The 2021 Program Fellows
Leah Ofman (2021 Ruth Crawford Seeger Award)Leah Ofman is a composer and vocalist originally from San Francisco, CA and usually based in New York. She holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Theory and Composition and a minor in Philosophy from New York University, where she studied composition under Caroline Shaw and Justin Dello Joio. She studied composition and orchestration in Paris under Michel Merlet. Her music centers around language, words, and philosophy, and has been performed by ensembles including the American Modern Ensemble, and Heartland Marimba Quartet, at such venues as Frederick Loewe Theater in New York, the First Congregational Church of Los Angeles, and the Bill Graham Auditorium in San Francisco. She is a dedicated chorister, having sung in choirs including the San Francisco Girls Chorus (for around ten years!) and C4: the Choral Composer-Conductor Collective. She studies voice with Gudrun Buhler and Holly Pyle. When she is not composing or singing, Leah can be found reading, doing yoga or pilates, dancing badly, laughing excessively at something that’s not that funny, or getting coffee with friends.
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Daniel De Togni (2021 Leslie Bassett Graduate Award)Daniel De Togni was born in St. Louis (1993), grew up in Arkansas, and is a composer currently living in the beautiful state of Oregon. His works have been performed by the Berkeley Symphony Orchestra, the Julius String Quartet, Hypercube, and the Delgani String Quartet, among others. His works have also been performed in Japan, Taiwan, at June in Buffalo, the Hot Air Music Festival in San Francisco, New Music on the Point, Bowdoin International Music Festival, the American Music Festival, the UNK New Music Festival, as well as throughout the United States. In November of 2020, Daniel's music was featured on NPR's Arts & Letters with J. Bradley Minnick, in a feature regarding a multi-media collaboration with poet and visual artist Terry Wright, in which they discuss their interdisciplinary project Iterations: 4 Pieces for Narrator, Oboe and Piano. His compositional style has been praised for its breadth and his ability to integrate a variety of soundworlds and influences into his music. Drawing from his Japanese and Italian heritage, Daniel's music is that of cross-pollination between genres and styles, and the exploration of sonic environments and the musical organisms that dwell in them. His focus is that of creating emotionally moving, auditory experiences for the listener.
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Katie Hedrick (2021 David Stock Undergraduate Award)Katie Hedrick is a composer and violist studying music composition and world music at West Virginia University. In her home town of Wheeling, West Virginia, her passion started building by playing in string quartets, all state orchestra, and musical pits, as well as arranging and playing for church and wedding services. After being selected for West Virginia Governor's School for the Arts, a passion for creating original music and appreciating people and their art was solidified. This love has driven music that paints scenes of today and draws from Katie' surroundings. Her music ranges from works for solo instruments, electroacoustic, chamber ensembles, world music, and orchestra. At WVU, she studies composition with Dr. Matthew Heap and Dr. David Taddie, and studies world music with Dr. Michael Vercelli. her piece, Compact Spaces, for violin, viola, and cello that was written for Connecticut Summerfest 2020 and performed by the International Contemporary Ensemble. Her next ventures include graduate school and the Alba Music Festival. When not composing, she can be found at a local coffee shop, streaming to twitch, and listening to Day6.
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Garrett Fuller (2020 David Stock Undergraduate Award, Program Alum)Garrett Fuller is a currently finishing his last semester at Georgia State University, majoring in music composition. He is originally from McDonough, Georgia and currently resides in Atlanta. At a young age Garrett knew he had a passion for music. He started playing trumpet in middle school and has continued to this day where he is a member of the premier wind ensemble at Georgia State University. He began composing in high school and has been working on his craft for the past five years. In that time he has come from writing short melodies for him and his friends to play on the trumpet to composing music for brass ensemble, wind band, and even the Georgia State University Panther Marching Band. He has a passion for trying new and ambitious things compositionally while striving to infuse as much passion and intensity he can into his pieces. A few notable compositions include Elision for horn and piano, Persisting Fear for woodwind trio, and the Rose a full wind band piece. His first string quartet will be premiered this spring at his senior composition recital. He is eager to improve his composition skills and continue to push the boundaries of modern day music.
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Mattia Maurée (2021 William Thomas McKinley Scholarship)An interdisciplinary composer, Mattia Maurée (b. 1987) makes art that explores perception, bodies, sensation, trauma, and resilience. Their scores in critically acclaimed films have played in thirteen countries, and Thorns won Best Score Short at GenreBlast in 2020. They were a finalist in the Mass Cultural Council 2019 Artistic Fellowships Program in music composition, and had poems selected for installation in Boston City Hall as part of the 2019, 2020, and 2021 Mayor's Poetry Program. Collaboration, community, and education are core to Mattia's work. They perform on their primary instruments—violin, voice, and piano—and also teach at WholeTone Music Academy. Public-facing art projects and collaborations have received generous support from The Emerald Necklace Conservancy, MASS MoCA, and the Mayor's Office of Arts and Culture. As part of the New Leader's Council Boston cohort of 2020, they learned practical skills for progressive leadership, and currently serve on the board. Mattia received a Masters of Music in Composition at New England Conservatory, where they studied with Malcolm Peyton, and a Bachelors of Music from St. Olaf College, where they studied with Justin Merritt and Timothy Mahr. John Heiss, another teacher at NEC, called their music "bold, adventurous, powerful and elegant."
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Emma J DonkinEmma Donkin is a North-East Ohio jazz, classical, contemporary, and math rock composer and pianist focused on creating evocative, rhythmically-inventive music. Her musical influences and compositions range from jazz, funk, and progressive rock to neoclassical and solo piano music influenced by the likes Joplin, Debussy, and Chopin. Emma received her B.M. in music composition from Youngstown State University’s Dana School of Music in 2018, and will graduate in May 2021 with her Master of Music degree from the University of Akron. Emma is the pianist for Tria Corazón, a classical flute, clarinet, and piano trio dedicated to promoting new and under-performed music, as well as the pianist for the NEO Jazz Orchestra, a jazz band for emerging artists in the North-East Ohio area. She has composed for solo instrumentalists, chamber ensembles, wind ensemble, and jazz ensemble, and in 2020 completed a 35-minute choir cantata centered on the crucifixion of Christ for Portage Community Chapel’s Tenebrae Service. Emma was featured as a local artist in the 2018 Sundance Film Music Festival in Akron, OH, and in 2018 completed a music and sound design internship with Enyx Studios, a video game company in Austintown, OH. She has had her music performed by the W.D. Packard Band of Warren, Ohio, Tria Corazón, and has premiered many works both at YSU and the University of Akron’s New Music Festival. For Emma, music is a beautiful, complex, accessible, and imaginative science that not only perfectly encapsulates the heart’s yearnings, but also cognitively and ethereally enraptures the mind and soul.
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Bernard Short (2019, *2020 Alba Program Alum)Dr. Bernard Short (b. 1979, Harlem, NYC) was raised in Far Rockaway Queens, NY; he earned a BA in Music with a focus in Composition at Morehouse College in 2007, and a Masters in Music Education at The University of Georgia in 2012. He graduated with his PhD in Music Composition from the University of Iowa in 2018. During his time at the University of Iowa he was awarded a Full Dean’s Fellowship and worked as a Research Assistant for the Center for New Music; where he studied with Dr. Lawrence Fritts and Dr. David Gompper. From 2008-2014 he was the Director of Bands and Orchestra at Cross Keys High School in Atlanta, GA. While serving in his role as Musical Director, he assumed the responsibility of rebirthing multiple programs that are still thriving today. Furthermore, while serving in this capacity he reignited the programs vitality, which resulted in the department obtaining a number of notable grants from a wide range of organizations including the Grammy Organization. Furthermore, this success served as a launching pad in which Dr. Short was able to bloom into a thought-provoking composer with profound impacts. In 2015, he received a commission from The Julien Chamber Winds Ensemble at The University of Dubuque. In 2017, he was commissioned to compose a piece to have its world premier in Mykonos, Greece at the Delian Academy for New Music’s International Summer Academy for Composers and Sound Artists. In both 2019 and 2020, he was commissioned to compose string pieces, which had their world premier in Alba, Italy at the Alba Music Festival. Dr. Short’s music is the expression of a person’s soul that is best used as a way to communicate with someone without allowing words to obliterate the message.
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Aaron Wong (*2020 Program Alum)Aaron Wong (b. 1996) is a composer, pianist, and bassoonist based in Boston, Massachusetts. His music takes inspiration from natural processes and phenomena as well as collaborations with other artistic disciplines, spanning text, film, dance, and visual art. He seeks to uncover and express beauty in novel and deeply personal ways, drawing upon both a classical training and influences from popular music. Embracing his composer-performer duality, he often takes part in performances of his work and additionally has premiered several pieces written by his colleagues. Aaron’s music has been performed by musicians and ensembles throughout the greater Boston area and beyond. His focus is in solo and chamber music, although his breadth of work includes orchestral and multimedia pieces as well. Aaron earned his B.A. in Music from Tufts University in 2019 under John McDonald, and is now continuing his composition studies at New England Conservatory with Kati Agócs.
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Leah MullenLeah Mullen (b. 2000), is a composer, vocalist, and Schreyer Honors Scholar pursuing a B.M. in Music Composition, a minor in German, and a Diversity Studies Certificate at Penn State, where she studies with Dr. Baljinder Sekhon and Dr. Steven Rice. Leah has experience writing for a variety of instrumentations, including electronics. Some of Leah’s current compositional interests include: pitch systems, sounds and conceptualizations of nature, and timbre based composition. Leah has had her works performed in several states, such as Florida, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and New York. Last summer, Leah attended and interned at the 2020 Charlotte New Music Festival where she was commissioned to write a piece for Duo Zonda. Likewise in 2020, Leah was selected as a finalist for International Composition Competition- Electronic & Electroacoustic Vol. 1 - Sound Silence Thought for her piece Ritual. Leah is currently working on a collaboration with the Penn State Dance studios, as her piece Ritual, for fixed media playback, was selected for choreography. This summer, Leah will be attending the Alba Music Festival in Italy, where she was commissioned to write a new work for the HUB New Music Ensemble. She will also be attending the online SPLICE Institute this coming summer. Leah is the Vice President of Living Music, a new music club at Penn State, and has been a panel member for the Penn State Young Composers Contest since 2019. Leah is also a member of the Penn State Empow(h)er and Penn State Arts for Health committees.
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Jonathan Posthuma (2016 Alba Program Alum; 2017 Alba Commission Winner)Jonathan Posthuma (b. 1989) is a freelance composer and musician living in Saint Paul, Minnesota. His musical style seeks to combine lyricism, evocative imagery, and intense emotional contrasts while maintaining clarity in form and function at their deepest levels. He is often inspired by natural landscapes, gardening and visual art in his compositions and his largest project is Paul Klee : Painted Songs, an ongoing collection of chamber music inspired by the paintings of Paul Klee. He received his Masters in Music Composition from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, where he studied with Stephen Dembski and Laura Schwendinger and also studied composition with Luke Dahn at Dordt University. Jonathan is an active member of the Twin Cities choral community and has sung with VocalEssence Chorus, Kantorei, and impulse (MPLS) which have premiered several of his choral works have received premieres in recent seasons. He also works in the Development office of The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra.
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Danielle BeesDanielle Bees is an ICon Arts Transylvania Academy 2020 Composer in Residence and a two-time American Prize semi-finalist. Her music for the concert hall, film, and theatre has been performed throughout the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe, and she has worked with notable ensembles such as the RSNO Ensemble, the Edinburgh Quartet, and the Hebrides Ensemble. She has a passion for creating work with other artists, and in addition to musicians, she has collaborated with actors, directors, and writers alike. Danielle holds a Bachelor of Music degree from the Greatbatch School of Music at Houghton College and a Master of Music degree from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
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Emily McPherson [on leave until 2022]
Emily McPherson’s work includes a wide variety of instrumentation across different styles including acoustic solo, large and small chamber ensembles, electronics via fixed media and live electronics, as well as mixed ensembles. Her works have been performed throughout the United States in Indiana, Kansas, New York, Michigan, Oklahoma, and Ohio and internationally in Xi’an, China. She has written works for ensembles such as Yarn/Wire, the Women’s Wind Ensemble at University of North Carolina at Greensboro, the Arizona State Wind Ensemble, The_____Experiment, SPARTA Quartet, and is currently working on a piece for Hub New Music as part of the Alba Composition Program. Emily is currently pursuing a Master of Music in composition at Penn State University with Dr. Baljinder Sekhon. She holds her B.M. in Music Composition from Bowling Green State University where she studied under the instruction of Drs. Elainie Lillios, Marilyn Shrude, Mikel Kuehn, and Christopher Dietz.
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Janay MaissanoJanay Maisano is a young composer that will be a graduate of the University of Redlands in April of 2021. She is passionate about music for media, especially video game music, and adores electronic instruments. Besides that, she also has a fondness for instrumental concert works, and has had the honor to write for many talented performers.
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Francisco Cardoso de Araújo (2019 Alba Program Alum) [on leave until 2022]
Born in Curitiba (Brazil), Francisco Cardoso started his musical studies in 2003 which culminated in his interest in the area of musical composition. In his early age he completed the music formation courses from the School of Music and Fine Arts of Parana. He has graduated in Composition and Conducting at the State University of Parana (UNESPAR), and became a Master in Music Composition at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS). As a performance, he has much experience in conducting and performing contemporary and early music (as a clarinetist and recorder player). In his compositional career, he has participated in several festivals and musical residences. His pieces have premiered in Brazil, Bulgaria, Spain and Italy. In his musical poetics / aesthetics, he constantly seeks to explore ideas of fragility in music. He is currently a member of the ‘Círculo de Invenção Musical’, a collective of composers and performances rooted in Brazil. In 2019, Francisco has also been an Alumnus of Alba Music Festival Composition Program.
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Karim ElmahmoudiLos Angeles based composer, orchestrator, and performer Karim Elmahmoudi was one of a handful of composers selected in November 2015 as an American Prize in Composition Special Citation Recipient celebrating the variety and vitality of American Composers of Works for Orchestra. He studied music at the University of Southern California Thornton Graduate School of Music where he was awarded the BMI Honors Scholarship. In addition, he studied in Dublin, Ireland, with renowned orchestrator and composer, Conrad Pope. His space themed orchestral work, "Orbit: A Symphonic Fantasy", was premiered by the Los Angeles Doctors Symphony on November 18, 2012, with David Weiss conducting. This work was recently performed as part of the Flagstaff, Arizona Dark Skies festival and allowed Mr. Elmahmoudi the opportunity to discuss his passions for music and astronomy with the Flagstaff community through a series of talks aimed at local schools and a 90 minute talk at Lowell Observatory. This fourteen-minute work is also heard each hour at the California Science Center (permanent home of the Space Shuttle Endeavour) as part of their IMAX presentations. Karim’s other works include three symphonies, concertos for violin and piano, tone poems, film scores, video game scores, and chamber works for piano and ensembles.
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James Pecore [on leave until 2022]
James Pecore is an undergraduate composer, pianist, and countertenor at Columbia University studying Music Composition and Business Management. Pecore has studied Music Composition with Columbia Professor Georg Haas, Juilliard School of Music Dr. Ira Taxin, and Grammy-Winning jazz pianist Peter Boe. Thus, his musical education represents a union between the First Viennese School of Bach through Wagner, the Second Viennese School of Schoenberg through Feldman, and the American jazz tradition from spirituals through bebop. At age 21, James was selected as a Composition Fellow for the New York Youth Symphony’s 2020-2021 classical and musical theater programs. He composed original works for harpist Bridget Kibbey, violist Jessica Meyer, clarinetist Ben Fingland, and The New York Youth Symphony Wind Ensemble. James also attended NYYS Masterclasses with Dr. David Ludwig (Curtis), Mr. Alex Lacamoire (Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen), Mr. John Corigliano (Juilliard), Dr. Reena Esmail (Yale School of Music), etc. A gay and Catholic composer, James interweaves queer romanticism and Jesuit-Christian theology to inspire his work. James' works have been performed by such artists as Fonema Consort, counter)induction, the Atlantic Music Festival Chamber Ensemble, Peter Frajola (Oregon Symphony Assoc. Concertmaster), Opus 7 Vocal Ensemble, etc. and at such venues as Symphony Space, Lorimer Chapel, and The DiMenna Center. Creating a union between previously opposed dichotomies, James unifies both tonal and post-tonal schools of technique as well as queer and religious forms of self-identification. Fractured yet interwoven, James Pecore composes musical poetry as a mosaic—beauty coalescing out of brokenness—purpose, out of pain.
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