Award-winning transgender Mexican-American composer Mari Esabel Valverde has been commissioned by the American Choral Directors Association, Boston Choral Ensemble, Cantus, the Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses, Los Angeles Master Chorale, One Voice Mixed Chorus, Portland’s Resonance Ensemble, Seattle Men’s and Women’s Choruses, the Texas Music Educators Association, and the University of Michigan Men’s Glee Club. A native of North Texas, she holds degrees from St. Olaf College and San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She is a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers and the American Choral Directors Association.

Puerto Rican-born composer and multi-instrumentalist Angélica Negrón writes music for accordions, robotic instruments, toys, and electronics as well as for chamber ensembles, orchestras, choir, and film. Her music has been described as “wistfully idiosyncratic and contemplative” (WQXR/Q2) while The New York Times noted her “capacity to surprise.” Negrón has been commissioned by the Bang on a Can All-Stars, Kronos Quartet, loadbang, Prototype Festival, Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Sō Percussion, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Opera Philadelphia, and the New York Botanical Garden, among others. Recent premieres include works for the Seattle Symphony, LA Philharmonic, Louisville Orchestra and NY Philharmonic Project 19 initiative and multiple performances at Big Ears Festival 2022.

Nina Shekhar explores the intersection of identity, vulnerability, love, and laughter to create bold and intensely personal works. Described as “tart and compelling” (New York Times) and an “orchestral supernova” (LA Times), her music has been performed by the New York Philharmonic, LA Philharmonic, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Seattle Symphony, Eighth Blackbird, JACK Quartet, Alarm Will Sound, and Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. Her work has been featured by the Hollywood Bowl, Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Library of Congress. Shekhar is on the composition faculty of Mannes School of Music at The New School.

Hailed by The New York Times as “striking and resourceful…handsomely brooding,” Gabriel Jenks’s music has been performed at major venues such as Carnegie Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Lincoln Center, the Chicago Art Institute, Tanglewood Music Center, The Aspen Music Festival, and others. Lash’s chamber opera, “Desire,” premiered at Miller Theatre to great acclaim. Jenks’s Double Concerto for piano and harp was premiered by the Naples Philharmonic, and “Forestallings,” a musical response to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 2 in D Major, was premiered by the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. Jenks’s double harp concerto, “The Peril of Dreams” was premiered by the Seattle Symphony in November 2021 with the composer as one of the featured soloists.