April Faith-Slaker

Driven by looped cello melodies, April Faith-Slaker combines various genres of music and the use of technology to create a contemporary sound. Percussion and texture based on the use of pedal effects and amplified sounds enrich the layers of cello and create an ambient and experimental aesthetic.

April is classically trained, but has also composed and performed internationally with Irish bands, rock bands, and orchestras. Her current musical projects include composing and performing with Omaha-based movement theater group, aetherplough, as well as collaborations with various other musicians throughout the Midwest.

https://soundcloud.com/aprilfs

Andy Costello

Chicago-born pianist Andy Costello has established himself as a musician of versatility, creativity, originality and imagination. Described as "completely unique on the Montreal scene and perhaps the world over," (Innovations en Concert) and "blazing a truly unique path for himself" (PianoForte Chicago), Andy is constantly in search of unforeseen ways of bringing new music to new audiences. Dedicated to the music of living composers, Andy has worked personally with over 40 composers in the past two seasons alone. "Andy trouve la profondeur dans chaque note" ("Andy finds depth in every note"), composer Philippe Leroux has stated of Andy's playing. Andy's current curatorial project is Morton Feldman Chamber Players (MFCP), a non-profit organization devoted to programming the solo and chamber works of Morton Feldman in the United States and Canada (www.mf-cp.org). As a composer himself, Andy's music often deals with theatrical humor, and use of the body and voice. He holds degrees from McGill University and Columbia College (summa cum laude), under Sara Laimon and Sebastian Huydts, respectively. He is a visiting artist for the composition department of The Boston Conservatory for the 2013-14 academic year.

http://www.mynameisandycostello.com/

Colloquy

Colloquy creates direction based music with lots of improvisation between 2-3 instruments, in an effort to create music that uses the jazz aesthetic with classical and non-classical instruments. Originally started as a duo project, we have recorded and performed music for violin and cello, electric violin and electric guitar, and violin, cello and trumpet. We are interested in improvisation, but also communicating stories and having compositional input that directs and leads, but doesn't dictate. Our music is sometimes structured or has limitations but also at times will be freely improvised. Our goal is to create interesting, immediate, improvised music that can be appreciated by the music scholar and the music fan alike.

http://dannysabra.bandcamp.com/album/colloquy

Conservatory for Contemporary Dance

Monya DeBoer, Director
Monya DeBoer grew up in San Diego, CA and trained under Marguerite Neumann at the School of Classical Ballet. In 1995 she worked with the Ramon Sole Companie de Danse in Barcelona, Spain. Monya moved to Lincoln to attend UNL to pursue a BFA in Dance under the direction of Lisa Fusillo. While studying at UNL, she also attended American Dance Festival at Duke University, The Doug Varone Workshop in NY, and Bates Dance Festival in Lewiston Maine and also performed in Die Fleidermouse and Julius Caesar.  In 2007, she attended the American Dance Festival Winter Workshop in New York. Monya has also worked with Ruth Davidson Hahn and Company including performances of 15 Pictures at Jacob's Pillow in 2001 and as the Devil in Stravinsky's A Soldier's Tale with the Lincoln Symphony in 2007. She also performed for Daniel Kubert in The Who That Horton Heard and has been a member of Lincoln Contemporary Dance Project since 2003. Monya danced with the Diavolo Dance Project in April of 2009 and with the Omaha Symphony in A Soldier's Tale in September 2010.  

Ensemble 768

Ensemble 768 is the new music ensemble of the University of Nebraska at Omaha. The ensemble is dedicated to the performance of student and local composer works as well as masterworks of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Founded in 2012, Ensemble 768 (pronounced "Ensemble Seven, Six, Eight") is so named because the speed of sound through dry air is 768mph.

Ensemble 768 is the new music ensemble of the University of Nebraska at Omaha. The ensemble is dedicated to the performance of student and local composer works as well as masterworks of the 20th and 21st centuries. Membership is by audition.

James Fusik

Saxophonist James Fusik has garnered numerous accomplishments worldwide. His performance honors include Co-1st prize at the 2011 Stockhausen Courses and Concerts-Kurten (GER), advancing to the semi-finals of the 5th Adolphe Sax competition in Dinant (BEL), and 1st prize in the 2010 Richardson competition (USA).

James Fusik is a member of the current generation of artists and musicians that values and earnestly promotes the music of our time. Fusik currently serves as Assistant Professor of Woodwinds at Minot State University (ND). He has degrees from Bowling Green State University (M.M., DMA), and Central Michigan University (B.M. Theory/Composition, B.M.E. Music Ed), with studies under John Sampen, John Nichol, Marilyn Shrude, David Gillingham, and José-Luis Maurtua.

www.jamesfusik.com

Dereck Higgins

Active in music since the 70's Dereck is known for his bass playing skills and diverse musical interests. He has played many styles from punk to jazz to blues to electronic to Cajun. Dereck recently created the soundtrack to "Flyover Country," and is involved in several music projects, including his own solo work.

http://dereckhiggins.bandcamp.com/

Will Huff

Will Huff’s compositional inheritance is primarily imparted by American and European minimalism and indie rock. Recent focus has been devoted to the establishment of a University of Iowa laptop orchestra, including the design and construction of eight hemispherical speakers. He has enjoyed collaboration with choreographers, filmmakers, and playwrights and his music has been performed in the U.S., England, and Thailand. He has studied composition with David Gompper, Lawrence Fritts, Michael Schelle, Frank Felice, and Robert Mueller.

Will Huff's research interests focus on the liminal aspects of music, heuristic modeling, and algorithmic modeling.

http://www.huffcomposer.com/

Aaron Hynds

Ohio-based tuba player Aaron Hynds has been performing across the country for the past several years, with an emphasis on contemporary music. He has commissioned several composers to write new works for the tuba, with several world premieres planned for 2014. Aaron is currently attending Bowling Green State University, where he is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in Contemporary Music. He has earned degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Northern Iowa, and has studied with David Saltzman, John Stevens, and Dr. Jeffrey Funderburk.

http://aaronhynds.weebly.com/

Gunnar Hirthe

Gunnar Owen Hirthe hails from Green Bay, Wisconsin and is currently a doctoral student in contemporary music: clarinet performance at Bowling Green State University under the mentorship of Mr. Kevin Schempf. He has earned bachelor’s degrees in music education and performance from the University of Kentucky under Dr. Scott J. Wright; a master’s degree from The Ohio State University with Mr. James M. Pyne; and has recently graduated from the professional studies program at the Cleveland Institute of Music with Mr. Franklin Cohen.

Gunnar Owen Hirthe has performed with chamber, wind and orchestral groups in Wisconsin, Kentucky and Ohio; with Arlo Guthrie at Carnegie Hall in New York; and for living composers such as David Maslanka, David Lang, Steven Stucky, Sean Shepherd,Shulamit Ran, and Nils Vigelund. He was a soloist with the Green Bay Youth Symphony, The Ohio State University Symphony Orchestra in Columbus, OH, the Suburban Symphony Orchestra in Cleveland, OH, and is looking forward to his guest soloist performance with the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble in their 2014

Season.

Keith/Larson Duo

The Keith/Larson Duo is a flute and guitar duo consisting of flutist Leanna Keith and guitarist Zachary Larson. The duo aims not only to expose the unique world of the flute and guitar ensemble to audiences, but to also expand its horizons through the performance and commission of new works as well as unique original arrangements of orchestral literature. 

Leanna Keith

A talented flutist, Leanna Keith is a versatile musician whose repertoire encompasses multiple styles from Baroque to contemporary. Equally comfortable on stage as a soloist and in an ensemble, Ms. Keith has served as principal flute in the Heartland Philharmonic Orchestra since 2011, before which she served as principal flute in the University of Nebraska at Omaha's (UNO) Chamber Orchestra for the 2010-2011 season. In 2012 she became a founding member of UNO's first modern music ensemble - Ensemble 768 - which focuses on extremely complex music of the 20th and 21st centuries, and enjoys bringing their unconventional styles to a wider audience. In 2013, Ms. Keith and guitarist Zachary Larson formed Keith/Larson Duo, a flute and guitar group that largely performs new music and orchestral transcriptions.

In 2014, Ms. Keith received a Bachelor of Music degree in flute performance under the tutelage of Dr. Christine Erlander Beard, with whom she has studied since 2008. She has also had additional study in master classes with Dr. Conor Nelson, Caen Thomason-Redus, Dr. Leslie Marrs, Pablo Salcedo, Maria Harding, Lois Herbine, Jan Gippo, Cindy Ellis, Peter Verhoyen, Horacio Massone, Sergio Pallottelli, and Dr. Nancy Schneeloch-Bingham. In addition to her Western classical flute training, Leanna also studies the Chinese Dizi with Dizi flutist Jianxun Xia, and is very active in the Omaha Chinese Culture Association. In the fall of 2014, Ms. Keith will pursue graduate studies in flute performance and Ethnomusicology (with an emphasis on Chinese music and culture) at the University of Washington in Seattle with flutist Donna Shin.

in the same breath

in the same breath is collaboration of 3 performers and 3 composers. Members include flutists Dalia Chin and Eliza Bangert, as well as singer Kate McDuffie who have commissioned three pieces using flute, voice and electronics.  The composers D. Edward Davis, Scott Scharf and Monte Weber were commissioned to write pieces that reflected and explored the similarities of the flute and voice.  

in the same breath is based in Chicago, IL.

Philip Kolbo

Philip Kolbo is currently pursuing a degree in music performance from the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He studies modern percussion with Dr. Scott Shinbara andIsraeli percussion with Yshai Afterman. He is a member of the Heartland Philharmonic Orchestra, Dat Crass Band, UNO Percussion Ensemble, and Ensemble 768. Philip holds an internship position with the Omaha Area Youth Orchestras, where he researches and organizes grant materials. In 2013, Philip was awarded a FUSE (Fund for Undergraduate Scholarly Experiences) grant for music performance research in Argentina.

Dylan Lilla

Dylan Lilla started his art career here in Omaha at UNO and later graduated with a BFA from Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design.  He has worked for artists and museums all over including Martha Russo at the Denver Art Museum, Walter McConnell at the Denver Art Museum, at Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art and in Sao Paolo Brazil for Henrique Oliveira.

Luke Polipnick, Dana Murray, Max Stehr

Luke Polipnick, Dana Murray and Max Stehr have developed a unique repertoire highlighting the work of such jazz greats as Thelonious Monk and Ornette Coleman, in addition to uncommon standards, original compositions and free play.

www.lukepolipnick.com

Jeff Manchur

Jeff Manchur is committed to creating diverse and challenging musical experiences for audiences across the United States and Canada. He has performed Morton Feldman’s iconic 4 hour and 45 minute-long “For Philip Guston” with Chamber Cartel in Atlanta and regularly performs on the toy piano (he owns two), appearing at the BGSU, Studio 300 and Tutti New Music festivals. His solo piano performances span from premieres of works by Garrett Hope to his personal takes on the classics of Beethoven, the drama of Wuorinen to the passion of Liszt, the eclecticism of Rzewski to the refinement of Debussy.

Jeff’s playing has been rewarded at the Dr Marjorie Conrad Art Song Competition (first place, 2013) for his collaboration with soprano Fidelia Esther Darmahkasih. He performed with the Chiara String Quartet as a finalist in the “Play with the Chiaras” competition (2012) and represented Nebraska in the MTNA Young Artist competition as their state winner (2011). Most recently, he has received an educational grant from the Manitoba Arts Council and in March of 2014, will serve as an artist in residence at the Hambidge Center in Rabun Gap, Georgia.

http://jeff.manchur.com/

MOBILE

Flutist Shanna Gutierrez appears throughout the United States and abroad as a soloist, clinician, and in chamber collaborations. She is a founding member of the international initiativecollect/project and Chicago-based Ensemble Dal Niente, recipient of the 2012 Kranichstein Prize for Interpretation. Shanna has received numerous awards and accolades for her performances including, prizes at the 2011(THINKI) and 2013 (XI) Stockhausen Courses, and the Darmstadt Summer Courses for New Music. As a specialist in contemporary performance, Shanna is dedicated to promoting and advancing contemporary music in cultural life today through innovative performances. Shanna plays on a Burkart flute and piccolo and Kingma open-hole bass and alto flutes. 

www.shannagutierrez.com

Jesse Langen studied guitar with Anne Waller at Northwestern University and played in master classes for Oscar Ghiglia, Sergio and Odair Assad, Bob Guthrie, Elliot Fisk, David Russell, Roberto Aussell, Nigel North, and Paul O'Dette. In the summer of 2002, he was a featured soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. On top of many performances in Chicago, across the United States, and in Europe, Jesse has played in the Minnesota Guitar Society Concert Series, the Chicago Segovia Classical Guitar Series (as a member of the Guitar Camerata), the Memphis "Imagine" New Music Series (as a member of the G-Force Guitar Quartet), and at Columbia University in New York.  An avid player of new music, Jesse has premiered dozens of pieces, many of which were written for him. He can be heard as a soloist, in chamber collaborations, and with Ensemble Dal Niente.

http://dalniente.com/dalnienteartists/Langen.html

New Music Agency - Karen Sandene

The "agents" of Lincoln, NE-based New Music Agency are musicians who believe that contemporary classical music deserves to have a place in the Lincoln music scene on a year-round basis. Representing the Agency at Omaha Under the Radar is director/bassoonist, Karen Sandene.

An Omaha native, Karen is an active performer in the Omaha/Lincoln classical music community, playing bassoon and contrabassoon with the Omaha and Lincoln Symphony Orchestras, the Abendmusik Orchestra and the Nebraska Symphony Chamber Orchestra. She also free-lances with other area musical organizations and teaches instrumental music in several Title I schools in Lincoln. Along with her work with the New Music Agency, Karen is the founder of Bassoons Across Nebraska, an organization created to highlight and promote the bassoon to audiences throughout the state.

Weston Olencki

Weston Olencki is a Chicago-based trombonist specializing in the performance and production of new music. Weston has performed extensively with the Northwestern University Contemporary Music Ensemble and Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Chicago Symphony Orchestra's MusicNOW series, Ensemble Dal Niente, the Brevard Music Center Orchestra, and the Spartanburg Philharmonic, under conductors including Alan Pierson, Cliff Colnot, JoAnn Falleta, Michael Lewanski (Dal Niente), and Matthias Bamert. He will also be joining the ranks of Chicago's Fonema Consort for the 2014-5 season. His work while at Northwestern allowed collaboration alongside a wide range of artists including Aaron Jay Kernis, Hans Thomalla, and performance artist Terry Adkins. He has given (and is set to give) numerous world, United States, and regional premieres of works from composers such as Katherine Young, Aaron Cassidy, Ming Tsao, Elliott Carter, Dave Reminick, Hans Thomalla, Alexandre Lunsqui, Alex Mincek, and many others. He will graduate with honors from Northwestern University in June of 2014 with degrees in Trombone Performance and Musicology. His teachers include Michael Mulcahy (Chicago Symphony), Peter Ellefson (Indiana University), Timothy Higgins (San Francisco Symphony), and Colin Williams (Atlanta Symphony). He will start as an M.M. candidate at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in the fall of 2014.

https://soundcloud.com/dave-reminick/8-1-press-play-on-tape-weston

Kevin Pike

Composer/saxophonist Kevin Pike is known for his eclectic musical output.  He has released over 15 albums, performs in a free jazz duo and other groups in Omaha, and publishes the DIY recording podcast "Look What I Made."  Kevin has a Jazz Studies degree from DePaul University where he also studied composition with George Flynn, Jeff Kowalkowski and Cliff Colnot. 

www.kpikemusic.com

Liz Pearse and Jon Fielder

Soprano Liz Pearse is becoming known as a fearless performer of wide-ranging repertoire, reflected in performances spanning from medieval works to world premieres. Liz is one-fourth of Quince Contemporary Vocal Ensemble, and an avid stage performer, Liz performs with Michigan Opera Theatre Chorus.  Liz maintains a private studio based in Bowling Green and has taught Vocal Repertoire and Singers' Diction at Bowling Green State University, in addition to studio teaching. She is currently completing a Doctorate of Musical Arts at Bowling Green State University.

www.lizpearse.com

Jon Fielder is a composer of electroacoustic and acoustic music, all of which shows a strong interest in timbre, texture, spatialization and narrative. His music is often inspired by his love of natural landscapes, such as the echoing of the Ohio River valley and the windy flatland of Northwest Ohio. He also draws inspiration from his interest in various topics of science and mathematics (chemical reactions, psychopharmacology, Markov chains), from manipulations of the human voice - both spoken and sung - and from literature.

Jon's music has been presented and performed at the SEAMUS conference (2013), Toronto Electroacoustic Symposium, Electronic Music Midwest, the Electroacoustic Barn Dance, CEMIcircles Festival, N-SEME, NASA conference, the International Double Reed Society Conference (2012), the Northern Ohio Music Exchange (NOMA) concert at the Oberlin Conservatory, the Olmsted Festival of the Arts, and inclusion in the Alex Sramek call for scores for the Voxnovus 15-Minutes of Fame series (Sublimation).

http://jonfielder.weebly.com/

Penalty Box Cat

The mainstream scene destroyer penalty box cat consists of General Mike and his robotronic console of circuit bent noise boxes, Atari 2600 game consoles, keyboards and various pedals. The goal of pbc is to translate the sounds of the cosmos into an electronic and experimental based array of phantom frequencies, designed to enter the subconscious of the listener in an attempt to stimulate the brain into alternate ways of hearing so called noise. Since 2008, General Mike plays occasional shows, takes his sound projects far too seriously and sometimes refers to himself in the third person.

https://soundcloud.com/penaltyboxcat

Pesedjet

Pesedjet is a multi-instrumental, interdisciplinary trio that explores the intersection of music, installation, and performance art.  With virtuosic chamber music, mesmerizing visual displays, and narrative choreography, they create a microcosm of beauty, space, and thought.

Carrie Henneman Shaw, a McKnight Artist Fellow, brings a sense of adventure and style to the concert stage as a passionate interpreter of Baroque and contemporary repertoire. Praised as a “cool and precise soprano” (Chicago Tribune), Shaw collaborates with organizations across the country, such as Boston Early Music Festival and The Newberry Consort.

Mabel Kwan is active in performances and education outreach throughout the concert season. Mabel has given solo recitals at the Sonic Fusion Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland and the Experimental Piano Series produced by the Chicago Composers Forum and Pianoforte Chicago.

An avid player of new music, Jesse Langen has premiered dozens of pieces written for him. He is the guitarist for Ensemble Dal Niente in Chicago, winner of the 2012 Krannichsteiner stipiendpreise at the Darmstadt International Summer Music Courses.

Lori Reckling

Lori Reckling is a pianist and composer whose interpretations and creations are informed by a lifetime of diverse experiences drawn from a broad education in music, applied design, the natural and social sciences, creative writing, and the healing arts. She began piano study at age five and violin at age eight, quickly gaining expertise on both instruments. Ms. Reckling consistently placed in top violin positions in the many orchestras in which she participated, and the orchestral experience continues to profoundly influence her approach to music. She gave her first solo piano performance at age six and began working as a professional collaborative pianist at age twelve, which she has continued to do throughout her life. Her performance experiences include full solo recitals, guest artist appearances, and honors and competition winners' programs. She has studied piano in Austria as well as the United states. Ms. Reckling maintained a successful private piano teaching studio for a number of years and served in a variety of theory and keyboard-related teaching capacities at the UNO, She is nearing completion of a Master of Music degree from the University of Nebraska-Omaha, where she studies piano with Dr. James Johnson and composition with Dr. Ken Bales. She has composed well received works for chamber ensembles and full orchestra as well as solo piano.

Red Theatre Omaha

It is the mission of Red Theater to honor audiences by asking dangerous questions with compelling theatrical interaction. We are inspired by American traditions like vaudeville, slam poetry, cinematic realism, and music videos. We take advantage of those things that can only be done in live performance.

In short - We ask dangerous questions, theatrically.

Rhymes with Opera

RHYMES WITH OPERA is an ensemble based in both Baltimore and New York City, and is dedicated to creating and performing contemporary experimental vocal music and chamber opera. Rhymes With Opera expands the repertoire of new vocal music by commissioning and promoting new works. Composer Ruby Fulton and Soprano Bonnie Lander are founding members of the experimental vocal ensemble Rhymes With Opera. 

Bonnie Lander is a vocalist that specializes in the performance and presentation of contemporary music. She has performed all over the United States as an improviser, classical soprano, contemporary soprano, and avant garde interpreter. A prolific presence on the East Coast- Bonnie is a founding member of Baltimore based Rhymes With Opera- a chamber music company dedicated to new vocal repertoire; she completed an Artist in Residence at thefidget space in Philadelphia; and has been invited to participate as a featured guest artist for Shodekeh's Embody Vocal Arts series in Baltimore. She is currently a DMA candidate at UC San Diego in the studio of Susan Narucki.

Baltimore-based musician and composer Ruby Fulton (b.1981) writes music which invites listeners to explore non-musical ideas through sound. Fulton is a multi-instrumentalist, performing on and writing for violin, flugelhorn, and keys. Whatever musical genre or instruments Fulton chooses, her music reflects the rhythms and pulses of daily life, and the world around her. In addition to composing, Fulton works as co-artistic director of the experimental vocal collective Rhymes With Opera, a 5-piece vocal/composer ensemble now in their sixth season. Fulton was born and raised in Cherokee, Iowa.

Stacey Barelos

Pianist Stacey Barelos specializes in the music of the 20th  and 21st centuries, particularly the music of living composers. Regarding her first solo release, The Midwest American Piano Project, the American Record Guide said, “Stacey Barelos...plays with authority and poetic nuance, her beautiful tone captured vividly in this warm recording...” Barelos has done extensive research on the piano music of Henry Cowell, much of which can be seen on her website: www.cowellpiano.com. Centaur Records released her second CD, Henry Cowell: Piano Music, in 2012. 

As a composer, Stacey’s works have been performed across the U.S. and in Europe and Australia. Her recent work ambunction is currently being featured on tour with the New Muse Duo. Upcoming works includes a piece for the woodwind quintet Black Marigold and collaboration with visual artist Marianne Evans Lombe.

In all musical endeavors, Stacey works to bridge the gap between musician and audience through engaging programming, humor and most recently, crayons. www.staceybarelos.com

tbd.

We are tbd., an Omaha based dance collective created by nine artists with a passion for dance and a desire to see it grow within the community.  It is a collaborative effort with no specific artistic director or choreographer.  We are all the artistic directors, choreographers, and performers. We do not have a specific style because we wish to incorporate and celebrate the distinctive styles, backgrounds, and choreographic elements of each of the dancers within the group.  Our mission is to improve ourselves technically as dancers, produce unique and quality work, and continue to create and encourage the growth and appreciation of dance within the community of Omaha. 

UNO Percussion Ensemble

The Percussion Studio at the University of Nebraska at Omaha, led by Scott Shinbara. 

http://www.unomaha.edu/music