John A. Carollo was born in Torino Italy and brought to the United States by his adoptive parents. When he was in grade school, he studied classical piano and sang in the church choir. He attended college in San Diego CA, studying music and psychology. During this time, John took piano lessons and began composing his first piano works. He graduated from San Diego State University with a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology.

Carollo moved to Honolulu and began a full-time mental health career for the State of Hawaii and started private composition lessons with Dr. Robert Wehrman. His first composition under Wehrman's tutelage was a piano suite in six parts. Following this effort, Wehrman encouraged Carollo to compose an atonal work in 1998 entitled Frenetic Unfoldings for Solo Violin. After completing this large work, the composer focused his energies on compositions incorporating various instrumentations including trios, quartets, and orchestral works.

Carollo quit his public servant job to compose full-time in 2006. He also writes poetry and collects art, including the books and ephemera of Edward Gorey, which has been a lifetime hobby.

johncarollocomposer.com

John Dante Prevedini (b. 1987) is a composer, educator, and public speaker hailing from Connecticut and active throughout Southern New England. Drawing upon a variety of fields of knowledge (including linguistics, the fine arts, the physical sciences, religion, and philosophy), his work aims to examine unconventional facets of everyday life through a multidisciplinary lens.

His output of over 130 musical compositions includes symphonies, choral music, solo piano music, chamber music, and operas dealing with such diverse topics as the natural environment, contemporary religious politics, and the cultural impact of social media. His public talks have covered subjects including the problem of original thinking, the role of music as a multicultural force, and how the 17th century continues to shape the future of music. His academic research has produced studies on 17th-century harmony, music composition pedagogy at the elementary school level, and the contemporary role of traditional music in the Republic of Georgia.

Dr. Prevedini holds a DMA from the University of Hartford Hartt School (in composition with minors in history and theory), an MM in composition from the University of Rhode Island, an MBA from Salve Regina University, and a BA from Connecticut College with a triple major in Music, East Asian Studies, and BCMB (Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology).

prevedini.com

Willem van Twillert (The Netherlands, b. 1952) studied the organ and piano at the Regional Music School in Amersfoort with Henk Seldenthuis. Starting in 1970, he studied the organ, improvisation, and composition at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam with Piet Kee and piano with Willem Brons. In 1975 he commenced a 3-year course of orchestral conducting studies with the Dutch orchestra conductor Anton Kersjes. In 1979, he obtained a diploma for Church Music and Performing Musician Cum Laude, with a teaching-endorsement for improvisation. A scholarship afforded him the opportunity to specialize in historic music between 1978 and 1981, including studies with Gustav Leonhardt (organ). In 1976, van Twillert was the first Dutch organist to reach the final of the 'Grand Prix de Chartres' in France.

Van Twillert is known internationally for his recordings of little-known organ music. In 1979, Van Twillert was appointed organist for the Johanneskerk in Amersfoort. From 1976 until 2003, van Twillert was the owner-director of a private music school in Bunschoten, and he taught organ at the municipal academy of music in Zwolle between 1980 and 1988. In 2000, 2003, 2004, and 2014, he was invited to act as a jury member for the amateur organ competition of the Trust 'Groningen Orgelland.' Van Twillert has composed many psalm and choral arrangements. In Germany, his Toccata‚ 'Thine be the Glory’ in the Romantic Style, was published by Dr. J. Butz. Since 2006 he has also been creating compositions for orchestras and various ensembles including choirs, while studying composition with Henk Alkema. In 2005, van Twillert won the second prize and the audience prize at the 'Hinsz Composition Competition 2005' at the Bovenkerk in Kampen, with his 'Toccata a la Chaconne' for the Organ.

During the Polish International Composers Competition in Mikołów in 2007, van Twillert won an honorary award with his 'Sequence for Choir and Organ.' In 2008, he won the PRIX GASTON LITAIZE for the organ composition PAR LE TEMPS at the Concours de Composition 2008 de la Fondation pour la Musique Comminges, France.

willemvantwillert.nl

Robert E. Thomas (b. 1971) is an active composer, teacher, and scholar whose music has been presented around the United States and overseas. Working in both electronic and acoustic mediums for instrumentation ranging from solo works to large orchestra, his main compositional interest is working with layered structures. His music has been performed by ACME (the American Contemporary Music Ensemble), Composer's Chamber Ensemble, Contemporary Chamber Players, HELIX! Ensemble, Ionisation, Nodes Performing Arts, and Tony Oliver.

Currently teaching a variety of courses at Syracuse University, The College of Saint Rose, and Union College, he also founded, directs, and performs with The College of Saint Rose New Music Ensemble. In addition to composition and teaching activities he works as a music copyist and a church musician, and is always on the lookout for a good cup of coffee.

Photo Credit: Angela Pritchett

retmusic.com

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. Adams is the composer of numerous published musical compositions and the author of many articles and reviews on topics related to 20th-century percussion music, music pedagogy, and the music of Texas.  His book entitled “The Solo Snare Drum” was published in 2000. He also contributed two entries published in 2009 in the Oxford Encyclopedia of African-American History: 1896 to the Present and has authored a revision of the Miami FL entry for the Grove Dictionary of American Music. Adams has served as a panelist and lecturer nationally and internationally. He has received commissions from The McCormick Percussion Group, The McCormick Duo, The Gulf Coast Community Band, The Leechburg (PA) High School Percussion Ensemble, the Louisiana State University Percussion Ensemble, the EOS flute and guitar duo, VioLet, Lee Hinkle, Richard Nunemaker Studios, Selmer Paris, Buffet Crampon, and D’Addario Woodwinds. Adams’s music has been performed throughout the United States, and in Spain, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, Finland, Costa Rica, Turkey, Argentina, Bulgaria, Canada, Australia, Great Britain, and South Korea. His music is recorded on Capstone Records, Ravello Records, Potenza, Albany, and Summit Records.

danieladamscomposer.com