Phyllis Chen
Described by The New York Times as “spellbinding” and “delightfully quirky matched with interpretive sensitivity,” Phyllis (2022 Guggenheim Fellow, 2019 Cage-Cunningham Fellow) is a composer, pianist and sound artist whose music draws from her tactile exploration of object and sound. She was a founding member of the International Contemporary Ensemble, founder of the UnCaged Toy Piano and currently an Assistant Professor of Composition at the State Univeristy of New York New Paltz.
back to program

Dr. Leslie Elkins, Associate Professor in the Rowan University Department of Theatre and Dance, teaches theory and technique specializing in improvisational dance composition and performance. Body-Presence: Lived Experience of Choreography and Performance, her phenomenological-hermeneutic study involving work with noted artist Deborah Hay and two Philadelphia-based dance artists, is published by Lambert Academic Publishing. She's a founding member of foursome performance, a collaborative arts ensemble in Philadelphia creating and performing together since 2007. Her most recent collaboration is with Agustin Muriago, Professor of Keyboard Skills at The Peabody Institute. Leslie’s ongoing research continues her over twenty-year fascination with creating and adapting improvisational scores in performance and examining the timing of compositional choices. Leslie serves on the editorial review board for the Journal of Dance Education. Dr. Elkins received her Ph.D. in Dance from Temple University.
back to program

Elliot Reza Emadian is an interdisciplinary artist, teacher, and scholar. Their work occurs in the intersection of dance and choreography, video art and editing, sound and music, light and photography, and popular culture.
back to program

TBD
back to program

Audrey Harrer is a composer/vocalist/harpist whose work is a blend of melodic wordplay, detailed arrangements, and processed instruments. She collaborates with chamber groups, experiments with music technologists, and rethinks the concert experience. Audrey cares about process, community, and the arts as a means to create connection.
back to program

Lauren Sarah Hayes is a Scottish improviser, sound artist, and scholar who is recognised for her embodied approach to computer music. Her music is a mix of experimental pop/live electronics/techno/noise/free improvisation and has been described as "voracious" and "exhilarating". Her performances stretch, transform, and sculpt sound by manipulating, remixing, and bending voice, drum machines, analogue synths and self-built software live and physically. Her shows are highly gestural, exploring the ephemeral and fragile relationships between sounds, spaces, and audiences. Over nearly two decades, she has developed and honed her live electronics improvisation system, an instrument that allows her to playfully navigate between the realms of responsiveness and unpredictability in both her solo performances and numerous collaborations.

She has been commissioned by major festivals including the London Jazz Festival, the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival with a live BBC Radio 3 broadcast as part of its 2017 International Showcase, and Sonica, for which she gave four sold-out performances inside Hamilton Mausoleum, Scotland, famous for once holding the longest echo of any man-made structure. She has performed extensively across Europe and the US, including at Moogfest, World New Music Days (USA selection 2024), and as part of her tenure with the New BBC Radiophonic Workshop at Kings Place, London. The Wire described her 2016 album MANIPULATION (pan y rosas discos) as “skittering melodies and clip-clopping rhythms suggesting a mischievous intelligence emerging from this web of wires”. Reviews of her acclaimed 2021 release Embrace (Superpang) called it "sensual and frenetic", "a kind of religious joy", and "profound talent breaking new grounds". Her music has been released on Superpang, Hard Return, Pan Y Rosas Discos, LOL Editions, Werra Foxma, Sunwarped, and Harmonic Ooze Records. She is currently Associate Professor of Sound Studies at Arizona State University and serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Music, Technology & Education.
back to program

Addison Hill is an artist, composer, multi-instrumentalist, and educator from Phoenix, Arizona. Her work collages together different mediums, stories, and sonic possibilities to create experiences that strive for emotional liberation and connection. When composing, Addison steps into the role of a director to holistically consider the relationship between sound and space, allowing for a more visceral experience inspired by the imaginary worlds Addison lives in.

She received her Bachelors of Music in Music Composition from Arizona State University and is currently pursuing a Masters in Music Composition with music technology at the University of Colorado Boulder, where she teaches Intro to Music Technology. Addison’s works have been performed at the Gammage Auditorium, PRISMS festival, Wildflower Composer’s Festival, Arizona Women’s Collaboration Concert, soundSCAPE, Sō Summer Institute, Superbloom Drone Festival, CLICKfest, and National Sawdust. Addison spends her free time yapping, napping, yearning and learning, while providing love and support to her needy cat (which is definitely a full time job).
back to program

Jullian Hoff is an awarded composer recognized by the Canadian Electroacoustic Society, Beijing Musicacoustica, and Luigi Russolo prize. His work has been performed internationally at venues such as the Seoul International Computer Music Festival, New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, Burning Man, San Francisco Tape Music Festival and the Melbourne International Animation Festival.
back to program

Paul Leary begins a new job Fall 2024 as Associate Professor of Music in the School of Performing Arts at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, NY.

After earning degrees in music composition at the University of Michigan and the Cleveland Institute of Music, Dr. Leary completed a PhD in composition from Duke University in 2012. His recent video project with CCP Games’ EVE Online has been viewed 350,000 times on youtube. His choral music has been performed widely and his electronic music has been featured at over forty concerts and festivals over the last few years including SEAMUS, The Florida State New Music Festival, the New York City Electro Acoustic Music Festival, The Electro Acoustic Barn Dance Festival, and Electronic Music Midwest. His musical interests connect several creative areas; musical composition, video production/animation, instrument design and construction, software design, and performance. His recent EDM EP ‘Artificially Intelligent’ is available on all streaming platforms.

In addition to composing and teaching, Paul was a professional orchestrator and arranger and was principle orchestrator of the ASCAP award-winning Contemporary Youth Orchestra for ten years, orchestrating over a hundred works of jazz, hip-hop, popular, Broadway, and classical music. He has orchestrated and arranged for various pop artists including Pat Benatar, Graham Nash, and Jon Anderson, as well as music by percussionist Valerie Naranjo and pianist Michael Garson. Some of these orchestrations have been featured on VH1, PBS, and HDNet internationally as well as released on CD and DVD. His works are published by Bachovich Music Publications.

Paul’s works often include hand built instruments that bring kinetic motion his electronic works through sensors. Recent works have included a 9 foot wooden pendulum and a bike wheel rig that utilize magnetometers and accelerometers.

Paul’s other interests include cycling, woodworking, and arts and crafts. Paul builds midi controllers in his wood shop and plays the Shakuhachi flute.
back to program

Grace O’Mara is a dancer, choreographer, and collaborator drawn to the spaces where movement and psychology intertwine. Rooted in contemporary and improvisational forms, she creates from an introspective, evolving place—where emotion becomes motion and art becomes language. Her work often transforms pedestrian movement and everyday spaces into living art, finding meaning in the ordinary and possibility in the unseen. Grace has performed works by Sidra Bell, William Isaac, Mike Tyus and Luca Francesco Renzi, and Gianna Burright. Having worked and taught in Maine, New York City, Philadelphia, and across Europe, she thrives in collaboration, continually discovering new ways to make movement both deeply personal and universally felt.
back to program

Everett Perry-Johnson holds an MFA in Dance and Choreography from NYU Tisch Dance and a BA in Dance Performance from Winthrop University. He is an Instructional Assistant Professor at Texas A&M University and a multi-hyphenate artist whose Contemporary Fusion workshops have been featured nationally and internationally. His choreography has appeared at The Ailey CitiGroup Theater, Manhattan Movement Arts Center, and Charlotte Dance Festival. As a narrative based choreographer, Mr. Perry-Johnson’s work centers on LGBTQIA+ and POC identities, faith intersections, and HIV/AIDS activism in Black and Latinx communities.
back to program

Composer, pianist, programmer, improviser, sound and media artist Brad Robin creates and performs integrating numerous genres including classical, jazz, electroacoustic, experimental, and popular mediums, as well as traditional and experimental intermedia theatre. Often while merging media into the world of theater, dance, and video, his music produces visceral experiences integrating musical and naturally occurring sounds and images. The music swirls, bites, and caresses, creating an immersive experience for performers and audience. His music has been performed at national and international festivals including ICMC, SEAMUS, and NYCEMF. His recent piano works Gleam, Shimmer and Spread, won 1st place consecutively and 2nd place respectively in the 2025, 2023, and 2022 Golden Key Piano Composition Competitions in Vienna, and have been performed internationally. His live piano improvisations album, Release, is available through Naxos on the Centaur label, and Universal Edition distributes his scores. Robin's principal composition teachers were Joel Hoffman, Joseph Klein, and Christopher Trebue Moore for instrumental music, and Jon Nelson and Chris Mercer for electronic music. He has done workshops at Juilliard with Dalit Warshaw and Evan Fein. His piano instructors include Winston Choi, Steven Harlos, Vladimir Leyetchkiss, Natalie Matovanovic, Michael Coonrod, and Frank Caruso. He currently teaches at DePaul and Northwestern Universities in Chicago.
back to program

Holly Taylor (they/she) is a Portland, ME-based movement educator, choreographer, and arts administrator. Recent exploits include: improvisational performance with interactive Chroma2Four sculptures; musical theater choreography at the Children’s Museum and Theatre of Maine; a duet tangled in pairs of long socks; and site specific workshops with Portland Youth Dance and TEMPOart. Holly received her B.A. in American Studies from Yale University and M.A. in Performance Studies from NYU Tisch, and has a movement background in modern, ballet, gaga, postmodern and site-specific composition, and contemporary forms. They serve as the Program Associate at the Onion Foundation (Auburn, ME). Holly also teaches youth dance classes at Casco Bay Movers Dance Studio (Portland, ME) and is becoming certified in the Danceability teaching method with Michaela Knox of Spark Inclusive Arts.
back to program