Charles Benjamin Amirkhanian is an American composer. He is a percussionist, sound poet, and radio producer of Armenian origin. He is mostly known for his electroacoustic and text-sound music. Performance artist Laurie Anderson praises his work: "The art of audio collage has been reinvented here... A brilliant sense of imaginary space."
The Dandy Warhols are an American psychedelic/alternative rock band, formed in Portland, Oregon, in 1994 by singer-guitarist Courtney Taylor-Taylor and guitarist Peter Holmström. They were later joined by keyboardist Zia McCabe and drummer Eric Hedford. Hedford left in 1998 and was replaced by Taylor-Taylor's cousin Brent DeBoer. The band's name is a play on the name of American pop artist Andy Warhol.
The Idea of North are an Australian a cappella vocal ensemble founded in Canberra in 1993, by Nick Begbie (tenor), Meg Corson (alto), Trish Delaney-Brown (soprano) and Andrew Piper (bass). Still active in 2023, but touring less frequently since the Covid-19 pandemic, The Idea of North has had a number of personnel changes since their formation, with Nick Begbie the only remaining original member.
Joshua Fineberg is an American composer of contemporary classical music.
Songs from Liquid Days is a collection of songs composed by composer Philip Glass with lyrics by Paul Simon, Suzanne Vega, David Byrne and Laurie Anderson. Glass began the project scoring lyrics by Byrne and then thought to collaborate with additional songwriters.
Eighth Blackbird is an American contemporary music sextet based in Chicago, composed of flute, clarinet, piano, percussion, violin, and cello. Their name derives from the eighth stanza of Wallace Stevens' poem Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird.
"There's a Kind of Hush" is a popular song written by Les Reed and Geoff Stephens. Originally recorded by Stephens' group the New Vaudeville Band in 1967 as a neo-British music hall number, this version of the track became a hit in Australia and South Africa. However, in the rest of the world, a near-simultaneous cover was a big hit for Herman's Hermits. The song was a mild hit in 1976 for the Carpenters.
The Beethoven Project Trio is an American piano trio that was formed in Chicago in 2008. Its founding members are pianist George Lepauw, violinist Sang Mee Lee and cellist Wendy Warner. The first public concert given by the trio was on March 1, 2009 at Chicago’s Murphy Auditorium for the world premiere of a recently rediscovered piano trio by Ludwig van Beethoven, as well as the American premiere of another Beethoven trio and the Chicago premiere of yet another Trio ; the performance also included the well-known “Archduke” Trio by Beethoven. John von Rhein, music critic of the Chicago Tribune, wrote about the trio's first concert that "for musicians who had never worked together as a trio before, pianist George Lepauw, violinist Sang Mee Lee and cellist Wendy Warner made a splendid ensemble, playing with finely judged balance, evenness of sound and unanimity of style [...] Lepauw, Lee and Warner ended their program with Beethoven’s familiar “Archduke” Trio, a masterpiece that drew fully on their individual and collective abilities. The slow movement emerged with particular eloquence here."
The Illinois State UniversityCollege of Fine Arts (Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts) offers programs in art, music, theatre, dance, and arts technology. The name of the college was officially changed to "Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts" in recognition of a $12 million gift from the artist and alumn Wonsook Kim.
Kirsten Soriano was born April 19, 1979. She is an American composer from White Bear Lake, Minnesota. Her music has been performed by the Kronos Quartet string quartet, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra MusicNOW Ensemble, the Minnesota Orchestra, the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, The Crossing choral ensemble, the International Contemporary Ensemble, Ensemble Dal Niente and the Jack Quartet string quartet. In 2013, she was appointed assistant professor at the University of North Texas and was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2020. She has served as director of undergraduate studies in the college of music at the University of North Texas since 2018.
Jan Williams is a percussionist, arts administrator, teacher, conductor, and composer who has championed avant-garde and progressive music in the United States. He is recognized as an important proponent of percussion performance and its literature.
Ensemble Dal Niente is a contemporary classical music ensemble based in Chicago, Illinois, that performs acoustic and electroacoustic chamber music.
Cliché is the reissue of Romanian recording artist Alexandra Stan's debut studio album, Saxobeats (2011). It was released for digital download on 2 October 2013 through Maan Studio; its deluxe edition was made available for digital and physical consumption on 23 October 2013 by Victor Entertainment. The record premiered following an alleged physical altercation with her former manager Marcel Prodan, which resulted in Stan taking a break from her career. Along with Andrei Nemirschi and Marcian Alin Soare, Prodan has written and produced nearly all the songs on Cliché .
Balter/Saunier is a 2016 album of a collaboration between orchestral Ensemble Dal Niente, composer Marcos Balter, and experimental rock band Deerhoof. The Boston Globe described the album as "arrestingly gorgeous".
Martha Callison Horst is an American composer. Her music has been performed by Earplay, Alea III, the Empyrean Ensemble, the Fromm Players, Left Coast Ensemble, Dal Niente, Composers, Inc., members of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Chicago Composers Consortium, and Music Beyond Performance: SoundImageSound V. Horst studied composition at Stanford University and the University of California, Davis. She is currently Professor of Composition and Music Theory in the Wonsook Kim College of Fine Arts at Illinois State University. Furthermore, she serves as an Academic Senator representing the College of Fine Arts. In the fall of 2020, she was elected Secretary of the Academic Senate placing her on the Executive Committee with the University administration.
Jill Feldman is an American soprano who has acquired an international reputation for her interpretation of medieval, baroque and classical repertoires.
Armand Angster is a French clarinetist. With Françoise Kubler (soprano), he is the founder of the ensemble "Accroche Note", research and creative formation in contemporary music.
Alain Damiens is a French classical clarinetist.
Raphaël Cendo is a French composer of contemporary classical music.
