Orkun Akyol (b. 1992) is a PhD student in composition
and theory at UC Davis. Currently he studies with Laurie San
Martin. He holds a master’s degree in composition from Istanbul
Technical University, Center for Advanced Studies in Music
(MIAM), during which he studied with Jeremy Woodruff, Pieter
Snapper and Reuben de Lautour. Orkun’s latest interests are jazz
music and computational creativity. His music writing is
nourished from his diverse experiences as a jazz pianist and as
an industrial engineer with a bachelor’s degree from Bogazici
University.
Dean Kervin Boursiquot, born in 1986, is a
first-generation Haitian-American, and New York native. The
guitar, film music, and music from the twentieth century sparked
his interest in music composition. While in New York, he received
his bachelor’s degree in composition at Mannes College the New
School for Music. Notable awards include: Vox Novus
Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame: Parhelion Trio 2012, Peter Gross grant
2010, Mannes Orchestra Competition 2009, CRICE
(composer-in-residence Chamber-Ensemble) commission and second
place Jean Schneider Goberman Prize 2009.
Addie Camsuzou is a composer and violinist from
the central coast of California. She holds a Bachelor of Music
degree in music theory/composition from Sacramento State
University, where she studied composition with Dr. Stephen
Blumberg, and violin with Ian Swensen and Anna Presler. She is
currently pursuing a Ph.D. in music composition.
Berklee College of MusicCalifornia State University, Northridge, Master's in composition
Peter Chatterjee is a Bay Area-based composer,
arranger, and conductor. He began studying composition at Berklee
College of Music, where his primary mentors were Dr. Marti
Epstein, Dr. Panagiotis Liaropoulos, Bob Pilkington, Ayn Inserto,
and Greg Hopkins. At Berklee, he focused on jazz composition,
film scoring, and conducting. He holds a bachelor of music
in jazz composition and film scoring, and graduated summa cum
laude. Peter earned his master’s degree in composition with
distinction at California State University, Northridge, where he
studied with Dr.
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Composition and Experimental Sound Practices , CalArts
Paul Engle is a musician from Los Angeles, where he spent much of
his musical life as a guitarist and songwriter. His formal music
training began at Los Angeles City College with an emphasis in
jazz guitar and composition. Paul holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts
in Composition and Experimental Sound Practices from
CalArts, where his teachers included Andrew McIntosh, Wolfgang
von Schweinitz, and Marc Lowenstein. His recent works embrace
nuanced differences of sameness and invite interactions of
procedural austerity with will and intuition.
Max Gibson is a British-Irish composer, sound artist, performer,
writer, and educator, splitting his time between Birmingham, UK,
and Northern California. His works have been performed and
presented internationally in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada,
France, Slovenia, Sweden, Turkey, the USA, and across the UK.
His teachers and mentors have included Rolf Hind, Antoine Beuger,
Ron Kuivila, Paula Matthusen, Howard Skempton, Michael Zev
Gordon, Scott Wilson, Daria Kwiatkowska, and Michael Finnissy,
among others.
Jacob Lane is a composer, pianist, and educator
who lives in Davis, California. He is the pianist for the chamber
group Sl(e)ight
Ensemble and has been a member of The Music Teachers’
Association of California since 2015. In addition to his private
studio, Jacob teaches piano performance and music theory at New
World Music Academy in Pleasanton, California. Jacob holds
degrees in music performance from Mills College (Oakland,
California), and Northern Vermont State University (Johnson,
Vermont).
James R. Larkins (b. 1999) is a composer and
cellist from North Carolina whose music explores the space
between structural precision and musical spontaneity. He holds a
bachelor’s degree in music and chemistry from the University
of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he studied composition
under Allen Anderson, Stephen Anderson, and Lee Weisert, and
studied cello under Brent Wissick.
Trey Makler (b. 1994) is a musical
storyteller. His music creates dramatic, poignant
narratives that take the listener on unexpected journeys through
memories of hope, play, struggle, and triumph. Aside from
composing, he enjoys writing poetry, doodling, and
organizing concerts. He is a doctoral candidate in composition
and theory at the University of California, Davis, and holds
degrees from the Juilliard School and the University of
Missouri. His primary teachers have included Mika Pelo,
Melinda Wagner, Stefan Freund, and W. Thomas McKenney.
B.A. Music: Skidmore College M.M. Music Composition: Boston Conservatory at Berklee
Colin Minigan (b.1994) is a Massachusetts-born composer whose
recent music is concerned with natural phenomena, and the
relationship between static and fluid elements of musical
composition and performance. In addition to composition Colin
spent time studying ethnomusicology and uses this perspective to
inform his compositions. Colin has frequently collaborated on
dance projects with performances throughout the United States and
is an administrator and curator of the Xsection Film Festival, a
festival aimed at promoting interdisciplinary collaboration
between dance, science, and film.
M.A., University of California Santa CruzB.M., San Francisco State University
Bryndan Moondy (b. 1994) is a composer and classical guitarist
based in northern California. In his creative practice
Bryndan seeks to engage the substance and materiality of sound
while also exploring its metaphoric capacity. His work
frequently draws influence from the natural world as well as
other mediums within the visual and literary arts. Bryndan
has received degrees in composition from San Francisco State
University (B.M.) and University of California Santa Cruz
(M.A.). His primary teachers have been Hi Kyung Kim, Ben
Sabey, and Richard Festinger (composition); and Larry Ferrara
(classical guitar). Bryndan has had the pleasure of working
with ensembles such as the Mivos Quartet, WasteLAnd, Vertixe
Sonora, Elevate Ensemble, and Splinter Reeds; he has had his
works performed and workshopped internationally at festivals
including the Barcelona Modern Composition Course, June in
Buffalo, Hot Air Music Festival, and April in Santa Cruz.
Joseph Donald Peterson (b. 1995, he/him) is a performer,
composer, and occasional violin maker. He received his Bachelor’s
degree in viola performance from The Juilliard School, where he
studied with the violist Samuel Rhodes and the composer Justin
Dello Joio. During his time there, he was runner-up in the
Juilliard School viola competition, contributed to the
student-led newspaper, The Citizen Penguin, and co-led several
student actions.
Joseph Vasinda is a composer and music educator based in the
Sacramento area and is attending school to earn a PhD in
music composition and theory. As a composer, he is deeply
interested in creating works that resonate with performers.
Whether through performer input on the musical material,
performer feedback on the experience of playing through the
piece, or by using improvisational elements, Joseph writes pieces
that he hopes performers will find enjoyable or rewarding.
Zoë A. Wallace is a classical composer and guitarist who is
continually striving to broaden the repertoire for instruments in
an ensemble setting. She has performed in a number of concerts as
a soloist and in a duo throughout California, Illinois, and Utah,
and has had the pleasure of playing the premieres of such pieces
as Duet in A Major by Darlene Castro, Roots by Nicholas
Denton-Protsack, Vertex by Zoë Wallace, the west coast
premiere of Distance and the Sea by Stan Funicelli.
When doctoral music composition students at UC Davis hear their
music played for the first time, they hear it played by
professionals who are champions of new music with years of
performance experience.
“There’s no shortage of performance opportunities, especially
for a research program, and that’s something that’s attractive
to students.” —Professor Kurt Rohde
