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Whether composing piano preludes inspired by mythical creatures, flute melodies that mimic the songs of endangered birds, or a string quartet that draws from the Iranian music of his ancestral heritage, composer Kian Ravaei (b. 1999) takes listeners on a spellbinding tour of humanity’s most deeply felt emotions. Ravaei has collaborated with performers and ensembles such as Eliot Fisk, Bella Hristova, Salastina, and Juventas New Music Ensemble, and has served as a Copland House CULTIVATE Fellow and a Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra Composer Teaching Artist Fellow. In recent months, Ravaei was featured on an episode of Performance Today, America’s most popular classical music radio program. His string quartet Family Photos has garnered numerous awards, including First Prize in the Spectrum Chamber Music Composition Competition, Second Prize in the instrumental chamber music division of the American Prize, and Honorable Mention in the Tribeca New Music Young Composer Competition. DJs know Ravaei as the go-to person for creating orchestral versions of dance songs, including Wooli & Codeko’s “Crazy feat. Casey Cook (Orchestral).” Ravaei counts celebrated composers Richard Danielpour, Derek Bermel, and Tarik O’Regan among his teachers. He is an alumnus of UCLA and the Curtis Institute of Music Young Artist Summer Program.
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Jacob Beranek (b. 1998) is a Wisconsin-born, New York-based composer and pianist. His compositions, inspired by a love of melody and craft, are infused with his interest in historical traditions—musical, religious, or even his Czech heritage.
Beranek served as the inaugural Composer-in-Residence of the Midsummer’s Music Festival (Door County, Wisconsin) from 2017–20. His works have been championed by the GRAMMY®-nominated ALIAS Chamber Ensemble (Nashville), Band of the Castle Guards & Czech Police (Prague), Blair Brass Quintet and Blair String Quartet (Nashville), Dolce Suono Ensemble (Philadelphia), Euterpe Quintet (Seoul, South Korea), The Gesualdo Six (London), and Wisconsin Philharmonic (Waukesha), soloists Peter Sheppard Skærved and Mimi Stillman, as well as choreographers Sidra Bell and Kannen Glanz. Mikel Toms and the Brno Philharmonic (Brno, Czechia) recorded his Pilgrimatic Overture as part of ABLAZE Records’ ninth “Orchestral Masters” album, which will be released in 2023.
His work has garnered international recognition in competitions such as the American Prize for Composition, the National Federation of Music Clubs Beyer Awards, and The Gesualdo Six Composition Competition, in which he received first place for ages 21-and-under worldwide. He was the first composer at Juilliard to have music featured in the Juilliard New Dances series while still a student and was one of the winners of Juilliard’s 2022–23 Orchestra Composition Competition, with a premiere in Alice Tully Hall expected in March 2023.
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Born in Genova, Italy, and raised outside of Syracuse, New York, Sean Penzo is a composer and cellist known for a wide range of collaborations and compositions. He has held board positions in Ethos New Music Society and The Improv. Collective, among others. Penzo has attended several music festivals, including Sewanee Summer Music Festival in Sewanee, Tennessee, Alba New Music Festival in Alba, Italy, and highSCORE New Music Festival. He has composed for ensembles which have performed his music internationally including Sonic Apricity, Akropolis Reed Quintet, and Quartetto Zuena. During his undergrad at SUNY Fredonia, Penzo studied composition with Paul Coleman, Andrew Martin Smith, Rob Deemer, and Jamie Leigh Sampson, and cello with Natasha Farny. He is currently studying composition with Keith Fitch, and cello with Bryan Dumm at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Penzo values performance just as much as composition. He enjoys working with live bands and playing the role of a studio musician--often recording remotely for clients of all genres. His recent endeavors have involved working with Shane Patterson, Todd Hobin, Isa Bruder, and Julia Goodwin.
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