American Composers Orchestra (ACO) is dedicated to the creation, performance, promotion, and celebration of music by American composers. ACO makes the creation of new opportunities for American composers and new American orchestral music its central purpose. Through concerts at Carnegie Hall and other venues, educational programs, New Music Readings, and commissions, ACO identifies today’s brightest emerging composers, champions prominent established composers as well as those lesser-known, and increases regional, national, and international awareness of the infinite variety of American orchestral music, reflecting geographic, stylistic, and temporal diversity. ACO also serves as an incubator of ideas, research, and talent, as a catalyst for growth and change among orchestras, and as an advocate for American composers and their music. Visit americancomposers.org for more information.

In his ninth season as music director of American Composers Orchestra, the wide-ranging and versatile George Manahan has an esteemed career that embraces everything from opera to the concert stage, the traditional to the contemporary. In addition to his work with ACO, Manahan continues his commitment to working with young musicians as director of orchestral studies at the Manhattan School of Music as well as guest conductor at the Curtis Institute of Music. He also serves as music director of Portland Opera.

Manahan was music director at New York City Opera for 14 seasons. His recording activities have included Steve Reich’s Tehillim for ECM, Edward Thomas’s Desire Under the Elms (Grammy nomination), Joe Jackson’s Will Power, and Tobias Picker’s Emmeline. His enthusiasm for contemporary music continues today; he has conducted numerous world premieres, including Charles Wuorinen’s Haroun and the Sea of Stories, David Lang’s modern painters, Terence Blanchard’s Champion, Tobias Picker’s Dolores Claiborne, and Bright Sheng’s Dream of the Red Chamber. As music director of the Richmond Symphony in Virginia for 12 years, he was honored four times by the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) for his commitment to 20th-century music.

Critically acclaimed by virtually every major outlet covering classical music, American mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton is increasingly recognized for how she uses her powerful instrument offstage, lifting up women, queer people, and other marginalized communities. Her lively social media presence on Instagram and Twitter (@jbartonmezzo) serves as a hub for conversations about body positivity, diet culture, social justice issues, and LGBTQ+ rights. She is proud to volunteer with Turn the Spotlight, an organization working to identify, nurture, and empower leaders among women and people of color—and in turn, to illuminate the path to a more equitable future in the arts.

Barton is the winner of the Beverly Sills Artist Award, Richard Tucker Award, BBC Cardiff Singer of the World competition, and Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Her debut album, All Who Wander, earned the 2018 BBC Music Magazine Vocal Award.

This season, Barton is the featured performer on Last Night of the Proms at London’s Royal Albert Hall, bringing the 2019 BBC Proms festival to a close. She appears as Léonor in La favorite at Houston Grand Opera, Eboli in Don Carlo at Dallas Opera, Fricka in Die Walküre at Reykjavík Arts Festival, and Brangäne in Tristan und Isolde with Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Santa Fe Opera. Barton brings her feminist recital with pianist Kathleen Kelly to Wigmore Hall in London, Spivey Hall outside of Atlanta, and Herbst Theatre in San Francisco. She returns to the Metropolitan Opera for role debuts as the titular Orfeo in Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice and as Elisabetta in Donizetti’s Maria Stuarda, with a Live in HD performance of the latter simulcast to cinemas in more than 70 countries.

JIJI is an adventurous artist on both acoustic and electric guitars, playing an extensive range of music from traditional and contemporary classical music to free improvisation. Her impeccable musicianship combined with compelling stage presence and fascinating repertoire earned the Korean guitarist first prize at the 2016 Concert Artists Guild International Competition.

Career highlights include performances at an array of venues and festivals, including Carnegie Hall, 92nd Street Y, Festival Napa Valley, Krannert Center, Purdue Convocations, Virginia Arts Festival, National Sawdust, Miller Theatre, Mass MoCA, SubCulture, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Princeton Sound Kitchen, and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Her recent tours of Hong Kong included collaborations with a performance artist, a traditional Chinese instrument ensemble, and an erhu player in art galleries, clubs, and even on a moving trolley.

A passionate advocate of new music, JIJI has premiered Paul Lansky’s Talking Guitars, released on Bridge Records, and works by Nina C. Young, Gabriella Smith, Riho Esko Maimets, Krists Auznieks, Gulli Björnsson, Andrew McIntosh, and Farnood HaghaniPour. In addition, she performs her own compositions, incorporating electronic media and acoustic music. Her works are influenced by her activities as a DJ, highlighting the electronic dance styles of happy hardcore and Berlin experimental electronica. As a chamber musician, she has performed with members of Eighth Blackbird, Bang on a Can All-Stars, wild Up, and the Aizuri Quartet.

JIJI is currently based in Tempe, Arizona, where she is assistant professor of guitar at Arizona State University.