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. As a music educator, Joseph is interested in many of the same ideas, and in the summer he runs camps and classes for young students to learn to write music. Most of the teaching is centered around the experience of playing or listening to a piece of music, as well as improvising. By teaching young students to express themselves, he believes that we can make everyone a little happier.