Sam Pichardo (age 18) is a Dominican classical and jazz saxophonist raised in New York City. Sam’s musical career started from an early age on strings and then shifted to band. Sam has maintained a spot as the principal saxophone player in most groups they have been in. Sam has had the wonderful opportunity to play at Carnegie Hall twice! Sam finds inspiration from composers that are POC, especially Kelijah Dunton, Omar Thomas, and Kevin Day. Aside from music, Sam’s other hobby is writing poetry. Sam is very eager to learn new things and take on this new experience with Luna Lab.

Brannon Warn-Johnston (age 17) is a composer and multi-instrumentalist from Seattle, WA who often takes inspiration for her compositions from lived experiences including backpacking/camping trips with her violin, special moments with her family and her journey with cancer. She has participated in the Juilliard Summer Composition Program and NPR’s Learning and Media Lab Fellowship where she was featured on From the Top’s show “Young Pacific Northwest Talent.” Brannon’s works have been performed in Carnegie Hall and by orchestras/ensembles including: Seattle Symphony, Symphony Tacoma, International Contemporary Ensemble, Northwest Symphony Orchestra, and Seattle Festival Orchestra. Her music has received awards from Tribeca New Music Young Composer Competition, Foundation for Modern Music International Composers Competition, National Federation of Music Clubs Composers Contest, and others. Her electroacoustic project “Resonant Coast” was recently selected for the Connecticut Sea Grant Arts Support Award.

Emilie Wolff (age 18) is a composer and cellist from Overland Park, Kansas. She first started composing music on the cello and quickly grew from there. Having a deep love for both music and film, she now strives to create cinematic works of music that could fit a bigger picture. Emilie has studied composition at the Interlochen Arts Camp. She currently plays in her high school’s symphonic and chamber orchestras where she frequently writes and arranges a variety of music for both groups. She is also a part of Golden Hornet’s Young Composers’ Collective based out of Austin, Texas.

Zoe Verduin (age 16) is a composer and violinist from Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. She is an advanced violin student at the Hoff Barthelson Music School in Westchester, where she also studies composition under the mentorship of Dr. Derek Cooper. Zoe has been awarded several scholarships in music composition, which is her passion, including an ASCAP Foundation scholarship to study at the Manhattan School of Music’s Summer Composition program. Her work was also selected for performance at the Young Composers Honors Concert at the annual NYSSMA conference. In her free time, she plays bass in a rock band.

Mia Turakhia (age 14) is a composer, violinist, and pianist from the San Francisco Bay Area. She is a 9th grader at The Nueva School and attends the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Pre-College. She has been recognized as the winner of the Kris Getz Composition Competition, the Robert Avalon Foundation for Modern Music Competition, the National Young Composers Challenge Ensemble Competition, and was a finalist in the 2025 ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composer Competition. Mia attended the 2025 Boston University Tanglewood Institute Young Artists Composition Program on a full merit scholarship. As a Luna Composition Lab fellow, Mia was mentored by Nina Shekhar.

Danity Pike (age 17) is a composer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She began piano at age seven and has since explored music as a space between poetry and composition. Her works, often shaped by storytelling and conceptual techniques, have been performed by ensembles including Network for New Music, Friction Quartet, and the International Contemporary Ensemble. A 2025 Lilley Fellow at the Episcopal Academy, she studies gender-marginalized composers with mentor Ryan Dankanich. During her Luna Lab Fellowship, she was mentored by Mari Esabel Valverde and presented her work at Carnegie Hall. Danity has also participated in Wildflower Composers, the Walden School, and GRAMMY Camp LA for songwriting.

Hannah Wolkowitz (age 19) is a composer and saxophonist from Chesterfield, Missouri. She is a first year at the University of Michigan where she is pursuing a double major in saxophone performance and music composition, with a minor in performing arts management and entrepreneurship. Highlights as a saxophonist include performing her music at the MTNA National Conference and U.S. Navy Band International Saxophone Symposium, and performing as a soloist with various orchestras in the St.Louis area. Highlights as a composer include being commissioned by the La Jolla Symphony, writing for the Kronos Quartet, the Cerus Quartet, and the Bergamot Quartet, and being a 23-24 Luna Lab Fellow.

Marvel Jem Roth (age 19), Los Angeles-native, is a sophomore at Princeton University studying economics, finance, and music composition/conducting. She is honored to be recognized by organizations including National YoungArts, Penn State Ballora-Wang Awards, and ASCAP. She was a 2021-2024 LA Phil Composer Fellow and 2024 Apprentice Composer for Carnegie Hall’s NYO-USA. Marvel’s compositions have been performed by ensembles including members of the LA Philharmonic, LA Master Chorale, Kronos Quartet, NYO-USA, Princeton University ensembles, Juilliard, Colburn, Curtis, So Percussion, and Southeast Symphony and is a resident conductor-composer for the Princeton Playhouse. Her mentors include Steve Mackey, Andrew Norman, Solon Snider Sway, Sarah Gibson, Sean Shepherd, and Angélica Negrón.

Peyton Nelesen (age 18) is a composer and pianist who grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and currently lives in New York City and Branford, Connecticut. She has been honored by ASCAP three times in both the Herb Alpert and Morton Gould Young Composer Awards. She studies composition with John Syzygy and studied piano with both Penka Rodeva and the late Amonte Parsons. Equally facile in jazz, concert music and other genres, Peyton has scored many student films. Working with her mentor, Grammy nominated producer, Randy Emata, she has had the great fortune to have her music performed and recorded by outstanding Grammy winning and nominated musicians. Peyton attends Northwestern University where she is working on dual degrees in Radio/TV/Film at The School of Communications and Music Composition at The Bienen School of Music, studying under Alex Mincek.

Haeon Lee (age 18) is a composer and pianist from New York City currently studying at Princeton University. Inspired by colors, numbers, patterns, and wordplay, she writes music that is at once conversational and highly structured—both beautiful (she hopes) and disconcerting (she hopes more). Her work has been recognized by NPR’s From the Top, MATA Jr., ASCAP, YoungArts, Tribeca New Music, and the American Prize, among others. She studied composition with Manuel Sosa at Juilliard Pre-College and also participated in composition programs at the New York Youth Symphony, Boston University Tanglewood Institute, Wildflower Composers Festival, and Curtis Institute of Music.

Ilaria Hawley (age 16) is a New York City-based composer and flutist. They are the recipient of a 2019 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award and a Composers Now First Commissions Prize. Their music has been performed by the New York Philharmonic, the Kronos Quartet, members of the New York Youth Symphony, Greenwood Music Camp, and Face the Music. As a flutist they have performed at The Kitchen, LPR, and The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and received the inaugural Pnea Foundation Young Flutist Award and a New York Flute Club award. In their free time they enjoy drawing and going to metal and punk shows.

Maria Isabel Emiliano (age 20) is a Dominican composer who currently resides in New York City. Her work delves into the junction of Latin folk traditions and classical music, fusing rhythmic. Maria’s pieces have been performed by prestigious ensembles such as the Arneis Quartet, JACK Quartet, and Kronos Quartet. She has attended programs such as the Boston University Tanglewood Institute and the SoundSCAPE Festival, as well as being commissioned by the Kronos Quartet through Luna Lab and the Kennedy Center. In addition to concert music, Maria works across interdisciplinary areas to broaden the possibilities of sound and identity, including live visuals, performance art, and the construction of instruments out of unexpected materials. She founded the Toccata Quartet in the Dominican Republic and previously worked as the Music Librarian for the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra in New York.

Isabelle Tseng (age 20) is a composer and violinist from Florida. Her music, inspired by culture, language, and current events, has been recognized by ASCAP and performed by ensembles including Imani Winds, International Contemporary Ensemble, and Ensemble for These Times (E4TT). Her works have also been featured at festivals with the American Composers Orchestra, Boston University Tanglewood Institute, and Mannes School of Music. As a violinist, Isabelle is a soloist and avid chamber musician, having played with the BUTI Young Artists Orchestra, All-National Symphony Orchestra, and solo with the Ocala Symphony. She studies at Princeton University and will study abroad at the Royal College of Music in Fall 2025.

Elaina Stuppler (age 17) is a composer and multi-instrumentalist from Portland, Oregon. She has performed at the Hollywood Bowl, Carnegie Hall, Sydney Opera House, Lincoln Center, and Grammy Museum. Her compositions were recognized by Juilliard, Disney Theatrical Productions, National Alliance for Musical Theatre, NEA, Portland Youth Philharmonic, Metropolitan Youth Symphony, Seattle & Oregon Symphonies. She is the Young Artist in Residence at All Classical Radio Station, Portland Youth Philharmonic trombonist, Young Composers Project member, YoungArts Award Winner in Classical/Composition and Voice/Songwriting. Elaina received a Salon de Virtuosi Grant and a U.S. President’s Education Award.

Andromeda Smith (age 18) is a composer, singer, and violinist from Nanuet, New York. They currently study under Valerie Coleman at The Juilliard School and previously studied under Trevor Weston at Juilliard’s Music Advancement Program. Andy has recently performed with the New York Philharmonic, Renée Fleming, and Brian Stokes-Mitchel, and has had their works played at Juilliard, the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, and Wildflower Composers Festival.

lili m. namazi (age 18) is a composer from New Jersey who is interested in synthesizing disciplines and genres to explore psychosomatic experience through their music. Among the ensembles they have written for are Third Coast Percussion, The Rhythm Method, ChamberQUEER, New York Youth Symphony, International Contemporary Ensemble, Da Capo Chamber Players, and the National Youth Orchestra-USA. lili has attended festivals such as the Sō Percussion Summer Institute, Lake George Music Festival Composer’s Institute, Yellow Barn Young Artists Program, National Youth Orchestra-USA, and Boston University Tanglewood Institute, and has held fellowships with Third Coast Percussion and NPR’s “From the Top.” They study music composition, anthropology, and Middle Eastern Studies at Bard College and Conservatory.

Lucy Chen (age 20) is a composer, pianist, and violinist from Potomac, Maryland who is currently a junior at Stanford University. She has studied composition with Wang Lu and Yiming Wu, and her works have been recognized in the Morton Gould Young Composer Awards, BMI Student Composer Awards, National Young Composer Challenge, and more. Lucy was a composer apprentice for Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra program under Sean Shepherd, and she’s premiered three orchestral pieces with the Maryland Classic Youth Orchestra under Kristofer Sanz. At Stanford, Lucy composed and music directed an original musical, as well as composed music for Stanford’s FashionX Runway, the annual Gaieties musical, and other student-led ensembles.

Hannah Chen (age 19) is a composer and harpist from the San Francisco Bay Area. She currently attends the Curtis Institute of Music, studying under the L. Daniel Dannenbaum Fellowship. She is an alumna of SF Symphony Youth Orchestra, Wildflower Composers Camp, Mostly Modern, and BUTI, and was a Featured Composer at the American Harp Society’s National Conference. Hannah has worked with ensembles including Argus Quartet and International Contemporary Ensemble and has received recognition from ASCAP, YoungArts, and Bay Area Creative Foundation. She has been commissioned by groups such as EXTENSITY Concert Series, ARCO Collaborative, and Greenwood Music Camp.

Rachel Mugemancuro (age 21) is a violinist and composer from Los Angeles, California. She has played violin for 12 years and has soloed with the Spokane Symphony and the Glendale Youth Orchestra, as well as participated in a season of NYO-USA. Rachel has been a fellow at the LA Philharmonic’s Nancy and Barry Sanders Young Composer Fellowship since 2020, writing for ensembles such as the LA Phil and Hub New Music. Rachel deeply enjoys exploring the connection between music and the natural world, often seeking inspiration from complicated topics in biology and physics. Rachel attends Duke Kunshan University.

Gabriella Cariddo (age 21) is a pianist and composer from New York City with a deep interest in choral composition. A graduate of the Special Music School and Manhattan School of Music’s Precollege Division, she is currently studying Classical Languages and Theology at Fordham College at Lincoln Center. Drawing on her knowledge of ancient texts and liturgical traditions, Gabriella brings a unique perspective to her choral writing, both sacred and secular. Her music explores the intersection of language, spirituality, and sound, and she actively writes for choirs across the country, aiming to create works that are intellectually grounded and emotionally resonant.

Elisa Kain Johnson (age 21) is a composer, pianist, and singer-songwriter from Seattle, Washington who seeks to tell stories through music. Her compositions have been performed by both professional and student musicians, including the Seattle Symphony, the Thomas More University Chorale, and the ensemble loadbang. Elisa has been honored to receive awards from The American Prize, the Washington State Music Teachers Association, the National Federation of Music Clubs, and The Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of New York. A junior at Northwestern University, Elisa currently studies with Alexandra Rinn and is majoring in Music Composition and Biology.

Devon Lee (they/them) (age 18) is an composer and bassist based in New York City. Devon was a 2025 Morton Gould Young Composer Award finalist and has had their music premiered by organizations like the New York Philharmonic, The Juilliard School, The Knights, ChamberQUEER, WQXR, Ensemble For These Times, Cincinnati May Festival, and New World Symphony. They are a member of the New York Youth Symphony and a student at Juilliard Pre-College. Devon studies composition with Daniel Felsenfeld and is a mentee of composer and bassist Jon Deak. Devon’s music has been performed in New York, San Francisco, Cincinnati, and Oklahoma, and has been featured online on the Luna Composition Lab and New York Philharmonic websites. Devon tries to infuse their music with love, color, and emotional sensitivity and is inspired by Asian folk music and poetry.

Cecelia Olszewski (age 22) is a composer, violinist and pianist from Wallingford, Pennsylvania. She is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Music in Composition at the Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University. Her works have been performed by members of the Philadelphia Orchestra and the International Contemporary Ensemble. Cecelia is the founder and president of Cosmia Opera Collective, a student organization providing resources for the funding, production, and performance of new operatic works by historically-marginalized composers at Northwestern University. Her one-act chamber opera, “Devoted,” premiered in March of 2024.

Alicia Erlandson (age 21) is a composer from Detroit currently based in New York City. She is inspired by brief research stints about natural phenomena; using sound to illustrate them fluidly, engagingly, and to connect them to emotional experiences. She hopes to find sounds that are sparse, yet deeply textured; and that listening to her music feels like a bird flying past your window: fleeting, colorful, and grounding. Alicia was recently commissioned by Composers Now for their Second Stage Initiative (2024). She is currently pursuing a B.M. in Composition at Mannes School of Music with Kamala Sankaram.

Zola Saadi-Klein (age 22), is an Iranian-American composer, vocalist, multimedia artist from what’s known as Los Angeles, CA. For much of their work, they draw inspiration from their Iranian and European heritage, exploring the cross-cultural bonds of music from the West and of the lands around the Mediterranean Sea. Through embracing the she’r, learning the vocal tahrir and instrumental tasnif techniques in the traditional classical Iranian music, and formal education based on the structures which present themselves in the Western music tradition, they strive to continue cultivating a dialogue between both cultures, on the path to discovering homeland. Zola currently attends Oberlin College and Conservatory.

Jordan Millar (age 19), from Brooklyn, New York, began composing in the New York Philharmonic Very Young Composers Program. Her piece “Boogie Down Uptown” was performed by the Philharmonic, profiled in The New York Times, and awarded the 2019 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composers Award. Jordan has written for the New World Symphony, And Play Duo, Chromic Duo, Mivos, Argus Quartet, O Kwarteto, Intersection Music, Face the Music, International Contemporary Ensemble, and Opera Italiana. Accolades include Mata Jr., Bespoken, New York Youth Symphony, New Music Initiative for Black Voices and a 2022 ASCAP Award for Masquerade. Jordan is entering her first year at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn).

Jack Gjaja (age 20) is a composer and pianist from New York City. Their works include pieces for small chamber ensembles, solos, and electronic soundscapes. They draw inspiration from the subway, trees, poetry, and dizziness. Recently, Jack explored composing for voice in a commission for contralto with Intersection for LISTEN, and a trio for the Wildflower Composers Festival. They have studied composition and piano with Mary Kouyoumdjian, David Bird, Tamar Muskal, Elena Leonova, and Adrienne Kim. Jack has performed in Montreal, Rovinj, Cremona, Bennington, and New York. They look forward to joining Kaufman’s Face the Music Program in the fall.

Azalea Twining (age 19) is a composer and vocalist from New York. At Luna Lab, she studied with Ellen Reid and composed Under Her Voices for piano trio, winning the 2021 G. Schirmer for Luna Lab Prize. Her most recent work, Enough Rope, is a song cycle set to poetry by Dorothy Parker, which premiered at MATA (Music at the Anthology) last Spring. Azalea has studied voice for ten years with Eileen Clark, and is currently a student of Jospehine Mondiardo-Cooper at Columbia University. Premiereing works by composers Elizabeth Hoffman and Cecilia Olszewski, Azalea has had the pleasure of singing at The Washington Square Contemporary Music Society, SEAMUS Festival, and MATA Festival. She hopes to foster a career as a composer/performer.

Alisha Heng (age 22) is a composer and multidisciplinary artist from New York City. Her works have been performed by Ensemble Lemniscate, baritone Christopher Herbert, and violinist Barbora Kolářová. Alisha’s passion for composition stems from both her instrumental study and a fascination to create works that provoke the mind—seeking to explore the relationships between music, art, and literature. She is also an avid filmmaker and writer. Alisha currently studies composition at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins.

Sage Shurman (age 20) is a composer, orchestrator, and multimedia artist from Los Angeles, California. She is an ASCAP Morton Gould winner, a John Green Prize winner, and a YoungArts winner. She has been commissioned nationally by groups like Hub New Music, the Taos Chamber Music Group, and ChamberQUEER. In addition, Sage’s work has been premiered by the LA Phil String Orchestra, the Southeast Symphony, Sandbox Percussion, and the Thalea Quartet. Sage is currently at Harvard University studying neuroscience and music. At Harvard she has orchestrated and music directed two new musicals and has exhibited a dance performance space with motion triggered audio.

Olivia Bennett (age 23) is a composer and gardener from Southwest Missouri. Olivia received her bachelor’s degree in music composition from Rice University, where she studied with Pierre Jalbert, Richard Lavenda, Kurt Stallmann, and Karim Al-Zand. Olivia has been an active composer for 14 years, attending festivals such as the Lucerne Festival in Switzerland and hearing her music performed by ensembles around the world. She is currently working as the Career and Operations Coordinator at LIM College and enjoys the NYC culture. She has a passion for the outdoors and has worked in multiple farms and gardens. Olivia finds joy in her roles as an artist, an administrator, and a gardener.

Madeline Clara Cheng (age 21) is a composer studying as a Presidential Scholar at the University of Southern California, where she is writing a new opera that will premiere in October 2025. A 2023 YoungArts Award Winner and the 2024-25 Hearing in Color Young Composer-in-Residence, she has been commissioned by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra’s May Festival, Ensemble for These Times, La Caccina, River and Rail Theatre Company, and UUCWC Crossing Chorale. Her music has been performed by Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Norway’s Bergen International Festival, and the International Contemporary Ensemble. She also works at Sony Pictures in their TV Music department.

KiMani (Key-Mahn-ee) Bridges (age 23) is a composer and flutist from Louisville, Kentucky. She has been commissioned, performed, and premiered by the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the Louisville Symphony Orchestra, LA Philharmonic, among others. KiMani has performed at venues including Indiana University, the University of Louisville, and the Kentucky Center for the Arts. In addition, KiMani has participated in bespoken, the Imani Winds Chamber Music Festival, and the São Paulo Contemporary Composers Festival. She received an honorable mention from the 2022 ASCAP Morton Gould Composer Awards. KiMani earned her B.M. in composition with a flute concentration from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University in 2024. She is now pursuing her masters in composition as a proud recipient of a Kovner Fellowship at The Juilliard School.

Èbùn Oguntola (age 20) is a composer from Syracuse, New York who NPR describes as a “curious and enterprising young artist.” She is currently a sophomore in the joint-studies program at Harvard University and Berklee College of Music. Èbùn has delved deeply into composition, film scoring, conducting, songwriting, production, and multi-instrumentalism. Her works have been performed by numerous musicians across the US, including a commission to write a piece for GRAMMY-award winning violinist Johnny Gandelsman that was featured on the NY Times with the full album, This is America, reaching No. 2 on the Billboard Traditional Classical Chart. In 2021, she was featured on NPR’s From the Top, where she was interviewed by Kevin Olusola, the beatboxer from Pentatonix.

Yuri Lee (age 21) is a Korean-Japanese composer and violinist from New York with the life dream of making people happy with music. She is currently pursuing a music major at Princeton University, where she seeks to connect the hearing and Deaf communities through music and explore what music means to humanity. Awarded by National YoungArts, ASCAP, Carnegie Hall’s National Youth Orchestra, the American Prize, National Young Composers Challenge, Tribeca New Music, Metropolitan Youth Orchestra, and NYSSMA, her compositions are packed with imagination and spirit. She is grateful to her Juilliard Preparatory Division composition professors Manuel Sosa and Daniel Felsenfeld, violin professor Lucie Gelinas, and her Luna Lab mentor Reena Esmail.

Tiffany Cuaresma (age 24) is a composer and vocalist from San Diego, captivated by music’s ability to resonate with others. Her music has received awards from the National YoungArts Foundation, National Young Composers Challenge, Austin Symphony Orchestra, Texas Young Composers Competition, Guitar Salon International, and the Emerging Young Composers Competition. Tiffany is a Tanglewood Institute Young Artists Composition alumnus. Her music has been performed by International Contemporary Ensemble, Thue Le, Bo Bokyung, Steve Cowan, and Jon Nakamatsu. Cuaresma also enjoys film scoring and multi-disciplinary projects. Tiffany is graduated with a B.M. in music theory-composition and business at Rice University.

Joanna Moutouama (age 24) is a Vancouver-based composer originally from Oklahoma, who loves multi-faceted music projects. After receiving her Bachelors degree in music composition from Rice University, she has become deeply curious about how she can incorporate elements like electronics, movement, video, or lighting with music to create compositions that are interesting on both the auditory and visual levels. Joanna also strives to make her compositional projects or performances contain some type of connection to a local community or person, and she loves finding ways to interconnect her work to topics or fields outside of music.

Jane Meenaghan (age 24) is a composer from Los Angeles, California who explores spirituality through works at the intersection of classical composition, experimental electronic production, metal, and performance art. Jane received her bachelor’s degree in math, computer science, and theology from Columbia University. She is currently a master’s student in music composition at The Juilliard School. Current projects include a liturgical space opera. In the past Jane has received awards from ASCAP, BMI, and National YoungArts, worked with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, International Contemporary Ensemble, Seattle Symphony, Lyris Quartet, HOCKET, and members of New World Symphony, Houston Symphony, and Orlando Philharmonic.

Abby Harris (age 20) is a New York City-based composer and pianist. She currently studies with Robert Cuckson at Mannes School of Music as a composition major, and has studied with Timo Andres, Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, Tamar Muskal, and Kevin James. Abby’s works have earned recognition from MATA, Jr., NFMC, Robert Avalon, and others. A chamber version of Abby’s piece “nature.trail” was featured at the American Composers Orchestra Fall Gala in October of 2022, and her piano trio “Sheva,” written during her Luna Lab Fellowship, was performed in spring of 2023 at the opening of the international art exhibition “Genesis: The Beginning of Creativity.” This year, Duo Envol premiered a commissioned piece for flute and cello at Union College.

Maya Miro Johnson (age 24) is a composer-performer-director originally from Salt Lake City whose genre-defying work explores intersections between embodied music-making, multimedia theater, and the history of science and medicine. She has written for Ensemble Intercontemporain, De Orkest Ereprijs, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Sarasota Festival, loadbang, Rock School of Ballet, Barnes Foundation, Moab Music Festival, Baltic Sea Festival, Beth Morrison Projects, and Copland House. Winner of BMI Schuman and Surinach Prizes, she appears on albums #What2020LooksLike, This is America, Manuscripts Don’t Burn, and Hildegard and Her Sisters. She attended The Curtis Institute (BM ‘24) and Lucerne, Cabrillo, Aspen, and Tanglewood festivals. She is currently pursuing a MM in Composition at Yale University.

Helen Lyons (age 22) is a composer, pianist, and violinist from New York City. She writes for ensembles of all sizes, with a special passion for writing for orchestra. Helen is a four-time ASCAP Morton Gould finalist and winner of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME)’s Student Composers Competition. She was also named a winner of the New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) Student Composers Competition, and has had her orchestral work performed at their annual conference in Rochester, NY. Her work was featured last year in New York by the Little Orchestra Society. Helen graduated summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa from Yale with a BS in Mathematics.

Carolina Bragg (age 23) is a composer from Brookline, Massachusetts. She finds inspiration in the strangest of places, from epic poetry to tropical birds. Her pieces have been performed in San Francisco, St. Louis, Houston, and New York City. Notable works include her first professional commission from the Friction Quartet and an accompanying radio premiere on NPR’s From the Top. In 2022, Carolina received the inaugural Tidal Shift Award at the Portland Museum of Art for her climate-focused choral work. Carolina is a senior at Bowdoin College where she is a Biology major and member of the Bowdoin Symphony Orchestra and chamber ensembles. She is grateful to her mentors, who have included Alla Cohen, Reena Esmail, and Eugene Kim.

Caleb Palka (age 24) is a composer from Portland, Oregon whose work is “inquisitive and creative in an unapologetic way” (Oregon ArtsWatch). He has been performed/commissioned by the Bergen International Festival/Norwegian Soloists’ Choir Academy, Britt Festival Orchestra, Cincinnati May Festival/Cincinnati Men’s Chorus, International Contemporary Ensemble, Opera Omaha, Eugene Symphony, Metropolitan Youth Symphony, Mivos Quartet, Portland Piano International, and others. He has previously studied with Ryan Francis, Kenji Bunch, and Ellen Reid. Caleb currently attends the USC Thornton School of Music, studying with Donald Crockett, Camae Dennis, Ted Hearne, Andrew Norman, and Veronika Krausas.

Aliya Salmanova (age 24) is a pianist, composer, software developer, and technical sound designer currently based in Jersey City, NJ. She has performed in numerous concerts and venues across Baku, Azerbaijan, and earned her Bachelor’s Degree from NYU with a focus on music theory and composing for multimedia. Aliya is now pursuing a Master’s in Computer Science at Northeastern University, expanding her expertise in software development and technology. She combines music and technology in her work and can contribute independently to both, having created software applications as well as music and sound design for games released on Steam.

Violet Barnum (age 22) is a composer, songwriter, and pianist from New York City. Her pieces have been performed by Face the Music, Contemporaneous, the Cincinnati Choral Academy, and members of Imani Winds. She is an alumna of the Curtis Young Artist Summer Program and the NYU Summer Songwriters Workshop. Violet is exceedingly grateful to her composition mentors, who have included Reena Esmail, Alex Weiser, Matthew Barnson, Kathryn Alexander, and Jack Frerer. Violet is a recent graduate of Yale University where she majored in music. She sang in the Yale Glee Club and other on-campus choirs and was involved in the musical theater scene as a music director.

Moon Cove (age 26) is a Haitian-Peruvian composer from Queens, New York. She composes cinematic, ambient, experimental, and electronic music. Moon is currently a full-time music teacher, performer, and arranger at Lenox Hill Neighborhood House. They are a part-time student at Hunter College pursuing a master’s degree in music composition. Moon’s recent projects have involved a commission for Luna Lab x ChamberQUEER’s Nebula Project. They have also released two video-game-inspired compositions.