Artists

Philippe Kocher (born 1973) is a musician, composer and researcher. He studied piano, electroacoustic music, music theory, composition and musicology in Zurich, Basel, London and Bern. He is a lecturer for music theory, composition, and computer music at the Zurich University of the Arts. He is also affiliated with the Institute for Computer Music and Sound Technology (ICST) in Zurich.

Herbert Deutsch was a composer, author, educator, and performer, and was Professor of Music at Hofstra University for 57 years. He is a composer of music in various media and his work has been widely performed, and commissioned works have been featured at national and regional conferences. In 1972, Deutsch co-founded the Long Island Composers Alliance. During his career at Hofstra, he founded Jazz Ensemble, Electronic Music Studios, New Music Ensemble, and created the B.S. Degree programs in Jazz, Composition/Theory and Music Business. He received the George Estabrook Distinguished Alumni Award in 1996 and the Hofstra Alumni Achievement Award in 2001. The Music Department has established the Herbert Deutsch Award for highest honors in Music Education.

Corrina Bonshek (b. 1977) is an Australian composer who is inspired by sounds and patterns in nature and our cosmic existence. Her music has been described as “beautifully shaped and contemplative” (Clare MacClean, 2013), “deeply spiritual in intent” (Anne Boyd, 2002), and “connected to the essence of South-East Asian music – timelessness” (Chinary Ung, 2014).

Born in Hartford, Connecticut (1946), Jane O'Leary studied piano from an early age,graduated from Vassar College and completed a PhD in composition at Princeton University, where she studied with Milton Babbitt among others. In 1972 she moved to Ireland and has made her home in Galway on the west coast. A founding member of Aosdána, Ireland's state-sponsored academy of creative artists, she was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Music Degree by the National University of Ireland in 2007.

Antoinette Perry, born into a family of professional musicians, gave her first public performance at the age of 4. Since then she has concertized extensively throughout the United States, Germany, France, England, and in over 15 cities of the People’s Republic of China. She has been heard often on NPR and the Bravo! Channel, and has recorded for the Crystal, Harmonie, Pacific Rainbow, Pacific Serenades, Excelsior, and Navona labels. Her first solo album, BEETHOVEN BOOKENDS, was released under Navona Records in 2021.

Known for his joyful spirit and praised for his “clear, expressive playing,” “mature display of pyrotechnics,” and “seasoned artistry,” pianist Richard Fountain has steadily garnered recognition for his versatile abilities as soloist, collaborator, teacher, and conductor. Fountain’s diverse repertoire includes Bernstein’s Age of Anxiety and concertos by MacDowell, Shostakovich, and Philip Glass, in addition to thoughtfully programmed solo recitals and extensive experience as a collaborator. He is especially noted for performing the complete cycle of Franz Liszt’s monumental transcriptions of Beethoven’s nine symphonies.

Semir “Sammy” HASIĆ (b. 1964) began playing music at the age of 6. He attended music school in Zenica and studied theoretical and pedagogical direction under professor Vinko Kreitmeyer in Sarajevo, eventually completing his studies of composition and conducting in Würzburg where he became professor of composition and conducting.

Australian composer George Palmer (b.1947) studied piano with several eminent teachers and has been composing since he was a teenager. However, he graduated in law, practiced as a barrister, and in 2001 was appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. He retired as a Judge in 2011 to devote himself entirely to composition.

Athenia Trio presents multimedia, interactive performances that feature flute, oboe, and bassoon. Athenia is a faculty ensemble at Ohio University in Athens. Founding members Alison Brown Sincoff (flute), Michele Fiala (oboe), and Matthew Morris (bassoon) have collectively performed in the United States, Canada, Italy, Germany, England, France, Russia, Japan, Panama, and Argentina. The trio was formed in 2009 and has performed across the United States from coast to coast and in Italy.

From humble beginnings (a haphazard recreational night of singing in a practice room of New England Conservatory in Boston MA), Renaissance Men has emerged as one of the most exciting and vital professional male vocal chamber ensembles in America, having been called the “East Coast answer to Chanticleer” [Cinemusical].

DANIEL ADAMS (b. 1956, Miami FL) is a Professor of Music at Texas Southern University in Houston. Adams holds a Doctor of Musical Arts (1985) from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a Master of Music from the University of Miami (1981) and a Bachelor of Music from Louisiana State University (1978). He served as the College Music Society Board Member for Composition from 2015 through 2017.

Serbian accordionist Jovica Ivanović was born in 1987 in Zvornik, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Within the pedagogical field he accomplished his diploma of Musical Education (ME) as well as his master in art-based education (KA) at the Hanover University of Music, Drama, and Media in Germany, studying accordion. During his time at university, Ivanović earned prestigious scholarships such as the Yehudi Menuhin Live Music Now Award and the Germany Scholarship.

Antonija Pacek is a composer and pianist who lives in Vienna, Austria. She started with piano lessons at the age of six in her native Croatia. Antonija’s critically acclaimed, debut neoclassical piano album, Soul Colours, was published in 2014 by Autentico Music in Germany and was signed by Warner Chappell, the music publishing arm of Warner Music.

Dayton Kinney creates music that has won and has been recognized at numerous competitions at the national and international level. Performed in the U.S. and abroad, Kinney’s music concentrates on “transforming the circle… into a spiral.” Through this notion, Kinney explores the limits of ambiguity in thematic material, accessibility, harmony, and form with the goal of striking a balance between the certainty of a circle and the ambiguity of a spiral. Her eclectic style is inspired by juxtapositions and accessibility, exploring the concept of tonal ambiguity through patterns, sectional comparisons, and repetition.

For Gregory Harris, the process of becoming a composer was one of absorption. By opening himself to soak up an unbounded array of sounds, influences, and genres -- a process he began formally at age 6, with piano lessons at his grandfather’s bench -- he has lived a life of near-constant immersion in music. His childhood years of youth orchestras, jazz band, chamber music and piano recitals led to writing music for some of the small ensembles he played with. The first time he heard one of those ensembles play a piece of his music, the experience supercharged his passion for composition.

Since he first encountered a piano, Roger does not just play on it but branches out himself into different music activities.

Daniel Burwasser, born in New Brunswick NJ, is an American composer who has been writing and playing music since the age of 5. Originally a student of the piano, he eventually progressed to other forms of percussion, including drum set and orchestral percussion. He received his Bachelor’s degree from Temple University, a Master of Arts degree from Rutgers University, and his Ph.D. in Composition from the Graduate School of CUNY. He is a recipient of grants from both The American Music Center and Meet the Composer.

After successes in several important international competitions for conductors — including the competition in Besancon France in 1971 and the Karajan Competition in Berlin in 1973 — his career began at the opera company in Pilsen. From 1974 to 1978, he was Chief of Opera of the State Theater in Usti nad Labem, Czech Republic. In 1978, he was appointed Chief Conductor of the Brno Philharmonic Orchestra, a position he held until 1991. Vronsky was later appointed Chief Conductor of the Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra Ostrava in 2002.

Shuying Li believes that music has the innate power to promote cultural diversity by connecting people through universally human passions and values. This belief has led to widespread interest and performances by Seattle Symphony, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, New Jersey Symphony, Argus Quartet, Orkest de ereprijs (Netherlands), Avanti! Chamber Orchestra (Finland), ICon Arts Ensemble (Romania), Cecilia Quartet (Canada), Opera From Scratch (Canada), and Donald Sinta Quartet, among others.

Eric Simonson's music has been heard in concerts across North America, including SEAMUS (Society of Electroacoustic Music in the United States), ICMC (International Computer Music Conference) and SCI (Society of Composers Incorporated) performances.