Artists

Joel Gressel (b. Cleveland, 1943) received a B.A. from Brandeis University and a Ph.D. in music composition from Princeton University.  He studied composition with Martin Boykan and Milton Babbitt, and computer music with Godfrey Winham and J.K. Randall.  His computer music has been recorded on the Odyssey,  CRI, and American Composers Edition labels.  He currently lives in New York and works as a computer programmer, maintaining and extending software that models tax-exempt housing-bond cash flows.

The McCormick Percussion Group is recognized by critics and composers throughout the world for their unique recordings and interpretations of music decidedly outside of the mainstream. MPG often collaborates with other non-percussion musicians to explore and develop new trends of compositional thought. Among the most recorded ensembles of the genre, MPG has recorded many award winning albums for Ravello Records (dist. by Naxos). To ensure the original intent of each work, composers are often invited to rehearse with the ensemble and supervise recording sessions. Under the direction of Robert McCormick, MPG is a resident ensemble at the University of South Florida in Tampa.

Rachel Lee Guthrie was born on November 3, 1979 in Des Moines IA. From an early age, she played the piano by ear and resisted formal lessons until the age of fourteen when she began studying with various college-level instructors. In 2004, Guthrie earned a degree in piano pedagogy from Drake University, graduating cum laude. Her passion has always been for Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and Impressionist masters, and she has composed a number of new pieces in the classical tradition as well as works in a contemporary style.

Yoko Hagino was born and raised in Japan, where she began her piano studies at the age of 4. As a child, she performed her own compositions, which took her to Europe and the United States, including performances as a concert soloist with the Czech Symphony, the University of Southern California Symphony, Kyoto City Symphony, and Ensemble Orchestra Kanazawa. Hagino has appeared as a soloist with Osaka Century Orchestra, UMass Boston Chamber Orchestra, Key West Symphony Orchestra, White Rabbit Sinfonietta, and has also performed various piano recitals ranging from the music of Bach to contemporary repertoire. Hagino is a prize winner of the Steinway Society Piano Competition, the First International Chamber Music Competition, the All-Japan Selective Competition of the International Mozart Competition, and Chamber Music Competition of Japan.

Graham Hair divides his time between Scotland and Australia with frequent visits to the United States. In Scotland he is Professor Emeritus (formerly Gardiner Chair in Music) of Glasgow University's Music Department and a Research Fellow of its Centre for Music Technology (Department of Electronics and Electrical Engineering). Recent visits to the US include several 2003-2007 to Radford University and to Boston College. In Australia, he has been Adjunct Professor at Monash University in Melbourne 1999-2005, and at the Australian National University in Canberra since 2006.

Gregory Hall (b. 1959) was born in San Francisco, CA. He holds a B.A. degree in Music from the University of California, Santa Barbara (1982), completing studies with Emma Lou Diemer and Peter Racine Fricker, and a Diploma degree in Composition from the Curtis Institute of Music, Philadelphia, PA (1986), where he studied with Ned Rorem. In 2000 he was elected to the membership of the American Composers Alliance (ACA). His works are published by the ACA. He is a Fellow of the Ucross Foundation, a member of the American Composers Forum, and the American Music Center. He is the recipient of numerous commissions.

Jeffrey John Hall, a composer residing in Tucson AZ, was born in Milwaukee WI on May 22, 1941. His education includes both M.A. and D.M.A. degrees from Columbia University. He has written works for computer sound, voice, chamber ensembles, piano, and chamber orchestra. He has held resident fellowships at The Composers' Conference, Yaddo, and The Hambidge Center. His grants include a grant of computer time at Princeton University from 1980 to 1982, where he worked with Paul Lansky, as well as four grants from "Meet the Composer."

Kim Halliday (b. 1961) is an accomplished composer with a wide experience of writing music for film, television, theatre, multimedia and concert stage. His work includes scores for feature films, short films, documentaries and television, as well as pieces for multi-media, Internet and live performance.

Bruce Hamilton composes and performs music in a variety of genres. He is a Professor of Music at Western Washington University, where he teaches composition, theory, and directs the electroacoustic music program. He received his DM from Indiana University, and has performed as a percussionist, improviser, and electronic musician for over 20 years. His music is published by Non Sequitur Music and can be heard on the Albany, Memex, P'hill, SEAMUS, and Mark labels. Hamilton has received honors, awards and commissions from ALEA Ill, AMC, ASCAP, PAS, Barlow Endowment, Carbondale Community Arts, Indiana University, Jerome Foundation, National Society of Arts and Letters, Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, Whatcom Symphony, Russolo-Pratella Foundation, and SEAMUS.

Jason Haney's music has been performed in the US, Canada, the UK and China; at the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, the Scotia Festival in Halifax, New Music Miami, Music2000 in Cincinnati, the Staunton Music Festival, Richmond's ChamberFest, the Composers Inc. concert series in San Francisco, and by groups such as the Chester Quartet, the Sunrise Quartet and the New Millennium Ensemble. He has won awards and honors from the National Association of Composers USA, ASCAP, the Music Teachers' National Association, and first prize in the Washington International Competition, among others. He teaches composition and music theory at James Madison University.

Joshua Harris holds degrees in music composition from Appalachian State University, Brigham Young University, and a Ph.D. from the University of North Texas. He began his career teaching high school band and choir before turning to composition full time. He is currently on the music faculty at Sweet Briar College in central Virginia. Previously he taught at Southeastern Oklahoma State University (2012-13), the University of North Texas (2009-2012), and Brigham Young University (2006-08).

Mara Helmuth has been enthusiastically involved with electronic and computer music composition and research for decades. Recent works include Racket Routes, for eight-channel audio, based on tennis sounds, Opening Spaces, for video, based on a Menger sponge model, Cold Brew, a graphic score for flute, clarinet, and fixed media based on the coffee genome, Onsen: Hot Springs, for vibraphone and fixed media, and Tranquilarea, for virtual reality installation. She is currently Professor of Composition at College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati and director of its Center for Computer Music, where she developed a program of courses in computer music.

Dr. Lee Hinkle’s percussion playing has been called “rock-steady” by the Washington Post. He is the principal percussionist with the 21st Century Consort and he made his Carnegie Hall solo debut in 2014 as a concerto soloist. Hinkle’s other notable performances have included the National Symphony, Columbus Symphony, and American Institute for Musical Studies Orchestra (Graz, Austria) as well as national U.S. tours with Bebe Neuwirth, Bernadette Peters, and the American Wind Symphony Orchestra. He has performed as a soloist at three Percussive Arts Society International Conventions and is an active commissioner and curator of contemporary music for percussion.

Juliana Hodkinson’s practice moves within experimental music and sound art genres, and her works range from intimate chamber and object pieces through hybrid formats to larger electroacoustic and orchestral productions. Commissions include All around (BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra), Angel View (Spor Festival/Scenatet/Berliner Festspiele), Ground View (Ensemble Mosaik), Hauch and Ready for ecstasy (Neue Vocalsolisten), Can modify completely (WDR Sinfonieorchester), Turbulence (Chamber Made Opera), Lightness (Speak Percussion) and something in capitals (Phønix16).

Eric Honour has developed an international reputation as a composer, saxophonist, and audio engineer. A member of the Athens Saxophone Quartet, he performs regularly throughout Europe and the United States, and has presented lectures and master classes at many leading institutions.

Hubert Howe was born in Portland, Oregon and grew up in Los Angeles, California, where he began his musical studies as an oboist. He was educated at Princeton University, where he studied with J. K. Randall, Godfrey Winham and Milton Babbitt, and from which he received the A.B., M.F.A. and Ph.D. degrees. He was one of the first researchers in computer music, and became Professor of Music and Director of the Electronic Music studios at Queens College of the City University of New York. He also taught at the Juilliard School from 1974 through 1994. In 1988-89 he held the Endowed Chair in Music at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa. From 1989 to 1998, 2001 to 2002, and Fall 2007, he was Director of the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College.

Elaine Huckle's (b. 1947) first singing efforts took place at her local church when she was 7 years of age, where she sang "O Come all ye faithful" as a solo. Her parents walked home in disbelief, newly aware that their daughter could sing rather well.

Maija Hynninen (b. 1977) — composer and sound artist — works in concert music, electronic instrument design, and multidisciplinary performances. The essence of her music builds on the unique moments where the parameters of this world are slightly altered to allow a glimpse of another reality to be present. It can be a moment where the timbre of purely acoustical writing gives surprising results or when electronics project sound into another domain, space, and reality.

John K. Leupold, II is an Annapolis, MD based composer and percussionist whose music combines a wide variety of influences including popular music and world music with a deep grounding in classical forms and traditions. His music often centers on rhythm and utilizes elements of minimalist textures. While often not explicitly stated, Leupold's works often communicate a narrative left up to the listener to decipher. The Washington Post described his music as "an imaginative exploration of instrumental timbres and ranges impelled by repetitive melodic figures." His works have been performed by such groups as Inscape Chamber Orchestra, the Left Bank Quartet, and Capital Reeds.

Barbara Jazwinski studied composition and theory at the Fryderyk Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw, Poland. She received her M.A. degree in composition and piano from Stanford University and her Ph.D. in composition from the City University of New York. Her teachers included Mario Davidovsky, Andrzej Dobrowolski, Gyorgy Ligeti and John Chowning.