Brazilian bass player and composer Rafael Abdalla has been one of the most active musicians in the Brazilian music scene over the last ten years. He has recorded three albums as a leader and has participated in over 20 other instrumental albums. As a sideman, composer and arranger  he has worked with some of the most important musical figures in Brazil including Raul de Souza, Leo Gandelman, Paulo Moura, Rogério Bocatto, Vinicius Dorin, Andre Marques, Zé Renato, Vânia Bastos, Paulo Freire, Nenê, Michel Leme, Lupa Santiago among others.

See website: www.rafaelabdalla.com

Xiaowei Cao (b. 1999) is a composer, performer, and music producer based in Gainesville, FL. After getting his Master of Music degree in Composition at the New England Conservatory, Xiaowei is currently pursuing a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Music Composition and Technology at the University of Florida. Heavily influenced by postminimalism, postmodernism, and mass art aesthetics, Xiaowei’s music focuses on the metamorphosis of sounds and exploring human words, textual acoustic sounds, and pop culture elements in electronic spaces. Xiaowei’s pieces have been performed at the University of Miami, New England Conservatory, as well as the SPLICE festival. His sound art Radio Patterns (2022) was selected as one of the finalists for the IntAct Call for Artworks 2022.

Riley Ferretti is a Japanese-American composer and vocalist whose music explores the expanse of human emotion through various compositional and improvisatory techniques. Her inspiration spans numerous sources, ranging from Eastern European choral music to punk to electronic ambient music. She recently graduated from the University Of Louisville with a B.M. in Music Composition and recently received the Sixty-Second Annual Alumni Award from the University of Louisville School of Music. She is the winner of the 2021-2022 KMEA Collegiate Composition Competition for her piece The Oak.

See website: https://rileyferretti00.wixsite.com/riley-ferretti

Jane K (Evgeniya Kozhevnikova) is a composer, pianist, and educator. Her works have been performed at regional, national, and international level music events.  Jane composes in various styles and genres, from classical to jazz and tango, tastefully blending them together. In 2020, she released a jazz-tango album Tango Avenue. Jane’s compositions received awards in multiple competitions, including the DownBeat Student Music Award, American Prize, International Composers’ Competition Opus Ignotum, Music Now Chamber Music Contest, Anima Vox duo Call for Scores and Competition. She holds two master’s degrees, in Music Composition and Music Performance, from Western Michigan University.

See website: www.JaneKmusic.com

Neda Nadim (b. 1993) is a composer from Tehran, Iran. Her music is inspired by Persian poetry and a broad range of human experiences and emotions. Her music can be characterized by dense and complex textures. The microtonal structures and the timbral scope of Iranian traditional music have also influenced her approach. Her current interests include electronic music and sound installations. Neda's works have been performed internationally by reputable ensembles and performers such as Unheard-of//Ensemble, Splice Ensemble, flutist Lisa Cella, and Claudia Aizaga. Neda is currently pursuing her DMA at the University of Florida. She earned her master's degree in music composition at Bowling Green State University and her bachelor's degree in music composition from Tehran University of Art.

Vietnamese composer Hoàng Phó writes music covering a wide range of practices, from instrumental to electronic categories where he seeks to unfold possibilities of sonic colors that are unique yet receptive to the ears of listeners. Many of his compositions have been performed by numerous reputable artists and ensembles, such as clarinetist Nina Janßen-Deinzer, Boston Musica Viva Ensemble, Sunshine city Opera, Florida Orchestra and Vietnam National Symphony Orchestra. In addition to writing music, Hoàng Phó is also active in recording engineering, as well as performing piano in contemporary music.

Michael Sauer is a composer and violinist whose music encompasses numerous concurrent styles, from Common Practice Era aesthetics to modern electroacoustic techniques. He enjoys collaborating with other artists and exploring music through various mediums, having written for concert, film, theater and ballet. His music has been performed by numerous ensembles and solo artists, such as the Huxford Symphony Orchestra, the Capstone Quartet and Danielle Kuntz. In 2021 he won the Best Score Award at the Dance Alabama Film Festival for his piece Dysphoria, and his 2021 score for the film Bones Heal, Chicks Dig Scars, and Glory Lasts Forever is currently making the rounds at film festivals around the country.

Chris Shelton is an internationally performed, award winning composer and teacher of music theory, music technology, and guitar and.  His music has been performed by ensembles such as: PHACE, the SOLI Chamber Ensemble, and Quinteto Pierrot.  He is currently a doctoral student in composition at the University of Florida and has earned a Bachelor of Music degree in composition from Berklee College of Music and a Master of Music degree in Theoretical Studies from New England Conservatory.

See website: https://chrissheltonmusic.com

Yunmeng Su is a Chinese composer, arranger, and educator. A former resident composer of Hefei Province Philharmonic Orchestra, her music has been performed by ensembles such as Kanazawa Citizen’s Art Center (Japan), Gladia string quartet (Vietnam), and the Sirius Trio (French). She was awarded in the Guangxi Arts University Composition Competition in 2016 and China-Asian Music Festival Composition Competition in 2017. She is also a film composer. The film she produced, Marquis of Haihun, was released in September 2017.

Brendan Sweeney (he/him/his) is a composer, trumpeter, arranger, and writer living in Florida. Brendan’s music strives to connect the conceptual with the visceral, often exploring form, parallels with other artistic disciplines, and the idiosyncrasies of the medium itself. A native of the gulf coast, his new work looks to incorporate the unique environment and landscape of his home into his music. His works center on impermanence, metamodernism, poly-aestheticism, and the synthesis of aleatory and systematic techniques.

See website: https://www.brendansweeneymusic.com/

When Dan isn’t educating others, he sharpens his own compositional craft by writing music for podcasts, dancers, jugglers, art installations, and other collaborative endeavors. When writing for ensembles specializing in new music, Dan’s approach changes from a commercial process into exploring previously hidden sonic boundaries. His most recent ensemble works have included concepts such as emphasizing controlled breathing, musical games via graphic notation, and cultivating his own big band sound with the UF Big Band jazz ensemble.

See website: www.DanTownsendMusic.com