National Council

The National Council is made up of two co-chairs for each SCI region and is chaired by the President of the Society who is elected by the general membership. The National Council is the policy-making body of the Society and responsible for the National and Regional conferences. The regional co-chairs are elected by the members of their respective regions or may be appointed by the President. Each year the National Council meets with the Executive Committee at the National Conference.

President / Region 1 Chair

Beth Wiemann was raised in Burlington, VT and studied composition and clarinet at Oberlin College and Princeton University. Her works have been performed by the New York New Music Ensemble, Continuum, Ensemble 21, Earplay, the Motion Ensemble, Opera Vista, saxophonist John Sampen, singers Paul Hillier, Susan Narucki, D’Anna Fortunato, and others. Her compositions have won awards from Copland House, the Orvis Foundation, Colorado New Music Festival, AmericanWomen Composers, and Marimolin as well as various arts councils, and have been featured on the Capstone, Americus, innova, and Albany record labels. She teaches composition, music theory and clarinet at the University of Maine.

Region 2 Co-chairs

Praised for her “individual and strong voice” (Colin Clarke, Fanfare Magazine), Natalie Draper explores character and evocative sound-worlds in her music. Upcoming projects include a multimedia work (“Monochrome” for fixed electronics and video) and a piano trio (title TBA), both premiering in the winter of 2021. Recently, her music has been included on recordings by Akropolis Reed Quintet, soprano Danielle Buonaituo, and Baltimore’s Symphony Number One. She has been featured in articles in Vox Humana, I Care If You Listen, and Van Magazine. Draper has held residencies and fellowships at the Ucross Foundation, the Tanglewood Music Center, the I-Park Foundation, Yaddo, and St. David’s Episcopal Church in Baltimore, MD. She is an assistant professor in the music theory and composition department at the Setnor School of Music at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York.

Neil Flory is an active composer whose music has been performed across the United States as well as in South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Over the years Flory has composed a wide variety of works both in the acoustic and electro-acoustic mediums. His music appears on commercially available recordings from the Summit and Emeritus labels, and is currently published by Jomar Press and Cimarron Music Press. Flory is currently Assistant Professor and Music Coordinator at Jamestown Community College (Jamestown, NY), where he oversees the music program and teaches music theory, aural skills, composition, piano, and other subjects. Previously, he served as a member of the music faculties of Central Washington University, Del Mar College, and Luther College.

Region 3 Co-chairs

Christopher Cook received the Doctor of Music degree from Indiana University where he served as assistant director of the Center for Electronic and Computer Music. He is a recent recipient of a Fromm Music Foundation commission from Harvard University and has received awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, ASCAP, MTNA, and the National Assembly of Local Arts Agencies. He has served as Composer-in-Residence at James Madison University, Amherst College, the University of Evansville, the Monroe County Community Schools Corporation (Indiana) and for the city of Somerset, Pennsylvania. He is Director of Music Theory and Composition at Christopher Newport University.

Harvey J. Stokes is Professor of Music at Hampton University, where he also is the Founder and Director of the Computer Music Laboratory. He has taught also at Miami University, Christopher Newport University, and the College of William and Mary. His degrees are from Michigan State University (Ph. D.), The University of Georgia (M. M.), and East Carolina University (B. M.). Currently, Dr. Stokes serves on the National Council of the Society of Composers as well as the National Association of Composers USA, and is a board officer of the Southeastern Composers League.  He has served also as a consultant for the North Carolina Arts Council, The College Board, the Educational Testing Service, and the Educational Policy Improvement Center for the Advanced Placement (AP) in Music Program.

Region 4 Co-chairs

Thomas Couvillon is currently an Associate Professor at Eastern Kentucky University, where he serves as coordinator of music theory and composition studies. His works have been performed in venues throughout the South and Southwest, including the Music Nouvelle Festival, the High Voltage Electro-Acoustic Music Festival, the Festival of New Music at Louisiana State University, and at regional and national meetings of the Society of Composers. His music has also been broadcast on radio as part of a NPR affiliate concert series. The Kentucky Music Teachers Association named Dr. Couvillon the 2011 Commissioned Composer. His commissioned work, Plaisirs éphémères de l’été, a work for oboe/English horn and percussion, was given its Canadian premiere at the University of Ottawa Oboe Weekend in January 2012. Dr. Couvillon has previously held teaching positions at Sam Houston State University, Arizona State University, and Tulane University. Dr. Couvillon holds the Ph. D. degree in composition and music theory from Louisiana State University.

Jorge Variego was born in Rosario, Argentina. He is a former Fulbright Scholar and is currently on the Music Theory/Composition faculty at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Actively involved with technology in sound and music, Jorge has been a pioneer in the field of interactive computer music, having created and performed a great deal of works for clarinet and electronics in the US, Europe and South America. He participated in many international music festivals such as MATA, SEAMUS, EMS, Sonoimagenes, Holland Festival, Festival de Jazz de Vigo, Via Stellae, ICMC and can be heard on many CDs, including his most recent solo releases Necessity (Albany-2010) and Regress (CMMAS-2013). He is the founder director of the UT Electroacoustic Ensemble, a student group dedicated to free improvisation with electronic media, co-director of the UT Contemporary Music Festival, and co-directed the 2016 NACUSA-SCI Snapshot conferences at UT.

Region 5 Co-Chairs

Composer and sound artist Lisa Renée Coons teaches composition at Western Michigan University. She received her PhD in Composition from Princeton University, with additional degrees from SUNY Stony Brook and the University of Missouri – Kansas City. Recent fellowships include an ICElab Fellowship from the International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) and the Jackie McLean Fellowship from the Hartt School, as well as those from the MacDowell Colony and the Other Minds Festival. She has been commissioned by the American Composers Orchestra, ICE, The California E.A.R. Unit, Santa Fe New Music, Dither Electric Guitar Quartet, and Iktus Percussion Quartet, among others. Lisa Renée is a member of The Collected, a bicoastal composers’ collective.

Amelia Kaplan is Associate Professor of Composition at Ball State University in Muncie, IN, where she teaches composition, theory, and directs the New Music Ensemble. She previously taught at Oberlin Conservatory, the University of Iowa, and Roosevelt University. She completed her A.B. at Princeton University, and her A.M. and Ph.D. at the University of Chicago as a Century Fellow, where her primary teachers were Shulamit Ran and Ralph Shapey. She worked with Azio Corghi at the Milan Conservatory on a Whiting Fellowship, and also received a Diploma of Merit from the Accademia Musicale Chigiana while studying with Franco Donatoni, and a Diploma from the American Conservatory in Fontainebleau.

Region 6 Co-chairs

Elyse Kahler is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Texas at Arlington. She holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts from Texas Tech University. Kahler writes for a variety of ensembles including solo instruments, voice, orchestra, wind ensemble, hand bells, mixed chamber groups, and electronics. Her music has been performed across the United States and in Europe at new music festivals and conferences. Kahler has received commissions from The Lubbock Chorale and Height Difference Duo. Kahler also presents her research on pedagogy and Enya at conferences, including the Society of Composers Inc., College of Music Society, Texas Society of Music Theory, and the Oklahoma Music Theory Roundtable. During the summers, Kahler teaches music theory at the Interlochen Arts Camp.

Tanner Harrod is Assistant Professor of Music at Peru (NE) State College, where he teaches music theory and courses on popular music history. He received his D.M.A. in Composition from the Glenn Korff School of Music at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His M.M. in Music Theory is from the University of Oklahoma, and his B.S. in Music Education is from Texas A&M University-Commerce. He recently presented his research on composition pedagogy at the 2023 Teaching Composition Symposium. In addition to his work as a pedagogue and composer, Dr. Harrod maintains an active performance schedule as a guitarist, specializing in musical theatre, jazz, and contemporary chamber music. Dr. Harrod studied composition with Greg Simon, Marvin Lamb, and David Davies. He currently serves as the Deputy Province Governor for Province 6 (Nebraska/Western Iowa) of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia.

Region 7 Co-chairs

Described by Textura as “that rare composer whose music manages to be instantly listenable and emotionally resonant without any compromise to its sophistication,” Jennifer Bellor is a versatile composer whose music draws on a variety of influences, from progressive rock bands to jazz artists, singer-songwriters, and Bellor’s own studies of the violin, piano, French horn, and voice. Images, texts, and emotional experiences inspire her works, which are often characterized as melodic with jazz- and pop-influenced harmonies. Bellor’s music has been presented widely throughout the U.S. and abroad by musicians and ensembles such as the Seattle Women’s Jazz Orchestra, Washington National Opera at the Kennedy Center, Clocks in Motion, American Composers Orchestra, Las Vegas Philharmonic, and on concert series and festivals including Finland’s Kaarina Music Week, Wuhan Chamber series, Ritsos Project art song concert in Greece, Carnegie Hall DCINY series, the International Horn Society Symposium in Montreal, among many others. Bellor has issued three albums: Stay (2016), Reflections at Dusk (Innova Recordings, 2019), and Oneira (Aerocade Music, 2022). Her music video, Oneira, in collaboration with animator Christina A. Banna was featured on I Care if You Listen, in screenings at multiple festivals, as a finalist for Best Music Film at the Munich Music Video Festival, and as prizewinner of Best Fantasy at the 2023 Mad Monster Film Fest. Bellor holds degrees from Eastman School of Music (PhD), Syracuse University (MM), and Cornell University (BA) and serves as Assistant Professor of Music Composition at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Trent Hanna has been awarded for his achievements both as a composer and performer. His original works have been commissioned and performed throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia. Dr. Hanna premiered his piano concert, The Rorschach Test, with the Sam Houston State University Symphony Orchestra in 2004 and later that year conducted his Fanfare for Peace in the Czech Republic, Austria, and Hungary. His composition Dorland (for solo piano) won first prize in the Contemporary Japanese and American Music Composition Competition resulting in a two performances by the composer in Japan. In 2009 he was invited as keynote speaker to the International Crime and Pop Culture conference and premiered his piece Quyannanana (for four percussionists), which was written for the 20-year anniversary of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. As a pianist, Dr. Hanna has performed extensively as soloist with various symphony orchestras, including John Corigliano’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra with the San Angelo and Corpus Christi Symphony Orchestras, plus the Rhapsody in Blue with the Brazos Valley Symphony Orchestra.  Dr. Hanna received his Doctorate of Musical Arts in Composition from the University of Texas at Austin. He is currently a member of the Society of Composers, and has been awarded artist residencies at the Dorland Mountain Arts Colony (California), the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Villa Montalvo (California), the Isle Royale Artists-in-Residence Program (Michigan), the Djerassi Resident Artists Program (California), and most recently the Millay Colony for the Arts (New York). His music can be heard on his full-length CD of original works for solo piano entitled Sojournal and chroma:new music for piano (Capstone Records). He also has a CD of 14 arrangements of holiday favorites entitled Christmas Like This. Dr. Hanna is currently the Coordinator of Theory and Composition at Snow College in Utah

 

Region 8 Co-chairs

Robert Hutchinson is Professor of Music at the University of Puget Sound. Hutchinson’s Sittin’ In A Tree for flute and bassoon was performed in 2016 by Hannah Hammel and Benjamin Roidl-Ward in New York City, Boston, Chicago, Houston, Richmond VA, and Oberlin OH. In 2015 he had two string orchestra pieces (The River At Dawn and Nightscape) performed by the Tacoma String Symphony and the Tacoma String Philharmonic. The three-movement Bird Suite for oboe and bassoon was premiered in Oberlin in 2015. Pas de Quatre for string quartet was premiered in 2010 at the Walla Walla Chamber Music Festival. In 2009 Hutchinson’s three-movement, 25-minute Concerto for Amplified Violin and Wind Ensemble was premiered. His composition Jeux des Enfants was selected by the Charles Ives Center for American Music for a June 2002 premiere by the Charleston Symphony Orchestra at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival in South Carolina.

Ryan M. Hare (b. 1970), originally from Reno, Nevada, teaches composition, music theory, and bassoon at Washington State University, where he is a Professor of Music. Having served as Composer in Residence for the Washington Idaho Symphony from 2011-2015, his compositions have been heard in numerous venues and festivals throughout the United States, and also in the United Kingdom, Germany, Austria, Chile, Thailand, and the Philippines. Hare was recently named “Composer of the Year” by the Washington State Music Teacher’s Association, an honor which endowed a paid commission (Dark Energy, composed for 88 Squared). Ryan Hare earned his Doctor of Musical Arts in Composition from the University of Washington; his other degrees include a Master of Music in Composition from Ithaca College and a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Oregon State University.

President Emeriti

Ohio University Distinguished Professor Mark Phillips won the 1988 Barlow International Competition for Orchestral Music. In 2004 he premiered Turning Two Hundred, a 50-minute commissioned work for orchestra, jazz band, drum corps, handbell choir, electronic music, eight instrumental soloists, video, and dance. Commissioned for a 2005 premiere in Memphis, his Dreams Interrupted has received subsequent performances in Pittsburgh, Duluth, Baltimore, Dallas, Birmingham (AL), and Athens (Ohio). Following a national competition, Pi Kappa Lambda commissioned a chamber work from Phillips, which led to the premiere of Bushwhacked! in San Antonio, Texas (September 2006). His music has received hundreds of performances throughout the world–including dozens of orchestra performances by groups such as the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and the Cleveland Orchestra–and has been recorded by Richard Stoltzman and the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, the Lark Quartet, and several solo artists.

James Paul Sain (b. 1959) is a native of San Diego, California. Trained as a classical flutist, his love of music spans from experimental electroacoustic art music to traditional acoustic jazz while remaining steeped in the “classical” tradition. Dr. Sain currently performs as an acoustic and electric bassist of contemporary Christian music and the entire jazz genre especially swing, bop, bossa nova, tango neuvo, latin and fusion. Sain’s tasteful fretless electric bass playing can be found on the track “Desolate & Main” on the Dan Dickhaus CD, “So Much Time” on the Runnoft Records label. Hen is currently the bass payer for the Christian band The Backseat Disciples.

Greg A Steinke is retired, former Joseph Naumes Endowed Chair of Music/Art and Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies, Marylhurst University, Marylhurst, Oregon; Associate Director, Ernest Bloch Music Festival (‘93–97) and Director, Composers Symposium (‘90–97) (Newport, OR); served as the National Chairman of the Society of Composers, Inc. (1988–97). Composer of chamber and symphonic music and author with published/recorded works and performances across the U. S. and internationally; speaker on interdisciplinary arts, and oboist specializing in contemporary music. Dr. Steinke is a past national president of NACUSA (1012-19) and also currently serves on the NACUSA Cascadia Chapter Board.

Executive Committee

The Executive Committee is made up of the editors and producers of SCI publications and projects as well as representatives of various sectors of the membership. Members are appointed by the Chair of the Executive Committee with the advice and consent of the president. The Chair is elected by the members of the committee. Most of the members of the Executive Committee are members of the Corporation. Each year the Executive Committee meets with the National Council at the National Conference. This meeting constitutes the Annual Corporation Meeting.

Chair

Guided by the SCI by-laws, the Executive Committee Chair, with the advice and consent of the SCI President, appoints members to the Executive Committee. The Chair organizes and leads meetings of the Executive Committee, and through their help develops and implements strategies to achieve the goals of SCI. The Chair serves as the Vice President of the Corporation.

Newsletter Editor

The Newsletter Editor creates and distributes the official SCI  newsletter. The Editor is responsible for every facet of the newsletter publication from accepting articles from members, soliciting articles, copy editing articles, and laying out the newsletter. Additionally, the Editor works with the President of SCI and conference hosts on the reporting of SCI conferences. The SCI Newsletter contains articles by, for and about SCI members including member news, conference reviews, pedagogy, practice and more. email: newsletter@societyofcomposers.org.

SCI Newsletter Editor Ralph Lewis is a doctoral candidate in music composition attending University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He is passionate about exploring, supporting, and understanding new musical expression. Active as a composer, music theorist, writer, and educator, his work is often centered on collaborating with people to create more welcoming, inclusive spaces and engaging with less discussed music and technology. As part of these efforts, he runs All Score Urbana, a free to the public community composition workshop series that focuses on teaching compositional skills as well as building relationships between people of all ages who are interested in composing and local performers. He received an M.F.A. in Electronic Music and Recording Media and an M.A. in Music Composition from Mills College, a B.M. in Music Composition from Oberlin Conservatory, and a B.A. in Classical Civilization from Oberlin College.

SCION Editor

The SCION Editor maintains a database of information on opportunities for composers including competitions, conferences, commissions, and residencies. Opportunity announcements are received from a wide range of sources in inconsistent formats. The Editor reviews and transfers event information into the SCION database, providing a single consistent format. The first of each month, the Editor sends to the membership a reminder announcement to check SCION. email: scion@societyofcomposers.org

A composer from the San Francisco Bay Area, John Bilotta collaborates with local performers and ensembles in performing his own works as well as the works of composers he admires. He serves on the Board of Directors for Goat Hall’s San Francisco Cabaret Opera company and is co-director of the Bay Area’s Festival of Contemporary Music now in its twelfth year. He served first as assistant-editor, then as editor of SCION over the past five years. SCION, the Society of Composers, Inc., Online News is a web-based listing of opportunities for composers available on the SCI website. If you are advertising a call for scores, competition, commission, fellowship, residency, open position, or other opportunity for composers, SCION can help get the word out to SCI’s membership. All submissions will be considered.

 Journal of Music Scores Editor

In collaboration with the SCI Submission Coordinator, the SCI Journal of Music Scores Editor administers the publication of SCI Journal of Musical Scores. The Editor collects composer biographical sketches, program notes, and contracts for the publication, and prepares a camera-ready copy for the publisher.

Composer Anne Neikirk is drawn to creative processes that involve interdisciplinary work. Her background in vocal music instilled a particular interest in the relationship between music and the written word. Past awards and grants include the Presser Music Award, an American Composers Forum Subito Grant, and inclusion in the Society of Composers CD Series. Neikirk has presented her work at conferences including those of the Society of Composers, the College Music Society, the Society of Electroacoustic Music in the United States, and the American Harp Society, among others. Her music is distributed by ADJ•ective New Music, LLC, and she is a member of the ADJ•ective Composers’ Collective. Dr. Neikirk received her DMA in Composition from Temple University, preceded by an MM from Bowling Green State University and a BA in Music from Hamilton College. Upon completing her education, she worked as an adjunct faculty member at Temple University and at the University of Delaware. In 2016 she began as an Assistant Professor of Composition/Theory at Norfolk State University in Virginia. She has served on the Executive Boards of the College Music Society (Northeast and Mid-Atlantic Chapters) and the Society of Composers, Inc.

CD Series Editor

The CD Series Editor coordinates the production of the annual SCI CD series. The Editor prepares contracts, collects materials from the selected composers, and serves as Produces on each release by working closely with the record label in crafting the final mastered audio and packaging materials for physical and digital release.

CD Series Editor
Frank Felice is an eclectic composer who writes with a postmodern mischievousness: each piece speaks in its own language, and they can be by turns comedic/ironic, simple/complex, subtle/startling or humble/reverent. Recent projects of Felice’s have taken a turn towards the sweeter side, exploring a consonant adiatonicism. His music has been performed extensively in the U.S. as well as garnering performances in Brazil, Argentina, Japan, Greece, Italy, the United Kingdom, the Russian Federation, China, Austria, the Phillipines, Viet Nam, Australia, the Czech Republic and Hungary. His commissions have included funding from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Omaha Symphony, the Indiana Arts Commission, The Indiana Repertory Theatre, Dance Kaleidoscope, Music Teachers National Association, the Wyoming State Arts Board, the Indianapolis Youth Symphony, Kappa Kappa Psi/Tau Beta Sigma as well as many private commissions and consortia.

Submissions Coordinator

The Submissions Coordinator administers the annual call for submissions to the SCI Journal of Music Scores and the SCI CD Series. The Coordinator arranges and organizes adjudication of the entries by outside judges.
Based in the U.S., Hong Kong composer Chin Ting (Patrick) Chan has been a fellow and guest composer at festivals such as the International Computer Music Conference, IRCAM ManiFeste and the Wellesley Composers Conference. He has twice represented Hong Kong abroad at the ISCM World Music Days Festival and UNESCO International Rostrum of Composers. He has worked with musicians and ensembles such as Ensemble intercontemporain, eighth blackbird, ensemble mise-en, Ensemble Signal and the S.E.M. Ensemble, with performances in more than twenty countries. Awards and commissions include those from the American Prize, ASCAP, Association for the Promotion of New Music, the Charlotte Street Foundation, Foundation for Modern Music, the Hong Kong Composers’ Guild, the MidAmerican Center for Contemporary Music, the Interdisciplinary Festival for Music and Sound Art – Shut Up and Listen!, the Lin Yao Ji Music Foundation of China, MMTA/MTNA, newEar, the New-Music Consortium, the Soli fan tutti Composition Prize, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts and others. His works are published with ABLAZE Records, Darling’s Acoustical Delight, Music from SEAMUS, Navona Records/PARMA Recordings, RMN Classical, the SCI Journal of Music Scores and Unfolding Music Publishing (ASCAP). He is Assistant Professor of Music Composition at Ball State University. He holds a D.M.A. degree from the University of Missouri–Kansas City as well as degrees from Bowling Green State University and San José State University.

SCI/ASCAP Commission Competition Coordinator

The SCI/ASCAP Commission Competition Coordinator sends out notices of the announcement of the competition, fields questions regarding the competition, administers entries, and works with ASCAP in the development of the competition. Additionally, the Coordinator arranges and organizes adjudication of the entries by outside judges.

Zae Munn is Professor of Music at Saint Mary’s College in South Bend, Indiana where she teaches theory, composition, digital media in music, and orchestration/arranging.  She is the Director and Resident Composer of the Summer Composition Intensive at Saint Mary’s College. Her DMA and MM degrees in composition are from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana and her BM in composition is from Chicago Musical College of Roosevelt University. Born in 1953, Munn’s early musical training was as a cellist, with additional studies in piano, voice, and conducting. Virtually all her works are available from one of these publishers: Arsis Press, Balquhidder Music, Earthsongs, Frank E. Warren Music, HoneyRock, JOMAR Press, MusicaNeo, Tempo Press, and Yelton Rhodes Music. Recordings are available from Navona Records, Capstone Records, Centaur Records, and a number of independent labels. Zae is active in the dog rescue community and has fostered 70 dogs in her home over the last several years.

 

Student Chapter Coordinator

The Student Chapter Coordinator serves as the liaison between SCI and SCI Student Chapters. The Coordinator provides guidance to SCI Student Chapter leaders and faculty sponsors, develops and implements visioning, and coordinates with the SCI General Manager to provide administrative services.

[ position currently vacant  ]
If you are an SCI Member in good standing, and you are interested in volunteering for this position on the Executive Committee, then please inquire at secretary@societyofcomposers.org.

 

Marketing Coordinator

In consultation with the Executive Committee, the Marketing Coordinator is responsible for developing and implementing marketing and advertising campaigns, tracking related campaign data, maintaining and updating promotional materials, monitoring the Society’s digital and social media presence, and preparing reports related to marketing efficiency and effectiveness.

Ian Evans Guthrie (b. 1992) blends Western concert music with various world musics and is quickly emerging as a tour-de-force composer of both acoustic and electronic music. He has recently received 1st prize for the Arcady Composition Competition and 2nd prize for the American Prize in addition to his many other composition and performance prizes and recognition from ASCAP, SCI, MTNA, National Federation of Music Clubs, Webster Community Music School, and countless other organizations. Many of his works have been performed publicly around the nation from groups such as fEARnoMUSIC, Portland’s Metropolitan Youth Symphony, the Northwest Symphony Orchestra, the Moore Philharmonic Orchestra, March Music Moderne, the VIPA Festival, highSCORE Festival, Atlantic Music Festival, Charlotte New Music Festival, Clear Creek Music Festival, Oregon Bach Festival, and the 2014 Pierrot Lunaire Project. His latest works include a band symphony and viola sonata. Guthrie is a doctoral student and graduate teaching assistant at Florida State University, where his teachers include Mark Wingate, Ellen Zwilich, and Ladislav Kubik. He received his Master of Music in Composition as a graduate teaching assistant at Texas Christian University, where he studied with Till Meyn and Martin Blessinger. He has also studied composition with John Mackey, George Tsontakis, Robert Paterson, Dmitri Tymoczko, Amy Beth Kirsten, Martin Kennedy, Blaise Ferrandino, John Paul, and Robert Priest, among others.

Officer of Diversity and Equity

The Officer of Diversity and Equity collects and analyzes demographic data relating to the Society. They work with the Executive Committee and National Council to design, implement, and evaluate initiatives to increase diversity and better support members of all genders, ethnicities, and orientations.

Helena Michelson is active as a composer and pianist based in the San Francisco-Bay Area. She completed her undergraduate studies in Music at the University of California, Berkeley and a doctorate in composition and theory from the University of California, Davis. Michelson studied piano with Mack McCray at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She has studied composition, among others, with Olly Wilson, Cindy Cox, Jeffrey Miller, Pablo Ortiz, and, in masterclasses, with Louis Andriessen, Martin Bresnick, Mario Davidovsky, Eric Chasalow, Philippe Leroux, Bernard Rands, Judith Shatin, and Joel Hoffman. She has been a fellow at numerous festivals including Composers Conference at Wellesley College, MusicX, June in Buffalo, and Domaine Forget in Québec. She is a distinguished member of the judging panel for The American Prize National Nonprofit Competitions in the Performing Arts.

Webmaster

The SCI Webmaster works with the Web Team, the Executive Committee Chair, the General Manager, the Newsletter Editors, and the membership to ensure that the website meets the needs of the organization. This includes keeping website content current, improving web services that support business processes, and providing support to members who use the self-service features of the website.

Carolyn Borcherding is a composer and sound artist predominantly interested in building sounding and visual worlds within which performing bodies and audio gestures can exist together in various fluid relationships. Her body of work ranges from pieces for solo instrument to multimedia ensembles consisting of video, electronically produced sound, and acoustic instruments.  In her multimedia works, she considers each medium an essential performing body in which the media interact with, relate to, and inform one another.  In fixed media works, she experiments particularly with the creation and destruction of the listeners’ sense of space. Carolyn has had works performed internationally throughout the North American region and at national and regional events such as the Society for Electro Acoustic Music in the United States National Conference, the North American Saxophone Alliance National Conference, Electronic Music Midwest, New Music on the Point, and others. Carolyn received her Master’s in Music Composition at Western Michigan University where she studied with Dr. Christopher Biggs and Dr. Lisa Coons. She is currently pursuing her doctorate in Music Composition at the University of Illinois.

System Administrator

The System Administrator helps to maintain the software infrastructure necessary to facilitate the privileged areas of the SCI website. This includes management of the existing code base, maintenance of the SCI databases, and occasional generation of custom reports. Additionally, the System Administrator assists in the addition of new functionality to the privileged area of the SCI website by evaluating proposed additions, gathering requirements, architecting the development process, and ultimately implementing the solution.

[ position currently vacant  ] If you are an SCI Member in good standing, and you are interested in volunteering for this position on the Executive Committee, then please inquire at secretary@societyofcomposers.org.

 

Jazz Competition Coordinator

The Jazz Competition Coordinator administrates the annual Jazz Composition Award, including recruitment of judges, advertising of the competition, and oversight of the judging and award process.

Greg Simon, composer and jazz trumpeter, is Assistant Professor of Composition and Jazz Studies at the Glenn Korff School of Music at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Artist-Faculty in composition at the Brevard Music Center. His works have been performed by ensembles and performers around the country, including Alarm Will Sound, the Fifth House Ensemble, the Playground Ensemble of Denver, and the California All-State Symphonic Band. He has presented work at conferences for the American Band College, the College Band Directors’ National Association, the World Saxophone Congress, and the North American Saxophone Alliance, as well as being featured in radio and digital broadcasts from Pendulum New Music and WFMT. Greg studied jazz improvisation with Bill Lucas, Ellen Rowe, and Brad Goode. He’s performed with the Rhythm Society Orchestra, the Jodi-Renee Band, the Park Hill Brass, and the Last Riot, at venues ranging from Dazzle Jazz Club to the University of Michigan Museum of Art.

Student Representative

The Student Representative is a nonvoting member of the Executive Committee who acts as a liaison between student members and SCI leadership. The Student Representative works with the Student Chapters Representative to encourage and facilitate student-centered initiatives within SCI including the Student National Conference, student chapter exchanges, and more.

Brittany J. Green (b. 1991) is a North Carolina-based composer, creative, and educator. Described as “cinematic in the best sense” and “searing” (Chicago Classical Review), Brittany’s music is centered around facilitating collaborative, intimate musical spaces that ignite visceral responses. The intersection between sound, movement, and text serves as the focal point of these musical spaces, often questioning and redefining the relationships between these three elements. Her research and creative interests include mapping aural gestures to gestural recognition technology and exploring virtual reality platforms as a tool for experiencing immersive, intimate musical moments. Her music has been featured at concerts and festivals throughout the United States, including the Society of Composers National Conference, New York City Electronic Music Festival, SPLICE Institute, the West Fork New Music Festival, and Electroacoustic Barn Dance Festival. She has presented research at the North Carolina Music Educators Association Conference, East Carolina University’s Research and Creative Arts Week, Darkwater Women in Music Festival, and the Intersection@ Art and Science Symposium. From 2018-2019, Brittany served as composer-in-residence for the PCS/ECU Young Composers Project. In 2019 Brittany was selected as an inaugural members of JACK Quartet’s JACK Studio Artists.Brittany holds a BM in Music Education from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke and a MM in Music Composition and Theory from East Carolina University. She is currently in residence at Duke University, pursuing a Ph.D in Music Composition as a Deans Graduate Fellow. Brittany is a member of Pi Kappa Lambda and Society of Composers, Inc., where she serves as the national student representative.

Student Council

Brenna Dickson is a local Bay Area composer and clarinetist. Her compositions aim to reflect that of the inner human experience through cinematically-structured works that incorporate a variety of timbre combinations and thematic gestures. She was a member of Chamber Music Silicon Valley’s Emerging Artist Fellowship for the 2019-2020 season. Her work The Night Lark has been performed by the San Jose Chamber Orchestra by receiving the Allen Strange Memorial Composition Prize in 2019. She has composed for and collaborated with animation, chamber ensembles, and electronics. In addition to composition, Brenna shares a passion for education through her private teaching studio for clarinet and music theory as well as a variety of music schools and programs in the Silicon Valley. She has earned her BM in Composition from San Jose State University, studying under Dr. Brian Belet.

The music of Curtis Rumrill explores the intersection of literary form and modern chamber music. His works with writer, naturalist and visual artist Zachary Webber tell darkly comic stories of animals in desperate or violent predicaments. He is also the composer of instrumental chamber music with and without electronics, works for tape, and studio compositions (multi-track fixed media works composed on acoustic instruments played primarily by himself). He has been performed in the United States and internationally, including Vienna, Austria; Basel and Baden, Switzerland; Maccagno, Italy; Panama City, Panama; Bogota, Colombia; Mexico City, Mexico; Boston, MA; Bloominton, IN; Cleveland, OH; Bowling Green, OH; Pittsburgh, PA; and Syracuse, NY, in venues including the Palacio de Bellas Artes, Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Teatro Amador and the Museo de Arte Contemporáneo in Panama, the University of Pittsburgh; Indiana University; Syracuse University; Chatham University, Bowling Green State University; and Boston University. Works of his have been included in the Pittsburgh Festival of New Music, Re:Sound New Music Festival, JazzWerkstatt Wien, Vienna Roomservice Festival, Numu: Neue und Unentdeckte Musik, the soundSCAPE Festival, and Alia Musica Presents. He holds a BMus in composition from Syracuse University and a MM in composition from Bowling Green State University. His primary composition teachers have been Franck Bedrossian, Ken Ueno, Myra Melford, Edmund Campion, Elainie Lillios, Christopher Dietz, Kyle Gann, Daniel Strong Godfrey, Sally Lamb McCune and Patrick Long. He is currently a Doctoral Fellow at UC Berkeley.

Ryne Siesky‘s work as a composer explores the intersections of art and music, bringing focus to the idiosyncrasies of music creation and sonic processes. Environmentalism, aestheticism, psychology, modern Jazz, and social justice are at the forefront of his compositional influences. His work has been performed by Hypercube, Invicta Sax Quartet, Braeburn Brass Quintet, Robert Black, Laura Lentz, Lindsay Garritson, Jacob Mason, and Laura Silva, among others. His music has been featured at several festivals and conventions including the Society of Composers, International Trumpet Guild, Diffrazioni – Firenze Multimedia Festival, Festival DME, Atemporanea Festival, Global Arts Festival, West Fork New Music Festival, Charlotte New Music Festival, Ecos Urbanos, Earth Day Art Model – Telematic Festival, FETA, Cube Fest, N_SEME, NYCEMF, and SEAMUS. Ryne earned his Bachelor of Arts in Music from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and his Master of Music in Music Composition from Ohio University, studying under Robert McClure. Siesky is currently working towards his Doctor of Musical Arts in Composition as a Teaching Assistant at the University of Miami, Frost School of Music. His primary teachers are Lansing McLoskey and Dorothy Hindman. Ryne is currently a member of the Society of Composers, Inc. (SCI) National Student Council, Director of the Phenomenology Collaboration project, and the Artistic Director for the Azimuth Virtual Orchestra.

SCI National Office

The current SCI Office Hours are weekdays, 22:00–00:00 EST. If you have any questions, then please contact secretary@societyofcomposers.org. All inquiries are processed in the order in which they are received and prioritized based upon the content of the inquiry.

Treasurer

Emily Koh (b.1986) is a Singaporean composer+ based in Atlanta, Georgia whose music reimagines everyday experiences by sonically expounding tiny oft-forgotten details, and is characterized by inventive explorations of the intricacies of sound. Her work also explores binary states such as extremes x boundaries, distinguished x ignored, and activity x stagnation, through her unique Teochew and Peranakan Singaporean lens. An amateur multi-disciplinary artist herself, she enjoys collaborating with creatives of other specializations, especially when sound plays a central role in the project. Described as “the future of composing” (The Straits Times, Singapore), Emily is the recipient of awards such as the Copland House Residency Award, Young Artist Award (National Arts Council, Singapore), Yoshiro Irino Memorial Prize (Asian Composers League), ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award, Prix D’Ete (Peabody), PARMA Student Composer Competition, and the Virginia Macagnoni Prize for Innovative Research (University of Georgia). Her work is supported with commissions, grants and fellowships from the Opera America, MacDowell, the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition, New Music USA, American Composers’ Orchestra, National Arts Council (Singapore), Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy, the Paul Abisheganaden Grant for Artistic Excellence (National University of Singapore), and others. Described as “beautifully eerie” (New York Times), and “subtley spicy” (Baltimore Sun), Emily’s music has been performed around the world and is published by Babel Scores (Europe) and Poco Piu Publishing (worldwide). Emily is currently Assistant Professor of Music Composition at the University of Georgia, USA.

General Manager

Andrew Martin Smith is a composer, clarinetist, and entrepreneur based in Western New York. Through his music he explores the sonic ramifications of interdisciplinary influence and inspiration. His compositions have been included in contemporary music festivals and conferences throughout the United States and Europe, including the Society of Composers, Inc. National Conference, New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, Electronic Music Midwest, and the International Computer Music Conference. The SEAMUS and Beauport Classical labels have released recordings of his music, and his chamber composition for voice, clarinet, and alto saxophone was featured in the SCI Journal of Music Scores. Smith received degrees in music from the State University of New York at Fredonia and Bowling Green State University. His primary composition instructors have included Mikel Kuehn, Elainie Lillios, Burton Beerman, Andrea Reinkemeyer, Donald Bohlen, and Karl Boelter. He is currently a Senior Adjunct Lecturer at the Fredonia School of Music, where he teaches courses in Theory and Composition. He can be reached at secretary@societyofcomposers.org.

In memoriam

Gerald Warfield earned degrees from the University of North Texas and Princeton University. He was an instructor at Princeton from 1968 to 1971 and Associate Director of the Index of New Music Notation at the New York Public Library from 1971 to 1975. In 1974 he was on the program committee of the International Conference on New Music Notation held in Ghent, Belgium. He was chairman of the program committee of the 2nd National Conference on Music Theory, 1977 and chairman of the 9th ASUC Annual Conference in 1974. From 1976-1985 he was editor of the Longman Music Series which published professional books in music including the English translation of Heinrich Schenker’s Free Composition (die Freie Satz). He was chairman of the SCI Executive Committee, 1972-1974 and the founding editor of the ASUC (SCI) Journal of Music Scores. In 1977 he became General Manager of SCI, a post he has retained until 2020 except or a brief two-year hiatus. He was treasurer of the American Composers Alliance from 1979 to 1996 and conference chairman for the College Music Society in 1981.