Artists

Francis Fairman (b. 1923) was born in Annapolis MD. Growing up in a musical family, his father played the violin, his mother the piano, his brother the trumpet, and his sister the violin, Fairman was exposed to music at an early age; he had his first piano lesson in Pittsburgh at the age of 5, and was soon able to sight read and play Beethoven's Sonata Pathetique Op. 13. At age 10, his family moved to Philadelphia, where he continued music lessons under Ms. Gertrude Hamilton, a Curtis Institute graduate.

A native of Manitowoc, WI - distinguished composer and pianist Allen Bonde is Professor Emeritus of Music at Mount Holyoke College. A graduate of Lawrence University Conservatory of Music, he has both the Master of Music and (the first) Doctor of Musical Arts degrees from the Catholic University of America. He has received many awards, honors, and commissions, notably a Festival Casals Scholarship, a Yale Graduate Fellowship, an American Composers Project, a Rockefeller Foundation Grant, and was recognized for his outstanding contributions in music with Alumni Achievement Awards from Lawrence University and Catholic University.

Neil Thornock was born in Washington State — the rural, agricultural side — in 1977. He received degrees in organ performance and composition from Brigham Young University and a Doctor of Music degree from Indiana University.

Karen Dreyfus has distinguished herself as a recipient of many prizes both in this country and abroad including the Naumburg Viola Competition (1982), the Lionel Tertis Competition (1980), the Washington International Competition (1979), and the Hudson Valley Competition (1978). Ms. Dreyfus has concertized extensively in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and South America. Some of her musical collaborations have been with Musicians From Marlboro, Philomusica, Theater Chamber Players of the Kennedy Center, the New York Philharmonic and the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.

Violinist Glenn Dicterow has established himself worldwide as one of the most prominent American concert artists of his generation. His extraordinary musical gifts became apparent at the age of 11 when he made his solo debut in Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto with the Los Angeles Philharmonic where his father, Harold Dicterow served as principal of the second violin section for 52 years.

London-born Nicholas Sackman (b. 1950) studied music at Nottingham University and then at Leeds University with Alexander Goehr. He spent fifteen years teaching music in schools before returning to the Music Department at Nottingham as a Lecturer in Composition.

Unabashedly tonal and delightfully anachronistic, the music of American composer Scott Michal combines lyric, harmonic and rhythmic ingenuity with exceptional craftsmanship in a unique stylistic manner that remains true to the spirit of the great masters. Neo-classic in form and tonality, innovative and original in content, Scott’s music is always fun to listen to, and fun to perform.

Composer and bassist Israel Neuman (b. 1966, Haifa, Israel) received a Ph.D. in composition and a M.A. in jazz studies at the University of Iowa, and a B.Mus. in jazz studies at the University of Hartford. He studied composition with Lawrence Fritts, John Eaton, David Gompper and John Rapson. He studied bass with Gary Karr, Michael Klinghoffer, Diana Gannett, Volkan Orhon, and Anthony Cox.

Michael Boyd (b. 1978, Montgomery County MD) is a composer, scholar and experimental improviser who currently serves as Assistant Professor of Music at Chatham University in Pittsburgh, PA. His music, performed throughout the United States, attempts to (re)integrate performers into the creative process of music making through graphic notation and embraces experimental practices such as live electronics, improvisation, installation, multimedia and performance art.

Jay C. Batzner (b. 1974, Dubuque IA) is currently on the faculty of Central Michigan University where he teaches music technology, electronic music composition, and music theory courses. Prior to this position Dr. Batzner was on the faculty of the University of Central Florida, Kansas City Kansas Community College, Metropolitan Community Colleges (Kansas City area), and Indiana University Southeast. He earned his doctorate in composition at the University of Missouri - Kansas City and holds degrees in composition and/or theory from the University of Louisville and the University of Kansas.

Michael Summers' music has harmonic richness, rhythmic flair, and a gift for melody. His works include lyrical string quartet movements, sexy 17th-century song settings and funk-inflected piano pieces. His organ piece Variations on an English Folksong, released by Navona in 2011, was described as 'urgently dramatic' by Gramophone and 'striking and ingenious' by Allmusic.com. Other keyboard works include Modus operandi for piano, which was first performed in 2010. One critic noted its 'subtle and complex rhythms and its impressionist language' and likened the style to Bartok and Debussy.

Tadd Russo (b. 1976, Parma, Ohio) received his master's degree in composition from The Ohio State University, where his principal instructor was Thomas Wells. Critic Ralph O'Dette has praised his lyrical gift, hailing his music for the theatre as memorable.

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.

Self-taught composer and pianist Brian Gillett was born in 1972 in Marietta, GA. His facility with extemporization colored his development as a composer, and an improvisatory character underlies many of his compositions.

A pianist who "can create whatever type of music he wants at the keyboard" (Chicago Sun-Times) and a composer who writes "with uncommon imagination" (Atlanta Journal-Constitution), James Adler's extensive list of compositions is headed by Memento mori: An AIDS Requiem.

Stephen Barber is an influential American voice with over 30 years of professional experience as a composer of concert and film music and an arranger, performer and producer for jazz, classical, popular and world music. From early beginnings in Abilene, Texas, his musical contributions encompass a varied list of the world's leading musicians and ensembles, including Joe Zawinul, Joe Henry, Keith Richards, Meridian Arts Ensemble, Ornette Coleman, T. Bone Burnett, Trakia (Bulgaria) folk ensemble, London Symphony Orchestra, Chamber players from the New York and Los Angeles Philharmonic, American Boys Choir and Czech Radio Orchestra, to name a few.

Christopher Shultis is a Regents' Professor of Music at the University of New Mexico. His early musical life was as a performer, specifically a percussionist and conductor specializing in the interpretation of experimental music. His first compositions were experimental in nature. Beginning with an exploration of sound and the world in which those sounds occur, Shultis's current work is an examination of self in that world and the sounds that he hears as a result are what he writes down.

Rebecca Oswald is an award-winning composer with many areas of experience and excellence. From 1980 to 1995 she was a freelance pianist, accompanist, keyboardist and studio musician in Houston, Texas. In 1998, she earned her BM in Music Theory and Composition summa cum laude from Westminster Choir College of Rider University and in 2001 she completed her MM in Composition from the University of Oregon School of Music. Today she is a composer, pianist, orchestrator, singer, arranger, and producer based out of Eugene, Oregon.

Professor Russ Lombardi performed on the fretless electric bass in various touring rock bands and resort jazz bands for several years before entering Berklee College of Music in Boston, where he graduated summa cum laude. Upon graduating, he taught music at the school for several years and later served as registrar of the college. He received his Master of Music degree in Jazz Studies with honors from Boston’s New England Conservatory studying composition and arranging with William Thomas McKinley and George Russell. Lombardi also taught music at Bowdoin College and The University of Maine at Farmington.

Patrick Beckman received his B.M. and M.M. in piano from the University of Illinois-Urbana. After graduation he became Artist-in-Residence at Highland College in Illinois where he later headed the music department. He has also taught at Rockford College. Beckman's works for piano include the albums Songs for Piano (1981); Biscuit Alley (1984); Street Psalms (1985); and Spring Chants (1987). Past CDs include Earth Day Sonata (1992); Piano Pieces (1997); Tavern Tunes (2003); American Scenes Vol. 1 (2006); American Scenes Vol. II (2007) and Street Dance (2008, produced by Bob Lord).