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Email: katy@primoartists.com
Office: 646.801.9406
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San Francisco-based Janet Cowperthwaite was the manager of the Kronos Quartet and the founding Executive Director of the non profit Kronos Performing Arts Association. For 43 years she played a key role in the success of the Grammy-winning group and its organization. Her responsibilities included touring, artistic planning, an annual festival, fundraising, marketing, and more. She oversaw the commissioning of 1,100 new works and the production of 75+ acclaimed recordings. Cowperthwaite was instrumental in creating many innovative programs including “Kronos Fifty for the Future,” a free library of 50 new commissioned works. She has served on various boards of directors and is the recipient of several awards.
Nicki Sekhar is a genre-breaking Brooklyn-based composer, arranger, and vocalist, whose work has been performed by ensembles such as Hypercube, The Rhythm Method, and Dither. Growing up, Nicki sang in Uniting Voices Chicago and in 2020, with UVC’s nomination, they were named to the Rising Star Honor Roll for Music by the City of Chicago. In 2020, they wrote, recorded, and produced their first solo album, Cerebrum, which combines electronic and pop styles with contemporary classical techniques. Nicki’s sophomore album, The Juniper Suite was recorded in 2024 and premiered live at The Garage, supported by an award from The Presser Foundation. They hold a degree in Music Composition from New York University.
Alyssa Kayser-Hirsh is an arts administrator and musician based in New York City. She has experience in artistic organizations of all sizes, with a particular focus in project management, content development, and youth programming. In addition to her work with Luna Composition Lab, she currently works in Digital Content & Engagement at Carnegie Hall. She has previously worked as a writer and educator, covering contemporary classical music for I CARE IF YOU LISTEN and teaching private voice lessons. Alyssa performs with Amor Artis. Originally from Amherst, MA, Alyssa is a graduate of Wellesley College, where she received degrees in Music and American Studies. In 2024 she completed her Master’s Degree in American Queer Women’s History at The Graduate Center, CUNY.
Ellen Reid is one of the most innovative artists of her generation. A composer and sound artist whose breadth of work spans opera, sound design, film scoring, ensemble and choral writing, she was awarded the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in Music for her opera, p r i s m. Reid is the first composer to have been commissioned by all of Los Angeles’s four major classical music institutions: Los Angeles Opera at REDCAT, Los Angeles Philharmonic, L.A. Master Chorale and L.A. Chamber Orchestra. Ellen received her BFA from Columbia University and her MA from California Institute of the Arts.
Recently deemed “one of the more consistently inventive, surprising composers now working in New York” (New York Times) and “a once in a generation magician of the orchestra” (The New Yorker), Missy Mazzoli has had her music performed by the Kronos Quartet, LA Opera, eighth blackbird, the BBC Symphony, the Berlin Philharmonic and many others. In 2018 she became one of the first two women, along with Jeanine Tesori, to receive a main stage commission from the Metropolitan Opera, and was nominated for a Grammy awards in 2019 and 2023. She was composer-in-Residence at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 2018-2021, and from 2012-2015 was Composer-in-Residence with Opera Philadelphia. Upcoming commissions include works for Scottish Opera at the Edinburgh International Festival, the New York Philharmonic and San Francisco Opera. She teaches at Bard College Conservatory and her works are published by G. Schirmer.
