CEMI People

CEMI Director

Panayiotis Kokoras

Kokoras is an internationally award-winning composer and computer music innovator, and currently Professor of composition and CEMI director (Center for Experimental Music and Intermedia) at the University of North Texas. Hailing from Greece, he underwent formal training in classical guitar and composition in Athens (Dip), Greece, and later in York, England (MA, PhD). He taught for many years at Aristotle University in Thessaloniki. Kokoras's sound compositions use sound as the only structural unit. His concept of "holophonic musical texture" describes his goal that each independent sound (phonos), contributes equally into the synthesis of the total (holos). In both instrumental and electroacoustic writing, his music calls upon a "virtuosity of sound," a hyper-idiomatic writing which emphasizes on the precise production of variable sound possibilities and the correct distinction between one timbre and another to convey the musical ideas and structure of the piece. His compositional oeuvre draws inspiration from his in-depth exploration of domains such as Music Information Retrieval compositional strategies, extended techniques, tactile sound, Instrumental Prosthetics, Robotics, and the intriguing relationship between sound and consciousness. Kokoras's works have received significant recognition, with commissions and fellowships from renowned institutions and festivals including the Guggenheim Foundation (USA), Fromm Music Foundation (Harvard), IRCAM (France), MATA (New York), Gaudeamus (Netherlands), ZKM (Germany), and IMEB (France), among others. His compositions have graced over 1000 performances across the globe, amassing an impressive array of 90 awards and distinctions in international competitions. His compositions have consistently been chosen by juries from over 300 international calls for music. He stands as a founding member of the Hellenic Electroacoustic Music Composers Association (HELMCA) and held positions including board member and president from 2004 to 2012. Presently, he assumes the role of Secretary of the International Confederation of Electroacoustic Music (ICEM). He also served as conference chair for the ICMC 2015 and SMC 2018 and regularly serves as jury member in composition competitions and conferences. For more information, please visit his official website.

Staff

Benjamin Damann

Benjamin Damann is a composer, percussionist, and music technologist. His works — inspired by probability, indeterminacy, improvisation, and the timbral manipulation of acoustic instruments through physical preparation and electroacoustic augmentation — have been performed throughout the United States and Europe.

He is devoted to realizing electronic, experimental, and graphical works for percussion as well as programming software to aid in the performance of such works. Benjamin holds a BM in percussion performance with a concentration in composition from Eastern Illinois University, an MM in Composition from Bowling Green State University, and is currently pursuing his PhD from the University of North Texas.

PJ Mooney 

Composer, vocalist, and pianist PJ Mooney (b. 2000) explores story-driven narratives, theatrics, social issues, and the queer experience through music. With an emphasis on exploring interdisciplinary and collaborative approaches, Mooney has worked with musicians, visual artists, poets, filmmakers, and scientists. His styles and genres of interest include neo-classical, neo-romantic, electroacoustic, and modern contemporary musics.

 

 

Benjamin Shirey

Benjamin Shirey (was CEMI staff from 2013-2016 and is currently serving), a native Texas composer and artist, obtained his bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of North Texas under the mentorship of renowned composers like Jon Nelson, David Stout, Cindy McTee, Andrew May, and Panayiotis Kokoras. His work, from experimental opera to film scores, delves deep into acoustic phenomenology, art teleology, artificial life, and immersive systems. His film contributions, such as “Hustler of Providence” and “The Great Hanging,” have earned significant accolades.

Beyond composition, he is passionate about entrepreneurship and instrument building. Now, Shirey is back at the University of North Texas, pursuing a Ph.D. in Composition, hoping to continue exploring the ever-expanding horizons of music and art.

                                                               

Colin Stokes 

I hold degrees in performance from Eastman School of Music and The Juilliard School and I am currently pursuing a PhD in Composition with a focus in Computer Music Media and a minor in Artificial Intelligence in Computer Music Systems Design. My music can be heard on eighteen albums, including records from Universal Music/Polydor, Warner Music Japan, EMI, and Albany Records and I have received awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation as well as the 2023 Presser Graduate Award. I tour as a member of the German electro-classical group Symphoniacs and the American contemporary classical music ensemble Zohn Collective, and during busy years my live and televised performances have been seen and heard by as many as 25 million people. I have shared the stage with a diverse cast of characters, from Yo-Yo Ma and John Williams, to Chaka Khan and Lady Gaga. I was featured on an episode of Germany’s Next Top Model with Heidi Klum filmed in LA, and in 2017 I performed the countdown to the New Year in Berlin for a live audience of 1 million people. My work at the University of North Texas with Dr. Marco Buongiorno Nardelli is focused on algorithmic processes using Python and Ableton Live, and we are active contributors to the AbletonOSC Python library. 

Shahrzad Talebi

Shahrzad Talebi is a composer, sound artist, and educator from Tehran, Iran. In her work, timbre is the main focus as a means for exploring new soundscapes, color, time, space, and concepts. Her work has been recognized and performed at the Electronic Music Midwest festival, Splice Festival, Taproot New Music Festival, Toledo Symphony Orchestra reading session, BGSU MicroOpera, Fifteen Minutes-of-Fame (Drew Hosler), the electroacoustic music competition “Reza Korourian Awards”;  and has been performed by Unheard-of//Ensemble as part of the Klingler ElectroAcoustic Residency, and The _____ Experiment Ensemble.

She holds a bachelor's degree in composition from Tehran University of Art and a master of music from Bowling Green State University, where she studied with Dr. Elainie Lillios, Dr. Mikel Kuehn, and Dr. Christopher Dietz. Currently, she is pursuing a Ph.D. in composition at the University of North Texas as a teaching fellow.

Kahan Taraporevala

Kahan Taraporevala's primary goals are to give expression to his heartfelt drive to compose meaningful music and bring people together through the transformative power of the creative arts. He envisions his compositions as an avenue to explore ideas, foster meaningful conversations, and ultimately unify individuals through shared musical experiences. Kahan is also a pianist, choral conductor, producer, and teacher. His works have been performed by choirs and ensembles in the United States, Canada, Singapore and India.

Kahan completed a BM in Music Composition (Founders Scholar) with a Minor in Conducting from the Jacobs School of Music, Indiana University in 2022. Kahan also completed an MM in Music Composition at the University of North Texas College of Music and is now continuing on in to complete a PhD in Music Composition at UNT. Kahan contributes through his compositions, working alongside dancers and visual artists, and his teaching positions.

Faculty and Staff Affiliates

Joseph Klein

Joseph Klein holds degrees in composition from Indiana University (DM, 1991), University of California, San Diego (MA, 1986), and California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (BA, 1984). His composition teachers have included Harvey Sollberger, Claude Baker, Robert Erickson, and Roger Reynolds. He is currently Distinguished Professor at the University of North Texas College of Music, where he has served as Chair of Composition Studies since 1999. Klein's compositions for various media have been performed and broadcast internationally, and he has been a featured guest composer at academic institutions, performance venues, conferences, and music festivals throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. His recorded works are available on the Innova, Centaur, Crystal, and Mark labels. 

Stephen Lucas

Stephen Lucas is a composer, video artist, and technical developer and functions as the Lead Creative Programmer for the iARTA research network and College of Music. He is best known for his strikingly abstract computer audio/video works; he also writes many works involving live performers. His compositions have been performed throughout the United States but he strives to embrace online audiences. His other interests include electronics, cybernetics, and metaphysics.

 

 

Andrew May

Composer, violinist, and computer musician Andrew May was CEMI director from 2005-2016, 2019-2020, and 2022-2023. He is best known for his interactive computer music; he also writes many purely acoustic works. His compositions have been performed in at least a dozen European and Asian countries and throughout the United States. He has performed internationally as a violinist, conductor, and improviser.

 

Elizabeth McNutt

Flutist Elizabeth McNutt is a leading interpreter of contemporary repertoire, and electroacoustic music in particular. She has premiered over 150 new works and performed widely in Europe, Asia, and the U.S. Her solo CD pipe wrench, on the Electronic Music Foundation Media label, has been described as "astounding" (Flute Talk), "high-octane" (Musicworks), and "a delightful listen" (SEAMUS Newsletter). Her other recordings are on the CRI and SEAMUS labels. Her writing has been published in Organized Sound, Music Theory Online, and Flutist Quarterly. McNutt holds a DMA in contemporary music performance from the UC San Diego.McNutt is on the faculty of the University of North Texas, where she teaches flute and directs the new music ensemble Nova.

Marco Buongiorno Nardelli

Marco Buongiorno Nardelli is University Distinguished Research Professor at the University of North Texas in the Departments of Physics and Chemistry. Composer, flutist and computational materials physicist, he is a member of iARTA, the Initiative for Advanced Research in Technology and the Arts and of CEMI, the Center for Experimental Music and Intermedia. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society and of the Institute of Physics, and a Parma Recordings artist. His scientific research is at the forefront of computational materials and high-performance simulations, with particular emphasis on theoretical developments of ab initio methods for electronic structure of solid state systems, high-throughput computational techniques and computational materials design with a strong vision for sustainable development of scientific software. His Art-Science practice orbits around the duality of data sonification: translation of complex events in sonic material, and object for musical poiesis. Data are raw elements for a compositional process that transcends the materiality of the original information in a post-sonification praxis: the data stream is open for elaboration as principal element of a data-driven compositional environment. He uses these data as a sculptor would use clay (the raw data) to mold any object or create any design (the music).

Jon Christopher Nelson

Jon Christopher Nelson (b. 1960) is currently a Professor at the University of North Texas where he serves as an associate of CEMI (Center for Experimental Music and Intermedia) and also the Associate Dean of Operations. Nelson's electroacoustic music compositions have been performed widely throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. He has been honored with numerous awards including fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Fulbright Commission. He is the recipient of Luigi Russolo and Bourges Prizes and was recently awarded the Bourges Euphonies d'Or prize. In addition to his electro-acoustic works, Nelson has composed a variety of acoustic compositions that have been performed by ensembles such as the New World Symphony, the Memphis Symphony, the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra, ALEA III, and others. He has composed in residence at Sweden's national Electronic Music Studios and at IMEB in Bourges, France. His works can be heard on the Bourges, Russolo Pratella, Innova, CDCM, NEUMA, ICMC, and SEAMUS labels. 

David Stout

David Stout is a performance director, installation artist and live cinema performer exploring the capabilities of new media to forge collaborative communities, synthesize evolving ecological systems and compose dramatic interactive visual-music works on a symphonic scale. He is a professor in the iARTA research network, where he works with students and faculty from across the arts, sciences and engineering.

 

 

Ruth West

Ruth West is an artist-scientist - a creative catalyst. She envisions a future in which art + science integration opens new portals of imagination, invention, knowledge, and communication across cultures to create breakthrough solutions for our most pressing global problems. Ruth directs the xREZ Art + Science Lab and is an associate professor at the University of North Texas cross-appointed in the College of Visual Art and Design (New Media Art & Design), College of Information (Information Sciences), College of Engineering (Computer Science) and College of Arts and Sciences (Biological Sciences). Utilizing emerging technologies her work builds resonant connections between the arts and sciences to create new ways of seeing and knowing. Bridging high-dimensional data and metadata, information visualization and sonificaiton, virtual reality, augmented and/or mixed reality, 3D fabrication, and social and mobile participatory media with domains such as urban ecology, neuroscience, genomics, astronomy, fiber arts and digital remix culture, Ruth explores avenues for achieving works with multiple entry points that can exist concurrently as aesthetic experiences, artistic practice or cultural interventions and serve as the basis for artistically-impelled scientific inquiry and tools. This work results in new knowledge and insight, technology R&D, novel artworks, large-scale public engagement and entertainment experiences, cross-disciplinary educational and research opportunities and industry-academic-community partnerships. She has authored over 70+ peer-reviewed exhibitions, publications, conference presentations and public talks, and has received several million dollars in grants and corporate sponsorship. Her work has been presented in venues including: Los Angeles Municipal Art Gallery, FILE 09 Sao Paulo, SIGGRAPH, WIRED Magazine's NextFest, Perot Museum of Nature and Science, IEEE Visualization, SPIE/IS&T ERVR, Leonardo and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 

Affiliated Organizations

ICEM

The International Confederation of Electroacoustic Music (ICEM) founded in 1981 in Bourges, France. The Center for Experimental Music and Intermedia (CEMI) joined the confederation and became an Organization/ Institution Member since 2006.  In 2014, CEMI hosted the CIME/ICEM Annual Conference and Festival. The objectives of the Confederation is to promote at an international level the various aspects of electroacoustic music :  - by providing opportunities for the creation of new works - by encouraging: production, creation and research, distribution of compositions, pedagogy, meetings of its professionals (composers, researchers, performers, and teachers), dissemination and communication of knowledge and electroacoustic techniques. - by organizing collaborations with national bodies, international organizations and various professional areas concerning the above-mentioned objectives. ICEM became the 18th International Organization Member (I.O.M) of the International Music Council /IMC-Unesco in 1983. ICEM currently has 15 National Federations consisting of Argentina, Belgium, Chile, China, Cuba, Finland, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, and Ukraine. As well as, 10 Organization/ Institution Members from Colombia, France, Iran, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, Russia, Spain. Switzerland, USA.

The Foundation Destellos

The Foundation Destellos is created in 2007 in Mar del Plata, Argentine, by initiative of Dr Elsa Justel. It is a private and independent organization with juridical status. Conducted by an Administration board and a relevant team of Argentine and foreign artists and searchers. After an intensive trajectory as composer and video artist, Dr Justel assumes the responsibility of this Foundation on behalf of the artistic creation, the sciences and technologies of art, in order to stimulate and sustain all those initiatives tending to the development of culture and human knowledge. The Foundation has as priority purpose to hold the new generations of artists, searchers and technicians whose objectives are oriented in this sense.

xREZ Art + Science Lab

xREZ Art + Science Lab is a unique blending of creative studio and research lab. We forge productive paths that harness the unique creative forces found only at the intersection of the arts, sciences and humanities to open new portals of imagination, knowledge and communication. Our visionary team is composed of students, faculty and collaborators working in computer science, new media arts, anthropology, behavioral psychology, photography, music, journalism, art education, information science, hospitality management, urban ecology, geospatial analysis, art education, political science, history, and biomedicine. We create breakthrough solutions to problems that require collaboration across disciplines by developing emerging technologies, new knowledge, public engagement, and cross-sector partnerships.

Former Directors

Larry Austin

Composer Larry Austin studied with Violet Archer at North Texas State University, with Darius Milhaud at Mills College, and with Seymour Shifrin and Andrew Imbrie at the University of California in Berkeley. Austin taught at the University of California at Davis, the University of South Florida, and in 1978 began teaching at the University of North Texas, where he co-founded CEMI and established the computer music studios. In 1966, Austin founded SOURCE magazine, which became the primary house organ for avant-garde music-making in America until 1971. In 1986, Austin founded CDCM (the Consortium to Distribute Computer Music) which, through Centaur Records, has released more than 20 compilation discs of computer music, including some of Austin's own. Although much of Austin's computer music is considered groundbreaking, and some of his conventionally scored music, such as the zany piano piece Tango Violento (1984), has elicited positive comment, Austin is best known for a work he didn't compose -- his edition of Charles Ives' "Universe" Symphony. Austin began in 1974 through attempting to realize Ives' Life Pulse Prelude utilizing the verbal description in Ives' Memos; his realization of the complete symphony was presented for the first time by the Cincinnati Philharmonia in 1996. Austin has received the coveted "Magesterium" prize from the International Electroacoustic Competition in Bourges for his work BluesAx (1996), the first ever awarded to an American composer.

Thomas Clark

Thomas Clark, born 1949 in Detroit, earned a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from The University of Michigan in 1976. He studied composition with Pulitzer Prize winner Leslie Bassett and was trombonist for Contemporary Directions, Michigan's Rockefeller Foundation supported new music repertory ensemble. He has also studied trombone with virtuoso trombonist Stuart Dempster. His compositions have been performed at festivals throughout the U.S.A., in Canada and Japan, three times at “Moravian Autumn” the Brno International Music Festival in the Czech Republic, and at the Festival Internacional Alfonso Reyes in Monterrey, Mexico. Several of his works, affiliated with BMI, are published by Borik Press (based in North Carolina) and recorded on Centaur Records. His writing has appeared in Perspectives of New Music, In Theory Only, Computer Music Journal, New Groves Dictionary of American Music, and Contemporary Composers published by St. James Press. Co-author with Larry Austin of Learning to Compose (1989), Clark also wrote an aural development textbook, ARRAYS, published in 1992.After teaching at The University of Michigan, Indiana University, Pacific Lutheran University, and for 10 summers at the National Music Camp in Interlochen, Michigan, in 1976 Dr. Clark joined the music faculty of the University of North Texas. There he developed the New Music Performance Lab and served as Chair of the Doctor of Musical Arts program and Director of the Center for Experimental Music and Intermedia. He went on to serve eight years as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and one year as Interim Dean of the UNT College of Music. In those administrative roles, he helped found the Texas Center for Music and Medicine, the Center for Shenkerian Studies, the Artist Certificate in Music Performance program, and the “ASPIRE” programs promoting academic success and student retention. He retired from UNT in 2004 and holds the title Professor Emeritus at that institution.

Andrew May

Composer, violinist, and computer musician Andrew May was CEMI director from 2005-2016, 2019-2020, and 2022-2023. He is best known for his interactive computer music; he also writes many purely acoustic works. His compositions have been performed in at least a dozen European and Asian countries and throughout the United States. He has performed internationally as a violinist, conductor, and improviser.

 

 

 

Jon Christopher Nelson

Jon Christopher Nelson (b. 1960) is currently a Professor at the University of North Texas where he serves as an associate of CEMI (Center for Experimental Music and Intermedia) and also the Associate Dean of Operations. Nelson's electroacoustic music compositions have been performed widely throughout the United States, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. He has been honored with numerous awards including fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Fulbright Commission. He is the recipient of Luigi Russolo and Bourges Prizes and was recently awarded the Bourges Euphonies d'Or prize. In addition to his electro-acoustic works, Nelson has composed a variety of acoustic compositions that have been performed by ensembles such as the New World Symphony, the Memphis Symphony, the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra, ALEA III, and others. He has composed in residence at Sweden's national Electronic Music Studios and at IMEB in Bourges, France. His works can be heard on the Bourges, Russolo Pratella, Innova, CDCM, NEUMA, ICMC, and SEAMUS labels. 

Joseph Butch Rovan

Joseph Butch Rovan is a composer/media artist and performer on the faculty of the Department of Music at Brown University, where he co-directs MEME (Multimedia & Electronic Music Experiments @ Brown) and the Ph.D. program in Computer Music and Multimedia. Prior to joining Brown he directed CEMI, the Center for Experimental Music and Intermedia, at the University of North Texas, and was a compositeur en recherche with the Real-Time Systems Team at the Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM) in Paris. Rovan worked at Opcode Systems before leaving for Paris, serving as Product Manager for MAX, OMS and MIDI hardware. Rovan has received prizes from the Bourges International Electroacoustic Music Competition, first prize in the Berlin Transmediale International Media Arts Festival, and his work has been performed throughout Europe and the U.S. He frequently performs his own work, either with various new instrument designs or with augmented acoustic instruments. Rovan's research includes new sensor hardware design and wireless microcontroller systems. His research into gestural control and interactivity has been featured in IRCAM's journal "Resonance", "Electronic Musician", the Computer Music Journal, the Japanese magazine "SoundArts," the CDROM "Trends in Gestural Control of Music" (IRCAM 2000), and in the book "Mapping Landscapes for Performance as Research: Scholarly Acts and Creative Cartographies," (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009).

Philip Winsor

Philip Winsor was professor of music and co-founder and director of the Center for Experimental Music and Intermedia. Winsor, who worked at UNT from 1982 to 2010, earned a bachelor's degree from Illinois Wesleyan University and a master's from San Francisco State University. He completed postgraduate work at the University of California at Berkeley, Milan Conservatory of Music and the University of Illinois. He also taught at DePaul University and National Chiao Tung University in Taiwan. His musical compositions were performed at Carnegie Hall, Radio Cologne, Radio Tel Aviv, Warsaw's Poland Conservatory, the Korea National Institute of the Arts in Seoul and Korea National Education University in Cheong-ju. Other works were commissioned by experimental cinematographers and modern dance companies, and he also exhibited traditional and experimental photographic prints. He held many guest composer residencies, including at the University of Michigan, Amherst University and Electronic Music Plus Festival in Nashville. His honors and grants included the Prix de Rome, a Fulbright Fellowship, a National Endowment for the Arts Composition Fellowship, a Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Study Center Artist Residency and a Ford Foundation for Electronic Music Fellowship. Memorials may be made to the Phil Winsor Scholarship Fund in the College of Music.

Former Faculty Affiliates

 

David Bithell

David Bithell, former Assistant Professor of Composition Studies, creates work that explores intersections between the performing and visual arts. He is the founding coordinator for the UNT Research Cluster, Initiative for Advanced Research in Technology and the Arts (iARTA).

Former CEMI Staff

 

Insun Choi

Insun Choi is a composer, conductor, and piano accompanist from South Korea. She is currently pursuing a master's degree in music composition with an emphasis on media composition at the University of North Texas. Her music works have recently been performed by professional ensembles including Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and The Julius Quartet. She is interested in digital electronic music as well as acoustic and orchestral music and is studying how to blend samples of various distinctive timbres into one piece of music. She is writing and producing music for the concert hall, church, musical, animation, film, and television. She tries to convey various stories and emotions through her music and wishes that people will be comforted through her music.

Connor Scroggins

 

 

 

 

 

Connor Scroggins is a composer who is currently seeking a PhD of Music Composition from University of North Texas. He recently completed a Master of Music from Bowling Green State University in 2022 and previously received a Bachelor of Music from Arkansas State University in 2020. He was a finalist for the 2023 ASCAP/SEAMUS Student Commission. At Arkansas State's Create@State research symposium, he presented on musique concrète instrumentale and won awards for his presentations
on spectralism and musical logic. His current research interests include phenomenology and acoustic ecology. His works have been read and performed by Robin Meiksins, Chiara Franceschini, Ensemble Suono Giallo, The Rhythm Method String Quartet, Hypercube, New Thread Quartet, Apply Triangle Trio, Parker String Quartet, Unheard-of//Ensemble, The ___ Experiment, and Transient Canvas. His music has been performed in the United States and Europe at ilSUONO, ICMC, NYCEMF, SEAMUS National Conference, SPLICE Institute, NSEME, and the Saarburg Music Festival. He has participated in masterclasses from Ann Cleare, Clara Iannotta, Jason Eckardt, Augusta Read Thomas, Mari Kimura, Greg Wilder, Marina Kifferstein, and Stephanie Lamprea. He currently studies with Panayiotis Kokoras and previously studied with Elainie Lillios, Timothy Crist, Drew Schnurr, Mikel Kuehn, Marco Buongiorno Nardelli, Christopher Dietz, Derek Jenkins, and Carrie Leigh Page.

Simon Kaplan

Simon Kaplan (b. 7 Feb. 1993 in Maisons-Laffitte, FR) is a French composer, researcher and pedagogue. He graduated from the Royal Flemish Conservatoire of Brussels (M.A. cum laude in composition, 2022) and the Royal Conservatoire of Mons (M.M. cum laude in compositional didactics, 2023), where he studied in the classes of Peter Swinnen and Claude Ledoux. Kaplan's music includes solo and chamber pieces and has been premiered internationally by renowned performers, particularly on the European stage and in Japan. In 2021, the young artist invented diahemitonicism, a quarter-tonal composition system which has governed his works ever since. His article on this system was published in Tempo in Oct. 2023.

The microtonalist is currently working as a teaching fellow at the University of North Texas, where he is pursuing a Ph.D. in composition. He regularly lectures on the design of microtonal composition systems.

Reagan Maginn

Reagan Maginn is a Dallas/Fort Worth based concert and media composer whose become known for his keen ability to connect emotionally with audiences, allowing music to be a dwelling place for expression. Reagan writes with the conviction that awe-filled, beautiful music, and the arts in general, have transformative power to touch the hearts and minds of people. His musical language is elegant, with a wealth of fluidity and heart. He is influenced largely by composers of the Romantic period, the American Jazz tradition, and the power house film composers of Jerry Goldsmith and Alan Silvestri. Maginn has now been writing commercial music with brands across the US for over 5 years; writing for Change-Maker Award winning ad campaigns and film festival premieres.

Patrick Reed

Patrick Reed is a native of Dallas Texas, as a composer and educator, he hopes to foster and teach an interest and love for contemporary music to people of all ages. His music style ranges from solo to large ensemble compositions, to works written for beginners and young band ensembles. His works have recently been performed at the International Computer Music Conference(ICMC), Electronic Music Midwest,  New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, SEAMUS, NSEME, and  Society of Composers national and regional conferences.

Reed is currently pursuing a PhD. in music composition at the University of North Texas.
Reed earned his Master in Music in composition at Bowling Green State University, where he studied with Elainie Lillios Christopher Dietz, and Mikel Kuehn. He holds a Bachelor of Music in Composition and Music Education from Texas Tech University, where he studied composition with Peter Fischer and Mei-Fang Lin.

Willyn Whiting

Willyn Whiting (b.1993) is a Canadian Composer of concert music, currently pursuing a doctorate of music in the United States. His works, over the years, have been performed/read by professional, student, and ad-hoc ensembles including the Bozzini Quartet, Vaso String Quartet, NOVA Ensemble, and Ensemble Atlantica. His music has been presented at SEAMUS , ICA Clarinetfest and Groundswell Linked, among other festivals/workshops. 

Willyn's acoustic works since 2017 have explored spectral techniques and simple algorithmic designs. His electroacoustic pieces have explored improvisation, generative scoring, audiovisual design, and interdisciplinary collaboration. 

Pak Hei Leung

Born and raised in Hong Kong, Pak Hei (Alvin) Leung's compositions have been played in the U.S., Italy, Taiwan and Hong Kong by music groups including Transient Canvas, the Rhythm Method String Quartet, Duo Zonda, Trio Mythos, Resonance, Stellar Trio, Music-Joint Association, Hong Kong Wind Kamerata, Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, Contrast Trio, Hong Kong Saxophone Ensemble and Romer String Quartet. His works are featured in ICMC 2021, SCI National Conference 2021, NSEME 2021, Longy's Divergent Studio 2021, Hong Kong Contemporary Music Festival 2021&2020, Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra Net Festival, SCI Summer 2020 Student Mixtape, AL&N Creative Music Online 2020, Charlotte New Music Festival 2020, AL&N Letters for Others, Earth Day Art Model 2020, highSCORE Festival 2018, as well as New Generation 2014, 2016 & 2018.

Alvin is currently a PhD Music Composition student at the University of North Texas. He graduated with a Master of Music degree at Bowling Green State University and received the Bachelor of Arts in Music from the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). His principal teachers include Panayiotis Kokoras, Marilyn Shrude, Christopher Dietz, Mikel Kuehn, Victor Chan Wai-kwong, Wendy Lee Wan-ki, Lo Hau-man and Ricky Tse Kin-chuen.

Ermir Bejo

Ermír Bejo is a contemporary troubadour, a composer-errant. He chanced upon his present occupations after attending classes in world cultures and art history at the United World College of the Adriatic (Duino, Italy). Subsequently, after completing his B.A. (Saratoga Springs, NY) he pursued a master's degree in composition with Marc Satterwhite and Krzysztof Wolek (Louisville, KY), receiving additional lessons and guidance from James Dillon. Since September '13 he is pursuing doctoral studies (Ph.D.) in composition at the University of North Texas.

Aleyna Brown

Aleyna Brown is a contemporary American composer, multi-instrumentalist, and audio engineer based in Denton, TX.  In her role as an artist and entrepreneur in the music industry, Aleyna is an advocate of inclusive concert programming and the exploration of feminism in art.
As a composer, Aleyna writes and codes electroacoustic and mixed-media solo and chamber music. Much of her music serves to both celebrate and recontextualize ideas of beauty and femininity. Aleyna is also an active contemporary music flutist specializing in electroacoustic performance. She performs with the NOVA new music ensemble at the University of North Texas where she currently attends as a dual-masters student. She also works as a recording, mixing, and mastering studio engineer and as the Assistant for the Music Business & Entrepreneurship program. Aleyna earned her three bachelors degrees from the Florida State University College of Music. In 2019, Aleyna released her debut independent album, “EXHALE.”

Alex Buehler

Alex is a Colorado composer currently pursuing his MA in Composition at the University of North Texas where he studies with Dr. Joseph Klein. Alex uses minimalist techniques, without being a "minimalist."His sense of harmonic stasis and variety is nicely fine-tuned and his sonic Imagination is vivid and really invites you in to an unfolding landscape. His breadth of harmonic language is nice and expansive; from single tones, to triads and more extended sound masses. Alex received his BME and BM in Composition at Colorado State University while studying with Dr. James David, Wil Swindler, and Greg Harper.

Alejandro Sosa Carrillo

Alejandro Carrillo (Mexico City, 1993) is a composer and improviser whose work oscillate from contemplative instrumental landscapes to unique electronic/interactive music performances. His interests in multimedia have led to collaboration with dancers, photographers, filmmakers, actors, visual artists and instrumentalists as well as solo performances in different types of venues in Mexico, United States and Poland. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Composition at the University of North Texas where he is currently pursuing a Master's Degree in Interdisciplinary Composition. His teachers include Panayiotis Kokoras, Joseph Klein, Kirsten Broberg and David Stout as well as summer courses and master classes with Mark André, Chaya Czernowin, Zygmunt Krauze, Martin Bresnick and Johannes Kreidler. He had workshops and recording sessions with contemporary music ensembles Lydian String Quartet, E-MEX Ensemble, Roomful of Teeth and UNT Concert Orchestra.

Marcel Castro-Lima

Marcel Castro-Lima is a Brazilian composer and conductor. His music moves comfortably between traditional writing, deeply rooted in Brazilian styles, and experimental practices involving improvisation, intertextuality, instruction-based pieces, and open forms. He has received prizes for his orchestral pieces such as Diptych: Two Churches of Saint Francis of Assissi, Academic Fantasy, and Overture for the Twelve Prophets of Aleijadinho. He holds bachelor's and master's degrees from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and is currently a Ph.D. candidate at the University of North Texas.

Clay Davidson

Clayton Simmons Davidson has been involved with different musical projects as a composer, guitarist, arranger and songwriter. His music has been performed around the United States, as well as in Europe. He is fascinated by tightly-integrated forms, polysemy, timbre, gesture, frames, and transcontextuality in his music. Mr. Davidson is currently pursuing an MA in Composition at the University of North Texas. Prior to coming to UNT, he previously studied composition with Michael Rothkopf at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, with additional instruction with Lawrence Dillon, Kenneth Frazelle and Shane Monds.

Elaine Di Falco

Elaine Di Falco is a senior graduate student in interdisciplinary music composition integrating new media art into her work. Her interests include the production of documentary filmmaking for planetarium domes that explore the topics of music, astronomy and cosmology. She holds a Bachelor's degree from Western Oregon University where she studied composition with Pulitzer Prize nominee, and UNT alumni, Kevin Walczyk.

Greg Dixon

Greg Dixon completed his doctorate in composition at University of North Texas specializing in computer music in 2012. Currently, he is an adjunct professor of music at Grayson College in Denison, TX, where he teaches audio engineering and music appreciation. His compositional research focuses on electronic music and interactive music systems for acoustic instruments, sensor technologies, and human interface devices.

Miguel Espinel

Miguel Espinel (b. 1986) is a Venezuelan composer based in the United States. Espinel obtained his BA in Music and German from Texas A&M University, where he received composition lessons from Peter Lieuwen and worked on different composition projects with Jeff Morris, Marty Regan and David Wilborn. He is currently working on a MA in Music (Composition) at the University of North Texas, where he's had composition lessons with Andrew May and Panayiotis Kokoras. At UNT, he had the chance to work in the largely collaborative intermedia installation Nanogalactic (2015), directed by David Stout. He has also had the opportunity to participate in UNT's Nova, Gamelan, and Chinese music ensembles; directed by Elizabeth McNutt, Ed Smith, and Yuxin Mei, respectively. Espinel currently performs in the electroacoustic improvisation duo Monte Espina, along with fellow Venezuelan improviser and visual artist Ernesto Montiel. 

Jason Fick

Jason Fick is a composer, a collaborator, and an educator originally from Baltimore, Maryland who completed a PhD in Music Composition at UNT in 2013.  His recent work explores relationships between computer-influenced networks and human behaviors.  In particular, he is inspired by movement and has worked extensively with dance.  Recent compositions and intermedia have been featured at the International Horn Symposium, the College of Music Society conference, The Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States conference, Electronic Music Midwest, LaTex Festival, Florida Electroacoustic Music Festival, Fusebox Festival (Austin, TX), The American Colleges Dance Festival, and events sponsored by the Greater Denton Arts Council. Jason teaches courses in music technology at the Art Institute of Dallas and at Collin College.

Omar Fraire

Human as an artist, inventor, magician, curator, teacher. After having deserted from two composition universities. He specializes in Sonology (Koninklijk Conservatorium - Holland) and holds a Master's Degree in Contemporary Art as auditor (Aguascalientes) and an M.A. from Wesleyan University (New England). His work is inserted into reality by transducing it and functions as an act of resistance. Enjoys collaborative work and your energies oscillate across disciplines. Creator of Punto Ciego Festival and curator of the Guggenheim Aguascalientes, is mostly self-taught although currently studying a Ph. D. at UNT.

Louise Fristensky

Louise Fristensky (b. 1987) is a composer with projects ranging from acoustic solo and chamber ensemble to electroacoustic experimental composition. Her compositional voice ranges from sparse, cell-based explorations to lush, atmospheric and playful lyricism. Louise has had pieces performed by soprano Pamela Stein Lynde, the Nouveau Classical Project, glass armonica & percussionist Chui Ling Tan, and percussionist Greg Riss, among others. During the summer of 2016, she was a fellow of the nief-norf Summer Festival (nnSF16) during which her piece The Audacity for mixed ensemble and live electronics was premiered. Current projects and commissions include a commission for percussionist Chui Ling Tan, an evening-length dramatic work, and an album of electronic works.

Garrison Gerard

Composition has always an integral part of my musical experience. My music is heavily informed by my experience as a pianist and trumpet player. I am heavily involved in electro-acoustic music, and I believe that the expanding horizons in this area of music hold immense promise. Beyond composition, I am also active as a conductor. I am currently working towards a related field in conducting, and had the fortune to conduct the Harding University Wind Symphony as their student conductor for two seasons. I feel that composition is necessary to any well-rounded musical education—not only for those wishing to pursue composition as a career—and integrates well with the core subjects of theory and history. As a composer, a central focus of my work is collaboration—not only with performers, but also other composers. I have been privileged to be able to work with players of an exceptionally high caliber who have helped me immensely and inspired me more than I can thank them for. I am always open to new collaborations and encourage any performers or composers to reach out to me with project ideas

Timothy Harenda

Timothy Harenda is a pianist and composer of both acoustic and electro-acoustic music. He received his B.M. in Composition from Cedarville University, having studied composition with Steven Winteregg and Roger O'Neel, and piano with John Mortensen. He received his M.M. in composition at Bowling Green State University, studying with Burton Beerman, Andrea Reinkemeyer, Marilyn Shrude, and Christopher Dietz. Mr. Harenda is currently pursuing a PhD at the University of North Texas. Prior to that, he held a position as an adjunct instructor at Bowling Green State University. His compositions have premiered at festivals such as SEAMUS, ICMC, and EMM, the World Saxophone Congress, and others. His work has been featured in concerts by groups such as VERGE ensemble and the Tuscaloosa New Music Collective. In 2012, he was awarded grand prize by the Tuscaloosa New Music Collective in their composition competition.

Jonathan Jackson

Jonathan Jackson is a sound and media artist interested in installation, improvisation, and interdisciplinary collaborations. His current work explores a range of diverse practices including sound installation, multi-channel video work, robotics, and live performance. As a performer, he is cofounder of anteroom, an ensemble committed to the nurturing and delivery of experimental text-based scores. As a percussionist, he has performed with many improvising musicians, video artists, and dancers. He completed an MA in Music Composition UNT in 2012.

Ben Johansen

Ben Johansen is curious. His intense drive to understand, experience, and absorb all that he can greatly shows in his work. Johansen completed his Bachelor's in Music Education with a saxophone emphasis and Master's in Music Composition at Baylor University (BU). He completed a Doctorate in Musical Arts in Composition Specializing in Computer Media and minoring in Installation Art in 2012. He is a CEMI staff member and a TA for Intermedia Performance Art at UNT as well as an adjunct professor of electronic music at BU. Teaching and inspiring others about music, electronics, and art are among his most significant ambitions.

Stephen Lucas

Stephen Lucas is a composer, video artist, and technical developer and functions as the Lead Creative Programmer for the iARTA research network and College of Music. He is best known for his strikingly abstract computer audio/video works; he also writes many works involving live performers. His compositions have been performed throughout the United States but he strives to embrace online audiences. His other interests include electronics, cybernetics, and metaphysics.

Joseph Lyszczarz

Joseph Lyszczarz is a composer whose music combines traditional aspects of form, narrative, and hierarchy with the extended harmonic possibilities of the present day. He strives to meld a rich gestural language with clear motivic development in a way that is simultaneously engaging, challenging, and accessible. Most recently, his work his work has been heard at the VIII International Saxophone Festival in Szczecin, Poland, and the 2011 Region II North American Saxophone Alliance Conference in Las Vegas. Lyszczarz was a recipient of a BMI Student Composer Award in May, 2012 for his work Tracing Shadows. He holds a BM from SUNY Potsdam and MM from Bowling Green State University, where he has studied with Mikel Kuehn, Elainie Lillios, Christopher Dietz, Gregory Wanamaker, and Paul Siskind.

Mark Oliveiro

Born in Sydney, Australia in 1983. Mark Oliveiro's music has been performed by the Darwin Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Victoria, Sydney Eclectic Composer Society, Sydney University Musical Society, the Greenway Quartet, Nexas Sax, the Song Company, Chronology Arts, Altera Veritas and the BIT 20 Ensemble. Mark served as composer in residence at the Wells-Metz theatre 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2010-11 seasons and recieved the IU Dean's Prize for Electronic Music in 2008 and 2010. Mark has recently received commissions from the Bourbaki ensemble, Soprano Jane Sheldon and the International Horn Society.

Patrick Peringer

Patrick Peringer has received honors and awards nationally and internationally. He won the Juan Bautista Comes Choral Composition Competition in Segrobe, Spain, selected for performance at the Florida Electroacoustic Music Festival, and Electronic Music Midwest, as well as placing honorable mention two years in a row at the Bowling Green State University Concerto Competition. He has degrees are from the University of Idaho and Bowling Green State University where his teachers were Marilyn Shrude, Elainie Lillios, Burton Beerman, and Daniel Bukvich. Some his musical inspirations are Toru Takemitsu, Joseph Schwantner, and Jonty Harrison among others.

Christopher Poovey

Christopher Poovey (b. 1993) is a composer and creative coder based in Dallas Texas who creates music and software which produce rich and colorful sound and encourages interactive structures.  Christopher's music has been played by members of Ensemble Mise-en, the University of North Texas Nova Ensemble, Indiana University's New Music Ensemble, and Indiana University Brass Choir. Christopher's pieces have been presented at conferences such as the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States, the International Computer Music Association, the New York City Electronic Music Festival, the Soul International Computer Music Festival, Inner SoundScapes, and the National Student Electronic Music Event.  In addition to his reconditions, Christopher has taken courses at the Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique, at Princeton University in the Só Percussion Summer Institute, and has attended a residency at the Atlantic Center for the Arts. Christopher currently holds a master's degree in music composition from University of North Texas has a bachelor of music in composition at Indiana University.   He is currently pursuing a PhD in music composition from University of North Texas with a focus in computer music. 

L. Scott Price

L. Scott Price completed a PhD in Music Composition at UNT in 2012. His work reflects an overall interest in the expressive potential of sound, focusing especially in the areas of acousmatic/fixed media composition, synthesis, sound processing, spectral composition, just intonation, algorithmic composition, and both human and computer improvisation.

Kory Reeder

Kory Reeder's music investigates meditative, atmospheric qualities, ideas of objectivity, place, immediacy, and stasis while maintaining activity and constant development of material. Kory has frequently collaborated with theater, dance, and opera programs, has been performed across North America, Australia, and Europe, and was awarded by The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. He has been an ASCAP Morton Gould Award finalist, and artist-in-residence at Arts Letter and Numbers, and the Kimmel, Harding, Nelson Center for the Arts. Kory is currently pursuing a PhD. in music composition at the University of North Texas. 

Brad Robin

Brad Robin is a composer of both acoustic and electro-acoustic music. Compositions have included strictly acoustic instrumentation as well as live electronics for ensembles of various sizes from large chamber ensembles to solo pieces. Noise and timbre has become a greater focus of recent works such as Cycles, Chakra and Lament and the Growl. Brad is currently enrolled in the doctoral program in Composition at University of North Texas, having completed his Masters in Composition at De Paul University in Chicago. Brad Robin has also performed numerous concerts as a pianist including a series of interactive improvisational concerts. Seasons of the Mind, an interactive improvisational dance/music exploration, features Brad Robin on piano in a collaboration with artistic director Joshua Lee Foist in Seasons of the Mind, an interactive improvisational dance/music exploration on March 12th in the Merrill Ellis Intermedia Theater.

Ilya Y. Rostovtsev

Ilya Y. Rostovtsev completed a Master's in Music Composition at the University of North Texas and focuses on creating narratives within the abstract medium of musical expression. Prior to his studies in composition, Ilya received his Bachelors of Science in Applied Math from Texas A&M University, following his move from Russia to the United States.

Seth Shafer

Seth Shafer is a native of Southern California with interests in traditional composition, film scoring, and interactive electronic music. His music was recently performed in the 2013 La MaMa Spoleto Open Festival in collaboration with South Korean director Byungkoo Ahn. His sound installations have been shown at the Long Beach Museum of Art's Pacific Standard Time Exhibit and the Long Beach Soundwalk. Seth previously taught courses in music technology, audio production, and film scoring at Cypress College, and he holds a BM and MM from California State University, Long Beach. His other interests include astronomy, modular synthesis, and backpacking with his wife in the Sierra Nevadas.

Qi Shen

Qi Shen born and raised in China, is currently a doctoral composition student at the University of North Texas. She has earned degrees from Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the University of Montana, where she studied Composition and Music Technology with Yao Zhuang, Charles Nichols, and Simon Hutchinson, and Music Theory with Xiaoge Ma, Zhengya Zhou, and Nancy Cooper. At Jiangsu Institute of Education, she taught college level classes in Computer Music. She composes acoustic and electronic music, for large and chamber ensembles, and fixed media, accompanying animation, interactive music. Her works have been presented at conferences and festivals, such as the International Computer Music Conference, the Society for Electro-Acoustic Music in the United States National Conference, Oregon Bach Festival Composers Symposium, MUSICACOUSTICA-BEIJING festival, Mountain Computer Music Festival.

Benjamin Shirey

Benjamin Shirey is an American composer currently residing in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. He received a bachelor's degree in Music Composition in 2010 from University of North Texas and is currently pursuing a MA in Music Composition from the same university. His compositional work explores acoustical phenomenology, art teleology, and the epistemology of music itself, expressed through a variety of forms such as installation art, experimental opera, textural counterpoint, and intermedia performance.

Michael Sterling Smith

Michael Sterling Smith is a composer based in Denton, Texas. He holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of Delaware and a Master of Music from the University of Florida. His works have recently been shown at SEAMUS 2017, the SCI national conference at UF and WMU (2015 & 2017), N_SEME (2016 & 2017), the FEASt festival (2016), the Diffrazioni Festival (2016), EMM (2016), Ars Electronica Forum Wallis (2016), the Open Circuit Festival (2016), and the BGSU Graduate Student Conference (2016). In 2010 he was awarded with an Individual Artist Fellowship from the Delaware Division of the Arts. His work Ictus was chosen as a finalist in the 2017 ASCAP/SEAMUS competition and the 2016 Open Circuit Festival call for electroacoustic works. Michael is a team member of the Score Follower/Incipitsify youtube channel. His current interests include the use of virtual reality to create immersive audiovisual experiences. He has studied composition with Jennifer Barker, Paul Richards, Paul Koonce, Andrew May, Jon Nelson, and Panayiotis Kokoras. He is currently pursuing his doctoral degree at the University of North Texas.

J. Andrew Smith

J. Andrew Smith is a composer, teacher, and electronic musician from the Atlanta, GA area. His works, both acoustic and electronic, embrace the intersections between poetry, acousmatic sound, improvisation, and the idea of personal connection between composer, performer, and listener. These works include A Poem is Not a Memoir for performers Lisa Kaplan and Matthew Duvall, In the Midst of Night for cellist Stephen Marotto, and a darkness carried, for saxophonist Drew Whiting. Andrew's works have been performed at SEAMUS conferences, the SPLICE Institute and Festival, Third Practice Electroacoustic Music Festival, the Toledo Symphony's Student Orchestra reading program, New Music on the Point, and the Southeastern Composers' Symposium. Currently a PhD student studying at the University of North Texas, Andrew studied with teachers such as Elainie Lillios, Mikel Kuehn, and Christopher Dietz at Bowling Green State University.

Jacob Thiede

Jacob (Jake) Thiede is a composer, saxophonist and current PhD student at the University of North Texas. 

Premieres and performances of Jake's music have taken place in Italy and the United States including the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Nebraska, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, and Washington. 

Honors and festivals include Electronic Music Midwest (2018), SCI Student National Conference (2018), the SCI National Conference (2018), NASA Biennial Conference (2018), Flute New Music Consortium (2017), BGSU Graduate Music Conference (2017), the NSEME Conference (2016 & 2017), the Electric LaTex Conference (2016 & 2017), New Music on the Point (2015), and the HighSCORE Festival (2014).

He received his BME at Murray State University and MM in music composition at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He has studied with Mike D'Ambrosio, Brian Ciach, and John Fannin at Murray State and with Mark Engebretson, Alejandro Rutty, and Steven Bryant at UNCG. As a saxophonist, he has studied with Scott Erickson and Steven Stusek.

Current interests are grooves and rhythms in metal music, glitch, and the manipulation of sine tones. Jake studies composition with Panayiotis Kokoras, Kirsten Broberg, and Andrew May as well as saxophone with Eric Nestler at the University of North Texas.

Zachary Thomas

Zachary Thomas draws on his training as performer, theorist, and educator as well as his experience as programmer and technician to explore the consequences of diverse philosophical positions and psychological states in (primarily musical) media with a methodology heavily informed by J.T. Fraser's chronosophical paradigm, the musico-semiotic tradition initiated by E. Tarasti, and contemporary advancements in acoustics and computation?a plethora of influences that explain his extensive use of stochastic processes, algorithmic schemes, extended instrumental/notational techniques, and alternate tuning systems; his interest in multimedia installations; and, above all, his dedication to electroacoustic composition. Mr. Thomas received his MM (2012) and BM (2010) in Theory from the University of Louisville while studying composition with Krzysztof Wolek and musicology with Jean Christensen, with additional lessons and masterclasses from Esa-Pekka Salonen, Per Nørgård and Louis Andriessen.

Dan Tramte

 Dan Tramte is currently working towards his PhD in music composition with a specialization in computer music media at the University of North Texas. He also holds degrees in percussion performance (BM) and Composition (MM) from Bowling Green State University (Ohio). His primary teachers have included Elainie Lillios, Mikel Kuehn, Andrew May, and David Bithell. His music has been programmed on numerous computer music conferences and can be heard on the CDCM computer music series, vol. 38.

Robert Trusko

Robert Trusko, a Philadelphia native, completed a Master's degree at University of North Texas in Music Composition in 2014. Robert's main focus is creating and performing music that is both artful and accessible. In addition to composition, Robert plays electric bass and double bass in a wide variety of genres including gospel, jazz, r&b, hip-hop, new music, classical, and South Indian Karnatik music. He also has completed work as a film composer, songwriter, engineer, arranger, sound designer, and producer.

Chaz Underriner

Chaz Underriner (b. 1987) is a composer/guitarist interested primarily in interdisciplinary collaboration, experimental music and improvisation. His recent work includes composing and directing a multimedia opera, collaboration with numerous filmmakers, pieces for chamber ensemble(s) and collaborations with choreographers. As a guitarist, Chaz has performed the works of many living composers including Sofia Gubaidulina, Mark Applebaum and Michael Pisaro both as a soloist, in a chamber setting as well as performing in numerous music festivals internationally. He is currently pursuing a PhD in composition at the University of North Texas.

Mark Vaughn

Mark Vaughn is a composer working primarily in electronic music and intermedia environments. Originally from Southwest Montana, he received his Bachelor's degree in Music Technology from Montana State University and his Master's degree in composition from UNT. ​Artistically, he is interested in the relationship between audience experience, compositionally-determined materials, and external mediating structures, be they societal, historical, political, architectural, etc. His music has been performed throughout the U.S, at venues including ICMC, SEAMUS, NYCEMF, and Electronic Music Midwest.

Bihe Wen

Bihe Wen Bihe Wen was born in China in 1991. In 2010 he began studying at Central Conservatory of Music, majoring in electroacoustic music at the Center for Electronic Music of China. While there he studied electroacoustic music with Prof. Xiaofu Zhang and Dr. Peng Guan. His works include instrumental and electroacoustic music and have been performed at concerts and festivals in China, Italy, Brussels, France, Vienna, Sweden, America and Switzerland. He is currently pursuing his Master's degree in composition at the University of North Texas. 

Rachel Lanik Whelan

Composer Rachel Lanik Whelan writes lyrical, honest, narrative-driven music. Much of her w ork is written in collaboration with living poets. Her instrumental music is an exploration in color and character. Passionate about arts management and administration, she regularly works for summer music workshops and performing arts organizations.
Her dedication to the performance of music by living composers is evident in her work as Assistant Director for the non-profit concert series Treefalls: New Music in Spartanburg, South Carolina. She is currently a PhD student and teaching fellow in composition at the university of North Texas.

Okan Yaşarlar

Okan Yaşarlar is a composer from Istanbul. He has an equal passion for acoustic and electroacoustic instruments, solo instruments and chamber ensembles. He likes to combine multiple digital media (video, live signal processing, patching and coding) in his works as much as writing acoustic pieces, which have been performed by Ensemble Plug of the InterContemporain and often by the versatile international Hezarfen Ensemble. His works have premiered in various places throughout Europe and Turkey. Okan fell into music through science rather than a conservatoire and is interested in researching VR and AR in music composition. He received his music BA and MA from Istanbul Bilgi University, Universität Hildesheim (Germany) and Istanbul Technical University, where he founded the university's first laptop orchestra. He was a member of the Galata Electroacoustic Orchestra (GOA), with whom he performed in Genoa (Italy) in 2013 at an extensive workshop aimed at fusing the traditional music of Istanbul, Genoa and Barcelona with contemporary electronic music. Okan also performed with GOA at the Venice Biennale in 2014. In 2015 he was one of the resident composers at the 7th International Chamber Music Festival in Cappadocia. He has had the privilege of working with Reuben de Lautour, Anil Camci, Jeremy Woodruff, Tolga Zafer Ozdemir, Thomas Simaku and Tolga Yayalar. Past artistic projects include writing a play performed in Istanbul in 2013 and writing a children's musical for the Adana arts council. He has frequently composed music for film and theatre which has been performed in Istanbul. He enjoys playing the guitar and drums. When he is not in a studio, he likes trekking, sailing and drawing cartoons.

Jinghon Zhang

Jinghong Zhang is a very enthusiastic composer, conductor, singer and dancer who created his own unique multi-media interactive computer music and dance art form. Because of the unique and intuitive beauty of his arts, he calls himself ‘Human Perception Engineer/Artist'. He is currently a Ph.D student of Composition at the University of North Texas. He studied composition and computer music in Wuhan Conservatory of music back in China for 5 years before he went to U.S. in 2013. At the same time, he received the Artistic Excellence Fellowship from Jacobs School of Music and finished his Master Degree of Computer Music Composition there in 2015. Within the first two years of his graduate career in U.S, his creative multi-media computer music have been performed in Jacobs School of Music, Buskirk-Chumley Theater, SEAMUS, New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, IRCAM, ICMC and Electronic Music Midwest.