Randy Bauer (b.1975)

Randy Bauer is a composer and pianist immersed in both the classical and jazz worlds, and teaches courses having to do with composition, music theory, jazz and improvisation.  His works have been performed across a range of cities and venues, from Austin to Zagreb, including throughout Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa, to New York, Chicago, Washington, Boston, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, Zürich, Berlin, Paris, Uppsala, Saint Petersburg, and elsewhere.  Premieres of his work have been given by members of the Minnesota Orchestra and St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Brentano String Quartet, eighth blackbird, Detroit Symphony Chamber Winds and Strings, Nash Ensemble of London, No Exit Ensemble, Zeitgeist, Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, and many others.  His music appears on Albany and Cedille Records.  He was named a 2013-14 McKnight Foundation Fellow in Music Composition by the McKnight Foundation of Minnesota.  He holds two degrees from the Peabody Conservatory of Music (Johns Hopkins University), and the Ph.D. from Princeton University. 

Kyung Mee Choi (b.1971)

Dr. Choi, composer, organist, painter, and visual artist, received several prestigious awards including John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship, Robert Helps Prize, Aaron Copland Award, John Donald Robb Musical Trust Fund Commission, Illinois Arts Council Fellowship, First prize of ASCAP/SEAMUS Award, First Prize for the Birmingham Arts Music Alliance Concert Exchange program, Second prize at VI Concurso Internacional de Música Eletroacústica de São Paulo, Winner of the Tempus Continuum Ensemble Composition Competition, Mention for Musique et d’Art Sonore Electroacoustiques de Bourges, Honorary prize for the Musica Nova by the Society of Electroacoustic Music of Czech Republic, Honorable Mention for the Luigi Russolo International Competition, Honorary mention in the Destellos Competition, Finalist of the Contest for the International Contemporary Music Contest "Citta' di Udine, Finalist for Concurso Internacional de Composicai eletroacoustica in Brazil among others. Dr. Choi received a D.M.A. at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a M.M. in Music Composition at Georgia State University and a B.S. in chemistry and science education at Ewha Womans University and studied Korean literature in a master’s program at Seoul National University in South Korea. Her teachers include  Erik Lund, Robert Thompson, and Scott Wyatt. 

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Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (1875-1912)

Samuel Coleridge-Taylor was born in Croydon, England, on August 15, 1875. His father, a doctor from Sierra Leone, was forced to return to his home country around the time of Samuel's birth because he was not permitted to practice medicine in England. In 1899 Coleridge-Taylor first heard American spirituals sung by the Fisk Jubilee singers on one of their tours. He became interested in African-American folk song and began incorporating it into his compositions. Black Americans returned the compliment. In 1902 a group of African-American music lovers formed the Coleridge-Taylor Society to perform and promote his music in America, and eventually brought Coleridge-Taylor over for three successful tours--in 1904, 1906, and 1910. During the first tour, Coleridge-Taylor conducted the Marine Band along with the Coleridge-Taylor Society Chorus. He also met with President Teddy Roosevelt. Subsequent tours took Coleridge-Taylor to more and more cities in the Midwest and the East. 

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Michael Ippolito (b.1985)

Praised by the New York Times for his “polished orchestration” that “glitters, from big-shoulders brass to eerily floating strings,” Michael Ippolito’s music has been performed by leading musicians in venues around the world. Drawing on a rich musical background of classical and folk music, and taking inspiration from visual art, literature and other art forms, he has forged a distinctive musical voice in a body of work spanning orchestral, chamber and vocal music. Ippolito is currently Assistant Professor of Composition at Texas State University. He studied with John Corigliano at The Juilliard School and with Joel Hoffman and Michael Fiday at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music.  

Shawn E Okpebholo (b.1981)

Shawn E. Okpebholo is a critically-acclaimed and award-winning composer whose music has been described as "devastatingly beautiful" and "fresh and new and fearless" (The Washington Post), “affecting” (The New York Times), “searing” (The Chicago Tribune), “staggering” (The New Yorker), “lyrical, complex, singular” (The Guardian) and “powerful” (BBC Music Magazine).  He earned his masters and doctoral degrees in composition from the College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) at the University of Cincinnati, where he also studied music theory. He completed a bachelor's degree in composition and music history from Asbury College. He had additional studies in film scoring from New York University through the Buddy Baker Film Scoring Program. Growing up, a significant part of his music education was through The Salvation Army church, where he regularly received free music lessons. Inspired by that charity, Okpebholo is passionate about offering his musical expertise to underserved communities. Currently, he is Professor of Music Composition and Theory at Wheaton College-Conservatory of Music (IL), having also taught at Union University (TN), Northern Kentucky University, and CCM. He’s also the Composer-in-Residence of the renowned Fifth House Ensemble and was awarded a residency with the Chicago Opera Theater (2021-2023 seasons), culminating with an opera commission with librettist Mark Campbell, librettist for the Pulitzer Prize-winning opera Silent Night. 

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Florence Price (1887-1953)

Florence Beatrice (Smith) Price became the first black female composer to have a symphony performed by a major American orchestra when Music Director Frederick Stock and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra played the world premiere of her Symphony No. 1 in E minor on June 15, 1933, on one of four concerts presented at The Auditorium Theatre from June 14 through June 17 during Chicago’s Century of Progress Exposition. The historic June 15th concert entitled “The Negro in Music” also included works by Harry T. Burleigh, Roland Hayes, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor and John Alden Carpenter performed by Margaret A. Bonds, pianist and tenor Roland Hayes with the orchestra. Florence Price’s symphony had come to the attention of Stock when it won first prize in the prestigious Wanamaker Competition held the previous year. 

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Shulamit Ran (b.1949)

Shulamit Ran, a native of Israel, began setting Hebrew poetry to music at the age of seven. By nine she was studying composition and piano with some of Israel’s most noted musicians, including composers Alexander Boskovich and Paul Ben-Haim, and within a few years she was having her works performed by professional musicians and orchestras. As the recipient of scholarships from both the Mannes College of Music in New York and the America Israel Cultural Foundation, Ran continued her composition studies in the United States with Norman Dello-Joio. In 1973 she joined the faculty of University of Chicago, where she is now the Andrew MacLeish Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Music. She lists her late colleague and friend Ralph Shapey, with whom she also studied in 1977, as an important mentor.