"An invaluable unifying force in the local avant-garde" (Time Out New York), Sam Hillmer's work as a musician, composer, educator, and curator spans the disparate worlds of art rock, contemporary classical, underground hip-hop, and free improvisation. Co-founder of the band / chamber ensemble Zs, Sam has had the privilege of performing with The Locust, Gang Gang Dance, Animal Collective, Battles, Dirty Projectors, Orthrelm, The Flying Luttenbachers, Behold ... The Arctopus, Yellow Swans, Dan Deacon, Extra Life, and many others.

As a member of Zs, Sam has toured the US extensively. He has also appeared at the Ostrava Center for New Music (Ostrava, Czech Republic), the Open Ears Festival (Kitchener, Ontario), and the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Sam also produces the youth hip-hop recording series Representing NYC.

With instruments present in both classical and folk traditions, harpist Bridget Kibbey and mandolinist Joseph Brent share their love of plucked strings in works by classical composers, as well as bluegrass, tango, jazz, contemporary classical, and even rock. Bridget trained at The Juilliard School and maintains a classical recital and chamber music career. Joseph trained at the Berklee College of Music and has performed as a jazz mandolinist with artists who include Ravi Coltrane and Stephane Grappelli. Working together, they draw each other into new musical territory.

The Kibbey-Brent duo has shared its unique blending of folk and classical styles with audiences in many diverse venues, including New York City's Le Poisson Rouge and Brooklyn's Barbes.

Jeremy Thal is a horn player, composer, and educator. He studied horn, ethnomusicology, and Chinese at Northwestern University, and has since played in orchestras, chamber ensembles, and jazz groups in China, Mexico, and the US. He recently recorded and toured with indie-rock band The National. As a composer and producer, Christopher Marianetti has worked in theater, radio, film, and the concert hall. His recent collaboration, A Novel in the Form of a Car Bomb (an experimental radio play with a vehicular orchestra of eight cars and a live chorus), premiered in May 2009 at Industry City. Chris studied composition at the Accademia in Milan and received his master's from Brooklyn College.

In 2007, Chris and Jeremy co-founded Young Producers Project (YPP), a mobile production team focused on education with a hands-on, experiential, listening-centered approach. The following year, YPP received sponsorship from Bang on a Can and German software company Ableton.

“Soprano Camille Zamora balances a vibrant career of opera, recital, and concert performances. Highlights of the current season include the role of Clara Schumann in Twin Spirits with Sting and Trudie Styler at Lincoln Center, Ilia in Idomeneo at Boston Lyric Opera, Mascha in The Chocolate Soldier with Bard Summerscape, and La Voix Humaine with Auckland (New Zealand) Opera. Recent concert highlights include Bach's Magnificat with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s at Carnegie Hall and Brahms’s Liebeslieder with Leon Fleischer at the Aspen Music Festival, and her performances have been broadcast on NPR, BBC Radio, Deutsche Radio Berlin, and Sirius XM. A graduate of The Juilliard School, Ms. Zamora is the Co-Founding Director of Sing for Hope, a charitable organization that mobilizes professional artists in volunteer service to benefit schools, hospitals, and communities.

David Rosenmeyer is now in his sixth season as the Oratorio Society’ of New York’s Associate Conductor. He has led the Society in Carnegie Hall performances of Britten’s Te Deum (2010) Fauré’s Cantique de Jean Racine (2008) and Stravinsky’s Mass (2007), which marked his Carnegie Hall debut. He also conducted the orchestra of the Society in Poulenc’s Concerto for Organ, Strings, and Tympani during its 2007 tour of Hungary. Mr. Rosenmeyer is also Music Director of the Choral Arts Society and the University Singers at NYU.

Last season, Mr. Rosenmeyer made his debut with the Bellas Opera Company of Mexico City, leading a staged gala at the Cervantino Festival. He returned to the Bellas Opera this past summer to conduct the finals gala of its Morelli Opera Competition. In New York, he led the Bleecker Street Opera’s production of The Barber of Seville, Handel’s Serse with Pocket Opera of New York and Carmen with the New York Lyric Opera.

From 2003–2009, Mr. Rosenmeyer served as Music Director of the Bach Society of Columbia University; highlights of his tenure included the New York premiere of Guarnieri’s Missa Diligite. From 2005–2010, he was the Music Director of Horizon Concerts, an outreach program that brings classical music to New York City schools. In 2007, he was music director for the famed Salzburg Marionette Theater’s new production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music, which it took on a tour of the US. In 2002, he was music director and pianist for the world premiere of The Sandman, an opera by Thomas Cabaniss that was directed by David Herskovits in a production by Target Margin Theater, an experimental theater company of which he is now a member.

"Manhattan's hippest girl group."—Washington Post

The Lascivious Biddies' irrepressible, genre-defying sound has earned them an avid following-not just in their native New York, but throughout the United States and beyond. Blending jazz, pop, and cabaret with soaring harmonies, this all female "cocktail pop" trio has earned a reputation for expert musicianship and sharp wit mixed with a dash of sentimentality. They have performed their energetic and tightly woven show in some of the nation's hottest venues, from the Kennedy Center to Birdland. They have appeared on the Food Network, the Discovery Channel, and Fuse TV, and their music has been featured on NPR, the BBC, and numerous other stations across the US.

The Biddies are Deidre Rodman Struck, Lee Ann Westover, and Saskia Lane.

Embracing her roots and musical culture, Falu Shah's performances feature classical and traditional Indian music. She has performed solo concerts at classical music venues such as Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, as well as concerts with her band at venues that include the Highline and Bowery ballrooms. Falu's live performances have been featured nationally on FOX Television and internationally on the National Geographic Channel, while her voice has been captured in multiple films, including Angelina Jolie's directorial debut A Place in Time.

One of Falu's recent performances was at the Time 100 Gala, where she was invited to perform a duet with Slumdog Millionaire composer A. R. Rahman in front of Time magazine's selection of the 100 most influential people of 2008, which included First Lady Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey.

Hailed as the "Joni Mitchell of Haiti," Emeline Michel has emerged as the reigning queen of Haitian song. Her songs merge native Haitian compas and rara with jazz, pop, bossa nova, and samba. A captivating performer, versatile vocalist, accomplished dancer, songwriter, and producer, Emeline sings in French and Haitian Creole, and her worldwide concerts and seven CDs have catapulted her to international acclaim.

Since trumpeter Charlie Porter formed his quartet in 2005, the group has been steadily forging a strong reputation on the international jazz circuit and in NYC venues, including Jazz at Lincoln Center's Dizzy's Club. Charlie received his training at The Juilliard School and the Conservatoire de Paris, and was the first to win the National Trumpet Competition in both the jazz and classical divisions. As a composer, he has been commissioned by Chamber Music America and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and has worked with noted musicians such as Paquito D'Rivera and Joe Zawinul.

In 2007, the Charlie Porter Quartet was one of six groups chosen by Jazz at Lincoln Center to act as international Jazz Ambassadors, touring Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Togo, Côte d'Ivoire, and Cameroon.

The other highly acclaimed members of the quartet are Adam Birnbaum, piano; Joseph Lepore, bass; and Quincy Davis, drums.

Hailed as a "superb ensemble" by New Music Connoisseur, Sospiro Winds is quickly establishing itself as an exciting new force on the chamber music scene. Originally formed in 2004, the ensemble began performing while at the Yale School of Music. Since then, Sospiro has continued its efforts to bring the wind quintet repertoire to diverse audiences throughout the US, winning many awards, promoting new repertoire for the wind quintet, and enjoying a busy performance calendar including a recital at Carnegie Hall.

Sospiro Winds comprises Kelli Kathman, flute; James Austin Smith, oboe; Romie de Guise-Langlois, clarinet; Adrian Morejon, bassoon; and Alana Vegter, horn.

The Toomai String Quintet is an ensemble devoted to performing classical and contemporary repertoire while also exploring and arranging music from around the world. Winner of the 92nd Street Y‘s 2007 Music Unlocked! Competition, the quintet has appeared in chamber series at Lincoln Center and Kaufmann Concert Hall, as well as in clubs, public schools, hospitals, and community centers throughout the NYC area.

Formed in 2007 at The Juilliard School, the quintet is named after Rudyard Kipling’s short story “Toomai of the Elephants,” about a young boy who follows his elephant into the jungle to witness the dance of the wild elephants. The Toomai String Quintet aspires to cultivate a similar sense of curiosity and discovery by searching for diverse music and sharing it with its audience.

The quintet comprises of violinists Emilie-Anne Gendron and Amie Weiss, violist Erin Wight, cellist John Popham, and bassist Andrew Roitstein.

Nós Novo is a group of New York musicians who explore jigs, reels, sean-nós songs, and other styles of traditional Irish and UK folk music through improvisation. Blending this music with genres from other music cultures, they also re-imagine the works of North and South American (as well as European) composers and songwriters through the "lens" of Irish music. Simply put, this band experiments with making Björk, Bob Dylan, and Jacob Do Bandolim tunes sound Irish, and alternately making Irish music sound like it's from Brazil, Bahrain, or Brooklyn.

Fiery Balkan brass, throbbing grooves, accordion wizardry, and virtuoso jazz chops make Slavic Soul Party! New York City's official number-one brass band for Balkan soul and gypsy funk. Nine people strong, SSP! pumps a Balkan brass sound through the filter of life in New York's outer boroughs, making new music out of the unplanned results of immigration, proximity, and globalization.

Chris Washburne and the SYOTOS Band”s release Paradise In Trouble on Jazzheads Records was nominated as the best Latin jazz records of 2004. Their most recent release, Fields of Moons, was voted the best jazz release of the week by All About Jazz.

Chris Washburne is Associate Professor of Ethnomusicology at Columbia University and the Founding Director of Columbia’s Louis Armstrong Jazz Performance Program. He has published numerous articles on jazz, Latin jazz, and salsa. His newest book, Sounding Salsa: Performing Latin Music in New York, was published in 2008 by Temple University Press. He co-edited the volume Bad Music (2004) and is currently working on a book on Latin Jazz, which will be published by Oxford University Press in 2011. As a performer, he was voted as a “Rising Star of the Trombone” in both the 2008, 2009, and 2010 Downbeat Critics Poll. He has recorded over 150 albums and performed with numerous jazz and Latin groups including Tito Puente, Anthony Braxton, Duke Ellington Orchestra, Ruben Blades, Justin Timberlake, Celia Cruz, Marc Anthony, Ray Barretto, and Eddie Palmieri.

Composer and teaching artist Daniel Levy’s unique creative perspective and musical insight have energized workshops and classes for pre-K–12, college and graduate students, and faculty and administrators in the NYC area since 1988, in association with Lincoln Center Institute for the Arts in Education, the Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall, the 92nd Street Y, the Harmony Program (El Systema in America), Symphony Space, New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Philadelphia Orchestra, Musicians for Harmony, Young Audiences New York, and the Park Avenue Armory. His dynamic classroom presence and ability to collaborate with classroom teachers have made him one of New York’s favorite teaching artists.

Mr. Levy’s music for theater includes scores for more than 40 NYC and regional productions with Manhattan Ensemble Theater, La MaMa, Dance Theater Workshop, HERE Arts Center, BAX, New Dramatists, Cucaracha, the York Theater, Shakespeare & Co., Orlando Shakespeare Festival, Imagination Stage, Juilliard and Fordham University Lincoln Center. His opera THE SINGING won the prestigious Richard Rodgers Award in 1999. Recent full-length work: LAUGHING PICTURES – A HOLLYWOOD ODYSSEY (a rock/R&B musical) and THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES (a music theater piece for puppets and actors). Daniel’s music has received support from the Richard Rodgers Foundation, Loewe Foundation, Henson Foundation, Harburg Foundation, The Hermitage, Jerome Foundation, New Dramatists, Goethe Institute, Vanden Heuvel Foundation and Meet the Composer. Mr. Levy holds a bachelor’s degree from Miami University in Music Composition and a master’s degree from NYU/Tisch in Musical Theater Writing.

Singer/whistler/teacher Emily Eagen is a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, an alumna of Macalester College and The University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a former Fulbright scholar to The Hague, the Netherlands. Emily lives and works in New York City, where she is an active performer of early music, contemporary music, and traditional American music, as well as an avid experimenter with both voice and instruments in musical genres of all kinds.

Ensemble ACJW

Ensemble ACJW is an inspirational collective of outstanding young professional musicians from The Academy that has earned accolades from critics and audiences alike for the quality of its performances as well as it fresh and open-minded approach to performance and programming.

All members of the group are alumni or current fellows of The Academy, a two-year program that supports them as they develop careers as top-quality performers, innovative programmers, and dedicated teachers who are fully engaged with the communities in which they live and work. Visit acjw.org to learn more.

Bassoonist Brad Balliett graduated summa cum laude from Harvard University in 2005, where he majored in composition under Robert Levin, Elliott Gyger, and John Harbison, and studied bassoon with Richard Ranti. Brad completed his master’s degree at Rice University's Shepherd School of Music in 2007, where he was a student of Benjamin Kamins. Upon graduation from Rice, Brad played second bassoon in the Houston Symphony during its 2007–2008 season. Brad has appeared at such festivals as Tanglewood, Lucerne, Aspen, and Spoleto USA. As a composer, Brad's music has been widely heard, including performances at Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New England Conservatory, Rice University, Boston University, Aspen Music Festival, New York University, Northwestern University, the Salle Cortot at the École Normale de Musique in Paris, and on National Public Radio. Also active as a rapper, Brad performs as part of the experimental hip-hop dyad The Oracle Hysterical.

Brad is a part of Ensemble ACJW for Musical Connections.

Cellist Claire Bryant has appeared as a soloist with the Kuopion Symphony Orchestra of Finland, the National Symphony of Honduras in Tegucigalpa, the San Francisco Conservatory Orchestra, and the South Carolina Philharmonic Orchestra. An active chamber musician, she has collaborated with Donald Weilerstein, the Peabody Trio, Roger Tapping, Maria Lambros, and members of the St. Lawrence, Orion, Mendelssohn, and Pacifica string quartets. She is a founding member of the TETRAS Quartet, a string quartet dedicated to the study, performance, and promotion of repertoire of the 20th and 21st centuries. She is the founder, producer, and artistic director of the acclaimed chamber music series With Strings Attached, which has raised over $10,000 for arts education in her native state of South Carolina. Claire received her Bachelor of Music degree from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and her Master of Music degree from The Juilliard School.

Claire is a part of Ensemble ACJW for Musical Connections.

At the age of 17, flutist Julietta Curenton made her debut with the National Symphony under the baton of Marvin Hamlisch. In addition, she has appeared as soloist with the Baltimore Symphony, Kennedy Center Institute Orchestra, and the US Army Orchestra. She has participated in various summer festivals, including the Boston University Tanglewood Institute Orchestra, the National Repertory Orchestra (Colorado), and Spoleto Music Festival (Italy). Her awards and honors as a soloist include first prizes in the young artist competitions sponsored by the National Symphony Orchestra, the Fairfax Band, and the National Flute Association. A native of Virginia, Julietta began studying the flute at the age of six. Her teachers have included Jeanne Baxtresser, Carol Wincenc, and Peter Lloyd.

Julietta is a part of Ensemble ACJW for Musical Connections.

A native of Newfoundland, Canada, flutist Elizabeth Janzen is rapidly establishing herself in the New York City area as a prominent teacher and performer. After competing at a national level while still in high school, Elizabeth pursued formal studies at the University of Toronto and the Manhattan School of Music, where she is presently a doctoral candidate. Elizabeth has participated in internationally renowned programs such as the National Academy Orchestra, the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, and the Sarasota Music Festival. She has also collaborated with such conductors as Pierre Boulez and David Robertson, and in 2005 she gave her New York debut recital at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall. Elizabeth works actively as a freelance musician for orchestras, shows, and special events, and is currently on the faculty at the Manhattan School of Music Pre-College.

Elizabeth is a part of Ensemble ACJW for Musical Connections.

Alicia Lee has performed under the batons of Pierre Boulez, James Conlon, Charles Dutoit, and Michael Tilson Thomas. She is currently Associate Principal of the Santa Barbara Symphony. Other orchestral appearances include the New World, Charleston, and Pacific symphonies, as well as the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra. She has participated in several festivals, including the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, San Luis Obispo Mozart Festival, the Spoleto festivals of Italy and the US, the Lucerne Festival Academy, and the Yellow Barn Music Festival. Alicia was selected for two Carnegie Hall workshops, performing the music of John Adams under the baton of the composer, and Messiaen with David Robertson. Alicia holds degrees from Columbia University and the University of Southern California. She recently completed a certificate program at the Colburn School as a student of Yehuda Gilad.

Alicia is a part of Ensemble ACJW for Musical Connections.

Horn player Alma Maria Liebrecht is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and the Yale School of Music, where she studied with Jerome Ashby and William Purvis. Alma has performed with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, the Jupiter Chamber Players, and at the Music from Angel Fire and Norfolk Chamber Music festivals. In addition, she has presented solo recitals at the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, and for the Friday Morning Music Club in Washington, DC. Alma has also performed with the New York City Opera, the Richmond and Delaware symphonies, the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, and Symphony in C (formerly the Haddonfield Symphony), where she was principal horn from 2005 to 2007. A native of Silver Spring, Maryland, Alma enjoys running and a double musical life as a violinist. Alma is a part of Ensemble ACJW for Musical Connections.

Born in Kansas City, Missouri, trumpeter Paul Murphy has performed in renowned concert halls throughout Europe, Asia, and the Americas including the Seoul Arts Centre, Teatro Colón, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Alice Tully Hall, and Carnegie Hall. Formerly Principal Trumpet of the Daejeon Philharmonic in South Korea, he has also performed with the Kansas City Symphony, and has worked with leading conductors and composers including Sir Neville Marriner, David Robertson, Peter Oundjian, Michael Stern, Krzysztof Penderecki, and John Williams. In 2006 he appeared as a soloist with the New Haven Chamber Orchestra, and he has also performed as a tour soloist with the St. Olaf Band. Paul has participated in numerous summer festivals, including the Music Academy of the West, where he worked with Paul Merkelo and Joe Burgstaller. Paul holds degrees from the Yale School of Music and St. Olaf College, where he studied with Allan Dean, Martin Hodel, and Charles Lazarus.

Paul is a part of Ensemble ACJW for Musical Connections.

Cellist Saeunn Thorsteinsdottir has appeared as a recital and chamber musician across the US, Germany, France, Poland, Italy, and her native Iceland. She has also performed as a solo with the Des Moines Symphony (Iowa), Ísafold Chamber Orchestra (Iceland), and the Silesian Philharmonic (Poland), in addition to being featured on National Public Radio, Icelandic National Radio, and PBS. Saeunn has garnered numerous awards, including the Zara Nelsova Prize in the Naumburg International Violoncello Competition in New York City, and the Janigro Family and Romanini Foundation prizes in the Antonio Janigro International Cello Competition in Zagreb, Croatia. An avid chamber musician, she has collaborated with Mitsuko Uchida, Itzhak Perlman, and Kim Kashkashian. Saeunn studied at the Cleveland Institute of Music and the Paris Conservatory, and received her master's degree from The Juilliard School, where her principle teachers included Richard Aaron, Tanya Carey, and Joel Krosnick.

Saeunn is a part of Ensemble ACJW for Musical Connections.