Alexander Rodin is a Ukrainian classical composer whose works span various genres of classical music including chamber and symphonic music, opera, ballet, and compositions for ensembles, choirs, and soloists. Prominent works include the opera Kateryna, which was premiered by the Odessa National Opera on September 17, 2022, during the war initiated by Russia against Ukraine; Holy God for symphony orchestra, 2022, commissioned by the Varna Summer Festival in Bulgaria and premiered in June 2022; the ballet Alladdin (2020), which was premiered on the stage of the Kyiv Opera in October 2021; Requiem for symphony orchestra orchestra, choir, and soloists (2015), premiered by the National Philharmonic of Ukraine in 2017, conducted by Roman Kofman; and Stabat mater for soprano, mezzo-soprano, and string orchestra (2014), premiered at the National House of Organ and Chamber Music in 2015, conducted by Bohdam Plish. Alexander’s other works include ballets, symphonic works, chamber works, and numerous pieces for piano, vocalists, and choirs. He has been a member of the National Association of Composers of Ukraine since 2005.

With music described as “dreamlike” (Boston Globe) and “delightfully cruel” (Operawire), NYC-based Felix Jarrar is a composer/coach/pianist with “(strong) dramatic instincts” (Lewis Spratlan, 2000 Pulitzer Prizewinner in Music) whose “music flows from him in the most natural and lively way” (Tom Cipullo). His list of accomplishments includes performances at Symphony Space, (le) poisson rouge, Feinstein's/54 below, the BAM! Fisher Hillman Studio, Roulette Intermedium, and Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall. 

Amongst his 254 works are 224 art songs, 13 operas, 2 string quartets, and a symphony. Past commissions have been given/underwritten by New England Repertory Orchestra, University of Missouri Kansas City, Prismatic Arts Ensemble, Spark Duo, the Idaho Commission on the Arts, and the National Endowment for the Arts. He writes many of his own texts and also collaborates extensively with stage director/librettist Bea Goodwin. 

An in-demand collaborative pianist, répétiteur, and coach, Jarrar has worked with The New School, Opera Naples, University of Memphis, Opera Ithaca, Penn Square Opera, Hogfish, and Santa Fe Opera (in collaboration with Mannes). In 2022, he debuted The Jarrar and Brea Duo with soprano Maria Brea. Jarrar’s song “Sun of the Sleepless” was featured on the 2024 GRAMMY-nominated album 40@40 by Laura Strickling and Daniel Schlosberg. This summer, he is the Resident Artist Pianist/Coach and study cover conductor for Rigoletto at Opera North. 

Jarrar completed his Bachelor of Arts from Marlboro College with Highest Honors in Music Composition and Piano Performance. He received his Master of Music degree from Brooklyn College with the Graduate Dean’s Award in Music Composition on the Eleanor Kilcoyne, Cerf Music, and Chancey Memorial Scholarships while holding the prestigious graduate fellowship for assisting Ursula Oppens’ contemporary ensemble in the conservatory. His primary teachers include Jason Eckardt, Stanley Charkey, Tania León, and Robert Merfeld. He was mentored by piano pedagogue Burton Hatheway.

Zach Hicks is a composer, flutist, and educator born and based in Brooklyn. His music has been performed by groups such as Horizon Ensemble chamber orchestra, Cassatt Quartet, and Sputter Box. As a flutist, Zach has performed with Orchestra 201, the Union City Philharmonic, Utopia Opera, and NY Youth Symphony. He is the founder of the Park Slope Woodwind Quintet and is on the faculty of the Brooklyn Conservatory’s Music's Partners Program. He graduated from the New England Conservatory with a Masters in Music Composition in May 2020.

Sommer Altier (25) is a New York-based Violinist and Instructor from Sarasota, FL. An avid chamber and orchestral performer, Sommer has served as Concertmaster of both Florida State University and Mannes College of Music symphony orchestras, with performances in a range of venues such as Kaufman Music Center, Symphony Space, Alice Tully Hall, and Carnegie Hall. Sommer is a Section Violinist with the Symphony of Westchester while freelancing in the New York/New Jersey area. With a passion for New Music, Sommer enjoys performing contemporary works by living composers, premiering pieces by artists across North America. Sommer holds her Bachelor’s in Violin Performance from the Florida State University College of Music, and a Master’s of Music & Instrumental Performance from the Mannes College of Music, under Corinne Stillwell and Rebecca Fischer respectively.

Zach Hicks is a composer, flutist, and educator born and based in Brooklyn. His music has been performed by groups such as Horizon Ensemble chamber orchestra, Cassatt Quartet, and Sputter Box. As a flutist, Zach has performed with Orchestra 201, the Union City Philharmonic, Utopia Opera, and NY Youth Symphony. He is the founder of the Park Slope Woodwind Quintet and is on the faculty of the Brooklyn Conservatory’s Music's Partners Program. He graduated from the New England Conservatory with a Masters in Music Composition in May 2020.

Shoshana Klein (she/they) enjoys hosting potluck dinners, bringing together random groups of friends, yelling about climate justice, walking long distances that could easily be traversed via public transportation, and playing the oboe in ways that it was not necessarily intended to be played. On that last note, Shoshana is an oboist and arts administrator who is passionate about artistic communities and creative spaces that are open and welcoming. She is interested in developing curricula and initiatives to push the music world forward as well as the arts community as a whole - in terms of inclusivity, openness, economic structures, and technology. Shoshana welcomes multidisciplinary collaboration and different social applications of the arts. They have attended the Fresh Inc, Divergent Studio, and Bang on a Can Festivals, and performed dozens of world premieres and original compositions, including performances at venues in Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Chicago, Montreal, North Adams, Massachusetts; and New York City. Shoshana has music performance degrees from Carnegie Mellon and McGill Universities, is one of the organizers of New Music Gathering, and was one of the organizers and co-founders of zFestival, a virtual new music festival that ran for three iterations during 2020-2021.

American pianist Ryan Jung is currently based in New York City and enjoys performing repertoire of diverse backgrounds and genres. He is especially dedicated to new music, and has collaborated with renowned composers such as Tyshawn Sorey, Jorg Widmann, Nico Muhly, Wolfgang Rihm, and Thomas Ades. He has also worked with artists such as Richard Goode, Dénes Várjon, Claudio Martinez-Mehner, Alasdair Beatson, Sō Percussion, and The Aeolus String Quartet. Jung was also a recent candidate of the 2024 Orleans Competition and 3rd Prize winner of the 2022 Wadsworth International Piano Competition. He made his Lincoln Center debut in Alice Tully Hall in 2021 and has since performed at the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland, the Yellowbarn Festival (Vermont), Music Academy of the West (California), and the Aspen Music Festival (Colorado), among many others.

Mr. Jung completed his MM at the Juilliard School with Jerome Lowenthal and Hung-Kuan Chen, and received his BM from the New England Conservatory with Haesun Paik and studied jazz with Henrique Eisenmann. He is currently pursuing his doctorate at the CUNY Graduate Center with Jeremy Denk, Conor Hanick and Ursula Oppens. Jung holds a staff position at Juilliard under the Music Advancement Program, and was recently appointed music faculty at the 92NY.

Maxwell Hinton, a pianist hailing from the sun-kissed city of Brisbane,  Australia, is passionate about presenting the music of 20th and 21st-century  composers, ultimately aiming to create performances that transport his  audience to a realm of transcendence, awe, and fun!

Composers that Maxwell has performed works by include Steve Reich,  Christopher Cerrone and Pierre Jalbert. The next project Maxwell is eager to  embark on is performing the complete Sonatas and Interludes by John Cage.  Over the summer Maxwell performed nine chamber works at the Yarn/Wire  Institute and Akropolis Chamber Music Institute, four of which were  premieres. He also premiered a solo piano work by Bobby Ge at Princeton  University, and performed chamber music by Felix Mendelssohn and Cecile  Chaminade at Lake George Music Festival.

Prizes include 4th place at the Brevard Music Center Piano Competition, 2nd  place in the Queensland Piano Competition and 2nd place in the Ross Peters  4MBS Chamber Music Prize.

Maxwell completed his undergraduate degree at the Queensland  Conservatorium Griffith University, and after graduating taught piano for five  years and presented solo piano recitals throughout Brisbane. Maxwell is  currently pursuing a DMA at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music under Dror Biran, and just recently completed his Masters of Music at Brooklyn  College, CUNY studying under Rieko Aizawa. Previous teachers include Craig  Nies, Daniel de Borah and Jenni Flemming.