetz is an award-winning composer and a multi-instrumentalist, arranger, conductor, and teacher. He is a graduate of The University of Melbourne, The Victorian College of the Arts, The Rotterdam Conservatorium, and Monash University. His works have been performed in the United States, Asia, Europe, and Australia. Kopetz’s music has been described as “a highly emotive and colorful mix of polystylistic soundscapes where Contemporary Classical forms provide a flexible springboard for personal journeys of reflection, social commentary, explorations of the natural world and above all artistic integrity.”

Brian Latchem is an English composer who was born in Bath and started to learn the piano at the age of 5. He comes from a musical family with both parents, grandparents, and great grandparents playing a variety of musical instruments. He trained to be a music teacher and started his career in Felixstowe, where he taught Music and Drama to pupils aged 11 to 14. In 1972 he moved to a new school to become responsible for music, teaching children from 5 to 11.

James Shrader is a composer, conductor, author, and retired academic administrator. He holds degrees from Bradley University (Music Education), The Cleveland Institute of Music (Opera Direction), and Texas Tech University (Fine Arts/Conducting). He was Director of Music and Fine Arts at The First Baptist Church of Greater Cleveland, Associate Director of Choral Activities at Texas Tech and Oklahoma State Universities, Chair of the Music Department and Director of Choral and Opera Studies at Northwestern Oklahoma State University, and Head of the Department of Music at Valdosta State University. He was Chorus Master for Tulsa Opera where he prepared nine productions.

A great artist can manifest answers to otherwise perplexing aspects of our world through their craft and help us find understanding. Composer, author, and long-time PARMA artist Michael G. Cunningham (1937-2022) was the embodiment of this truth, a prolific artist whose timeless body of work will resonate for years to come. From symphonies and other orchestral works to piano pieces, art songs, opera, choral compositions, and works for jazz ensembles spanning 11 Navona Records releases, Cunningham showed an unwavering dedication to sharing his music with the world. Upon receiving his doctorate from Indiana University, Cunningham embarked on an artistic journey that would lead him to write over 250 musical compositions spanning multiple genres, pedagogical music books, and more.

Kim Diehnelt (b. 1963) is compelled to create beauty through her work as a conductor, composer, and artistic coach. Trained in the United States and Europe, Kim Diehnelt established her musical crafts in Finland and Switzerland, leading Baltic, Russian, and European ensembles. Trained in the United States and Europe, Kim Diehnelt established her musical crafts in Finland and Switzerland, leading Baltic, Russian, and European ensembles. She currently resides in Burlington VT. Diehnelt has been composing works for solo instruments, chamber, orchestral and choral ensembles since 2011 when, after decades on the conductor’s podium, she “suddenly had something to say.”