Ann Cleare

Ann Cleare is an Irish artist working in the areas of concert music, opera, extended sonic environments, and hybrid instrumental design. Her work explores the static and sculptural nature of sound, probing the extremities of timbre, texture, color, and form. Exploring poetries of communication, transformation, and perception, she creates highly psychological and corporeal sonic spaces that encourage a listener to contemplate the complexity of the lives we exist within and “to hear the world differently.” 

A recipient of a 2019 Ernst von Siemens Composer Prize, her work has been commissioned and presented by major broadcasters for festivals such as Gaudeamus Week, The Wittenertage fur Neue Kammermusik, International Music Institute Darmstadt, Bludenzer Tage zeitgemäßer Musik, MATA Festival, Shanghai New Music Week, Transit Belgium, GAIDA, Totally Huge New Music in Perth, Rainy Days in Luxembourg, and Ultraschall. Through working with some of the most progressive musicians of our time, she has established a reputation for creating innovative forms of music, both in its presentation, and within the music itself. She has worked with groups such as Ensemble SurPlus, International Contemporary Ensemble, Chiara String Quartet, Collegium Novum Zürich, ELISION, The National Symphony Orchestra of Ireland, JACK Quartet, Ensemble Apparat, Yarn/Wire, Talea Ensemble, österreichisches ensemble für neue music, The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, TAK, Riot Ensemble, Ekmeles Vocal Ensemble, and Ensemblekollektiv, and soloists such as Carol McGonnell, Richard Craig, Heather Roche, Patrick Stadler, Carlos Cordeiro, Ryan Muncy, Richard Haynes, William Lang, Laura Cocks, Samuel Stoll, and Callum G’Froerer.

Recent and future projects include a chamber piece and curated concert with Musikfabrik for the National Concert Hall of Ireland’s Beethoven 2022 celebrations, a solo flute work for Claire Chase, an opera for Munich Biennale 2022, a large-scale work for soloists, chorus, orchestra, and electronics for New Music Dublin 2023, a DVD of filmed works released by Kairos, and the creation of outdoor sonic sculptures with Lay of the Land, Crash Ensemble, and Fionnuala Conway.

Cleare studied at the University College Cork, IRCAM, and holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University. In October 2019, she received an honorary doctorate from the National University of Ireland for her contribution to music. Her scores are published by Project Schott New York and she is represented by the Contemporary Music Centre, Ireland (CMC). She is Assistant Professor of Music and Media Technologies at Trinity College Dublin, and an artist-in-residence with Crash Ensemble.

annclearecomposer.com

Wang Lu

Composer and pianist Wang Lu writes music that reflects a very natural identification with influences from urban environmental sounds, linguistic intonation and contours, traditional Chinese music and freely improvised traditions, through the prism of contemporary instrumental techniques and new sonic possibilities.

Wang Lu’s works have been performed around the world by ensembles including the Ensemble Modern, Ensemble Intercontemporain, Chicago Symphony Orchestra MusicNOW, Minnesota Orchestra, Boston Lyric Opera, American Composers Orchestra, Orchestre National de Lille, Holland Symfonia, Shanghai National Chinese Orchestra, Taipei Chinese Orchestra, International Contemporary Ensemble, Talea Ensemble, Alarm Will Sound, Yarn/Wire, The Crossing Choir, Ensemble Pamplemousse, Momenta Quartet, and violinists Miranda Cuckson and Jennifer Koh, pianists Shai Wosner and Joel Fan, among others.

A 2020 recent recipient of the Wladimir and Rhoda Lakond award from American Academy of Arts and Letters Wang Lu has also received the Berlin Prize in Music Composition (Spring 2019 residency) and was a 2014 Guggenheim Fellow, and she has received commissions from the Koussevitzky Foundation at the Library of Congress and the Fromm Foundation at Harvard. Wang Lu’s music has appeared in festivals such as the New York Philharmonic’s Sound On series curated by Nadia Sirota, MATA Festival, Cresc. Biennale in Frankfurt, Gaudeamus Music Week, Tanglewood, Cabrillo Music Festival, Beijing Modern, Pacific and Takefu festivals in Japan, Mostly Mozart, and the Havana New Music Festival. Collaborations have included an installation at Brown University’s Cohen Gallery with artist Polly Apfelbaum and an evening of poetry and music with poet Ocean Vuong. In 2019, her music was featured in a Composer Portrait at Miller Theatre at Columbia University with International Contemporary Ensemble and Yarn/Wire. Recent projects include Aftertouch a flute electronic and video piece for Claire Chase’s Density 2036; a solo piano work Lacuna for Shai Wosner in honor of Chinese American architect I.M. Pei; a new work for the LongLeash trio supported by New Music USA; November Airs for the Talea Ensemble commissioned by the Fromm Foundation at Harvard University; At Which Point a new choir and electronic work for The Crossing, and episode V of TV opera desert in, produced by the Boston Lyric Opera.

Her upcoming projects include a new chamber work commissioned by the Berlin Based Ensemble Mosaik, and a commission from the Barlow Foundation for soprano and large ensemble with the Seattle Modern Orchestra. She is currently an Associate Professor of Music at Brown University, after receiving her doctoral degree in composition at Columbia University and graduating from the Beijing Central Conservatory of Music.

wanglucomposer.com

Miguel Zenón

Multiple Grammy Nominee and Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellow Miguel Zenón represents a select group of musicians who have masterfully balanced and blended the often-contradictory poles of innovation and tradition. Widely considered as one of the most groundbreaking and influential saxophonists and composers of his generation, he has also developed a unique voice as a conceptualist, concentrating his efforts on perfecting a fine mix between Jazz and his many musical influences.

Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Zenón has released fifteen recordings as a leader, including his latest, Música De Las Américas and the Grammy Nominated El Arte Del Bolero (2021), Sonero: The Music of Ismael Rivera (2019), and Yo Soy La Tradición (2018). As a sideman he has worked with luminaries such as The SFJAZZ Collective, Charlie Haden, Fred Hersch, Kenny Werner, David Sánchez, Danilo Perez, The Village Vanguard Orchestra, Kurt Elling, Guillermo Klein & Los Guachos, Antonio Sanchez, Brian Lynch, Steve Coleman, Ray Barreto, Andy Montañez, Jerry Gonzalez & The Fort Apache Band, The Mingus Big Band, and Bobby Hutcherson.

Zenón has been featured in publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, and The Chicago Tribune. In addition, he topped both the Jazz Artist of the Year and Alto Saxophonist categories on the 2014 Jazz Times Critics Poll and was selected as the Alto Saxophonist of the Year by the Jazz Journalist Association in 2015, 2018, 2019 and 2020 (when he was also recognized as Arranger of The Year).

As a composer he has been commissioned by SFJAZZ, NYO Jazz, The New York State Council for the Arts, Chamber Music America, Logan Center for The Arts, The Hyde Park Jazz Festival, The John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, MIT, Spektral Quartet, The Hewlett Foundation, Peak Performances, PRISM Quartet, and many of his peers. Zenón is a permanent faculty member at New England Conservatory and The Manhattan School of Music. He is a recipient of a fellowship from the prestigious John Simon Guggenheim Foundation as well as the coveted MacArthur Fellowship. In 2011 he founded Caravana Cultural, a program which presents free-of-charge Jazz concerts in rural areas of Puerto Rico. In 2022 he received an Honorary Doctorate from La Universidad del Sagrado Corazón in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the highest honor bestowed by the institution.

miguelzenon.com

Melissa Smey

Co-Creator, Producer, and Host

is Associate Dean and Executive Director at Columbia University School of the Arts, where she leads the Arts Initiative, Miller Theatre, and the Lenfest Center for the Arts. Passionately dedicated to creating new work and fostering audience development, Smey has commissioned and produced 46 new works from leading international composers, launched a visual arts commissioning program for the theater’s lobby, created free concerts serving tens of thousands of audience members, and commissioned critically acclaimed chamber operas from Hannah Lash and Missy Mazzoli. In 2020, she created Live from Columbia, a free series of streaming concerts that attracts a global audience for Miller Theatre’s programming. She is a two-time recipient of the ASCAP-Chamber Music America Award for Adventurous Programming for her work at Miller Theatre and one of Musical America’s 2019 Top-30 Professionals of the Year. 

Laura Barger

Piano

Laura Barger is a pianist devoted to the exploration and creation of new music. A founding member of Yarn/Wire, she has been a frequent guest performer with the Wet Ink Ensemble, International Contemporary Ensemble, and Talea Ensemble. Barger has collaborated closely with composer Annea Lockwood on her solo works for piano, recently appearing alongside her in director Sam Green's live documentary film 32 Sounds (2022). From 2015-2019 she served as music director and pianist in Miller Theatre at Columbia University’s original puppet theater production of Saint-Saëns’ Carnival of the Animals. Barger holds degrees in piano from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville and Stony Brook University, and is an alumna of the Banff Centre, Lucerne Festival Academy, Darmstadt International Summer Course, and Bang on a Can Institute. She is currently on the faculty at John Jay College (CUNY).

Julia Den Boer

Piano

French-American pianist Julia Den Boer is a passionate advocate for contemporary music, an internationally recognized soloist and chamber musician, and an active commissioner of new works. Recent appearances include the Festival d’Automne, TIME:SPANS Festival, the Tectonics Festival, the Banff Center, and the Klangspuren Festival. Den Boer joined acclaimed piano percussion quartet Yarn/Wire in 2021 and is a member of Longleash, a piano trio specialized in contemporary repertoire. She recently released Kermès, a collection of works by composers Giulia Lorusso, Linda Catlin Smith, Anna Thorvaldsdottir, and Rebecca Saunders, to widespread critical acclaim. She holds a BM from McGill University, a DMA from SUNY Stony Brook University, and a master's degree in International Relations from the Université Lyon III. Den Boer is on the faculty of the Third Street Music Settlement.

Vicky Chow

Piano

Hong Kong/Canadian pianist Vicky Chow joined the Bang on a Can All-Stars in 2009, and has since collaborated with composers including Tania León, Meredith Monk, Steve Reich, Philip Glass, and George Lewis. She has performed at venues including Carnegie Hall, Park Avenue Armory, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Muziekgebouw, the Hong Kong Arts Centre, Royal Albert Hall, and ZKM.​ Chow’s recordings include Tristan Perich: Surface Image (2013), Jane Antonia Cornish: Sierra and Philip Glass: Piano Etudes Book 1 (2022), and an upcoming solo album by Michael Gordon titled July, written for her during the pandemic. A graduate of the Juilliard School and Manhattan School of Music, Chow is on the faculty at the Bang on a Can Summer Institute and has been on faculty at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity.  

Russell Greenberg

Percussion

Russell Greenberg is a proponent of new and experimental music spanning multiple genres. As a founder of the percussion and piano quartet, Yarn/Wire, he has performed at numerous venues around New York City and the United States and has worked closely with composers to create new repertoire for the ensemble. In addition to his work with Yarn/Wire, Greenberg has performed with Wet Ink Ensemble, International Contemporary Ensemble, Argento, Signal Ensemble, the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players, and Two-Headed Calf, among others. He has appeared internationally at the Darmstadt, Acanthes, Klangspuren, and the Lucerne festivals. Greenberg received an M.M. and D.M.A. from SUNY Stony Brook and a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley. He is currently on faculty at Lucy Moses School (New York City) and SUNY Suffolk College.

Matt Mitchell

Piano

Pianist and composer Matt Mitchell explores the intersections of acoustic, electric, composed, and improvised new music. He currently composes for and leads several ensembles featuring Tim Berne, Kim Cass, Kate Gentile, Ben Gerstein, Jon Irabagon, Travis Laplante, Ava Mendoza, Miles Okazaki, Ches Smith, Chris Speed, Tyshawn Sorey, Chris Tordini, Anna Webber, and Dan Weiss, among others.  In addition to being among the core performers of John Zorn’s Bagatelles, Mitchell is also a member of ensembles that integrate composed and improvised music including Tim Berne’s Snakeoil, the Dave Douglas Quintet, John Hollenbeck’s Large Ensemble, and the Dave King Trio. A recipient of a Pew Fellowship (2012) and a Doris Duke Impact Award (2015), Mitchell has taught with the Brooklyn-based School for Improvisational Music, the New School, NYU, and the Siena Jazz Workshop. 

Miles Okazaki

Guitar

Miles Okazaki is an American guitarist and composer based in New York City. Originally from Port Townsend, a small seaside town in Washington State, his sideman experience over the last two decades covers a broad spectrum, from standards to experimental music. He has released nine albums of original compositions over the last 12 years on the Sunnyside, Pi, and Cygnus labels. In 2018, Okazaki received wide critical acclaim for his six-album recording of the complete compositions of Thelonious Monk for solo guitar, and the following year he was voted the #1 Rising Star Guitar in the DownBeat Critics Poll. He taught guitar and rhythmic theory at the University of Michigan from 2013-22, joined the faculty at Princeton University in 2021, and holds degrees from Harvard University, Manhattan School of Music, and the Juilliard School. 

Golda Arthur

Mission: Commission is produced by Golda Arthur

Golda Arthur is an independent podcast showrunner, audio producer, and journalist. She has launched and run podcasts, including Land of the Giants: The Rise of Amazon, and the daily news show, Today Explained, at Vox Media. She was showrunner for the award-winning narrative technology podcast Codebreaker, during her time at Marketplace. Prior to her work in the U.S, she worked for the BBC World Service in London for most of her career in audio; a career that has covered audio reporting, producing, and editing.

Adrienne Stortz

Co-Creator and Producer

Adrienne Stortz is the Director of Programs and Finance for Miller Theatre and the Arts Initiative at Columbia University. Adrienne is passionate about connecting people with powerful musical experiences, with particular focus on strategic digital content and communications. Prior to her time at Columbia, Adrienne held positions at performing arts organizations including Carnegie Hall and the Juilliard School.

Lauren Cognetti

Co-Creator and Assistant Producer

Lauren Cognetti is the Director of Marketing and Engagement at Miller Theatre at Columbia University. Lauren has over two decades of progressively responsible leadership experience in arts administration, digital marketing, strategic communications, and graphic design. In addition to her time at Columbia, she has held positions at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, Situation Interactive, National Arts Strategies, and the Kaufman Center. Lauren is a graduate of the University of Richmond, where she majored in music.

Taylor Riccio

Assistant Producer

Taylor Riccio is the Director of Artistic and Production Planning at Miller Theatre, overseeing an array of events, including concerts, operas, and film screenings. This past fall, he co-produced the twelfth annual Morningside Lights, a community event that engaged more than 3,000 people of all ages and backgrounds in creating art. Prior to Miller Theatre, he was active in New York City’s downtown theater community through his work at the now defunct Incubator Arts Project as a Technical Director, a designer, and on one occasion, a performer. 

Erick Gomez

Sound Designer and Engineer

Erick Gomez is currently an audio engineer at The New York Times where he focuses on the weekly production of “Sway.” He hails from the broadcast radio world, where he got his start crafting in-house commercial spots for both local and national advertisers. He has previously worked at Univision, MTV, Westwood One, and Vox. Erick is the proud son of immigrant parents, an avid gamer, cat daddy, Broadway musical enthusiast, vegetarian, and overall computer and audio nerd.

Miller Theatre at Columbia University is the leading presenter of new music in New York City and one of the most vital forces nationwide for innovative programming. In partnership with Columbia University School of the Arts, Miller is dedicated to producing and presenting unique events, with a focus on contemporary and early music, jazz, opera, and multimedia performances. Founded in 1988, Miller Theatre has helped launch the careers of myriad composers and ensembles over the years, serving as an incubator for emerging artists and a champion of those not yet well known in the United States. A four-time recipient of the ASCAP/Chamber Music America Award for Adventurous Programming, Miller Theatre continues to meet the high expectations set forth by its founders—to present innovative programs, support the development of new work, and connect creative artists with adventurous audiences.