Last Night I Touched Him

Jordan Alexander Key (b. 1990) currently pursues his PhD in composition and musicology at the University of Florida. He earned bachelor’s degrees in music composition, mathematics, and Eastern Asian philosophy from The College of Wooster (2013), as well as a master’s degree in music composition from the University of Arizona (2015).

His significant recent projects include his Kennedy Center Premier in May of 2019 of his ballet, To Say Pi; his European premier with Vienna’s PHACE Ensemble performing his octet, Threnody on the Death of Children; a performance by Boston String Quartet of his String Quartet No. 1; a concert with Bold City Contemporary Ensemble performing both his trio, March for the 12th Hour, and his Quintet, Discursus Anachronismus; a collaboration with the Vancouver Queer Arts Festival for his art song, God Ourselves; and the display of his recent audio-visual projects as part of the Wolfsburg Kunstmuseum’s new exhibit, Never Ending Stories: The Loop in Art, Film, Architecture, and Music, in Germany during the Winter and Spring of 2018.

Jordan gives regular concerts on his two instruments: the pipe organ and bagpipes. His performance repertoire focuses primary on music from the Middle Ages, Early Renaissance, and Early Baroque. Find his work on his YouTube channel, “Jordan Alexander Key”.

Songs of Bronze

Nicole Russell (b. 1997) is an African-American and Mexican-American composer born and raised in Austin, Texas, currently living in San Antonio. Her work includes art songs, choral music, instrumental chamber ensembles, electro-acoustic music, and has been performed at various events, including the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) Festival of New Music in 2018 as a featured student composer, and the Women in Music Festival on the campus of the Mississippi University for Women.

She has been the recipient of awards such the Presser Undergraduate Scholar Award, and won 2nd place at the SOLI Ensemble Invitation Composition Competition. She is also a mezzo-soprano and pianist, and has performed as a finalist in the National Association of Teachers of Singing South Texas Competition, has sung as a soloist with full orchestra and choir, and works as an accompanist. She is a member of the Chancel Choir and Hand Bell Choir at Central Christian Church in downtown San Antonio, and teaches piano and voice lessons to children. She is currently studying music composition at the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Come My Tan-Faced Children

Composer Melissa Dunphy specializes in political, vocal, and theatrical music. She first came to national attention when her large-scale work the Gonzales Cantata was featured in The Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, National Review, Fox News, and on The Rachel Maddow Show, and was staged by American Opera Theater in a sold-out run.

Other notable works include the song cycle "Tesla's Pigeon," which won first place in the NATS Art Song Composition Award, and choral work "What do you think I fought for at Omaha Beach?" which won the Simon Carrington Chamber Singers Competition and has been performed by ensembles including Chanticleer and Cantus. Dunphy has been composer-in-residence for the Immaculata Symphony Orchestra, Volti, and the St. Louis Chamber Chorus. She also composes frequently for theater and is Director of Music Composition for the O'Neill National Puppetry Conference. Dunphy has a Ph.D. in composition from the University of Pennsylvania and a B.M. from West Chester University.

Open Your Mouth

Ashi Day is a composer and educator working in Washington, DC, interested in exploring unconventional intersections between music and theater, using the voice as a compositional tool, and creating meaningful works for all ability levels and ages.  

Ashi creates vocally driven works created as much for the experience of the performers as the listeners. Recently, she has been a festival artist at New Music DC, Opera From Scratch, the Music by Women Festival, and the Women Composers Festival of Hartford. She has co-created theatrical works for DC’s Source and Capital Fringe Festivals. Pieces have been commissioned or performed by ensembles and individuals from Florida to Alaska, including Juventas New Music Ensemble, Cantate Chamber Singers, Cantilena Women’s Chorale, Connecticut Yankee Chorale, Bucknell University, Mat-Su Community Chorus, and Anthology Quartet. Ashi studied composition at Bucknell University and Westminster Choir College; teachers include William Duckworth, Jackson Hill, Stefan Young, and Joel Phillips. 

Equally dedicated to education, Ashi taught in public schools for half a decade. She later earned her Ed.M. in Arts in Education from Harvard as an Urban Scholars Fellow. She now works at the Kennedy Center, creating opportunities for people of all ages to experience, explore, learn through, and train in music and opera. She also works with the Boulanger Initiative, supporting music by women(+) past and present.

As a soprano, she is a section leader at St. John’s Episcopal Church in McLean, VA, and is available for all Christmas caroling and car-trip-round-singing needs.

Harp My Bones

Driven by a constant curiosity, composer TIMOTHY PETERSON draws on a kaleidoscope of influences. Finding inspiration in sources ranging from impressionist, jazz, and classical Arabic styles to literature from the French- and Spanish-speaking worlds, he aims to welcome audiences into musical narratives of genre-crossing expressivity.

Timothy’s music has been performed in the US and Europe at venues ranging from art galleries and distilleries to concert halls such as Lincoln Center. Ensembles that have presented Timothy's music include the New York Philharmonic, Music, Sō Percussion, and Duo Cortona. His Duet for Body Percussion, which features an original notational system, was recently incorporated into introductory composition classes at the Mannes School of Music and the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance.

A frequent participant in festivals including the Bang on a Can Summer Music Festival at MASS MoCA, the Silk Road Ensemble's Global Musician Workshop, and the Gabriela Lena Frank Creative Academy of Music, Timothy holds a MM in Composition from the University of Southern California. He also holds a BM in Composition and BA in Comparative Literature from the University of Michigan, where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa. Timothy has studied composition under Sean Friar, Frank Ticheli, Kristin Kuster, Evan Chambers, Paul Schoenfeld, Erik Santos, and Kyle Blaha. As a pianist, he has studied under Alan Smith, Martin Katz, and Wilma Machover. Timothy has also studied Carnatic singing in Mysore, Afro-Cuban batá drumming in Havana, and the Arabic zither in Tangier.

Timothy is a self-publishing member of ASCAP.