Compose with Me
MEET OUR GUEST ARTISTS
A hodgepodge of folks from around the world, coming together in solidarity to help rebuild a city.
ANNIKA SOCOLOFSKY
Composer
Annika Socolofsky is a composer and avant folk vocalist. Described as “unbearably moving” (Gramophone) and “just the right balance between edgy precision and freewheeling exuberance” (The Guardian), her music erupts from the embodied power of the human voice and is communicated through mediums ranging from orchestral and operatic works to unaccompanied folk ballads. Annika writes extensively for her own voice, including composing a growing repertoire of “feminist rager-lullabies” titled Don’t say a word, which serves to confront centuries of damaging lessons taught to young children by retelling old lullaby texts for a new, queer era.
JENNIFER JOLLEY
Composer
Jennifer Jolley (b. 1981) is a West Texas-based composer of vocal, orchestral, wind ensemble, chamber, and electronic works.
Jennifer deeply values the relationship that is created between composers and the communities with whom they collaborate. She has been composer-in-residence at Brevard College, University of Toledo, the Vermont Symphony, the Central Michigan University School of Music, and the Alba Music Festival in Italy. Most recently she was the Composer-in-Residence of the Women Composers Festival of Hartford in 2019. She promotes composer advocacy and the performance of new works through her opera company North American New Opera Workshop, her articles for NewMusicBox, and her work on the Executive Council of the Institute for Composer Diversity and the New Music USA Program Council.
JON SILPAYAMANANT
Arabic Music Scholar
Born in Udon Thani, Thailand Jon Silpayamanant is an intercultural multi-instrumentalist, composer, researcher, and music educator based in the greater Louisville and Kentuckiana area. As a biracial Thai American with musical families on both sides of the world, he has been navigating musical code switching and bimusicality for much of his life and uses that experience to inform his understanding of how music ecosystems interact, hybridize, and create systems of exclusion.
LEILA MIRE
Dancer & Choreographer
Leila Mire is a NY-based dancer, choreographer, educator, researcher, and writer. She is a current recipient of the Young Alumni Commissioning Project, the Excellence in Dance Writing Award from George Mason University, the NYC Mayoral Teaching Award, a Digital Content Platform Awardee, and an Aseemkala Fellow. She is currently performing and choreographing for Bated Breath Theater Company’s “Voyeur: Through the Windows of Toulouse-Lautrec” in addition to creating her first full-length work entitled, “Scheherazade Retold.” Mire holds a BFA from George Mason University’s Honors College. Read more about her at leilamiredance.com or follow her on instagram @leila.mire.
MARWAN KAMEL
Musician
Marwan Kamel, based in Chicago, is a multi-instrumentalist who plays and performs on violin, guitar, buzuq, oud, nay, and hand-percussion, as well as others. His work's lifelong vision explores the colloquial textures of Western punk and experimental musics and their boundaries and interaction with melodically-complex maqam modalities. He has composed original music for some small-scale films and has performed internationally with various projects at festivals such as Richard Thompson's Meltdown Festival in London, South by Southwest, and Sundance Film Festival. He also hosts a weekly live looping show on Istanbul-based Root Radio. With City of Djinn, he is currently collaborating on an upcoming project for University of Hawaii.
MICHAL MASSOUD & LENA VIDULICH
Oud & Violin Duo
Michal Massoud is a musician and teacher. He splits his musical activities between composing, conducting, and performing on various instruments including the oud. Lastly, Michal is the host of The Movers and Makers Podcast, a podcast of interviews, conversations, and debates with people who make things. | www.michalmassoud.com
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Violinist/violist Lena Vidulich is an adventurous and versatile performer. She is a regular member and guest performer of many ensembles such as earspace, Amalgama, Quartet121, Talea Ensemble, and the Louis Moreau Institute. She is currently pursuing a Teacher’s Certification at the Riverside Initiative for the Alexander Technique. | www.lenavidulich.com