We are proud to announce our 2011-2012 Con Edison Composers-in-Residence. The following eight composers will be in residence in four facilities; Flushing Town Hall, Turtle Bay Music School, Church Street School for Music and Art, and Brooklyn Youth Chorus Academy.

We are grateful to corporate funder Consolidated Edison, and to lead foundation funders the George L. Shields Foundation, and the Christian A. Johnson Endeavor Foundation. We are also grateful to the Reed Foundation, AOH Foundation, and individuals.

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Raphael Fusco M.M. B.M. in composition, Mannes College of Music. Piano and harpsichord studies in Paris, Vienna and Turin.  Recipient of numerous honors, awards, and commissions in Europe and the USA. The New York Times hailed his performance at the Poisson Rouge “accomplished and winning.”  El Mundo noted Mr. Fusco as “one of the most outstanding emerging composers.”  The Hartford Courant  hailed his music as “full of energy and lyricism.”

Joshua Green has the unique ability of having worked within several facets of the music industry.  He has worked on numerous award winning films, television specials, Broadway musicals, and various concert settings.  Joshua’s work as a composer and arranger includes credits with The New York Pops, A Tale of Two Cities: Broadway Musical, Delaware Symphony’s Outreach Program, PBS, and many others.  As a film composer, Joshua has received Best Original Score awards and has scored a student Academy Award winning film.  As well, Joshua continues to work with Academy Award winning composer, Howard Shore and has concert scores published with Carl Fischer Music.

Paul Yeon Lee is a Korean-American composer who is committed to writing the most poignant, eloquent, and passionate music that he can imagine. His music has received many performances by various musicians throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. Recipient of Walter Hinrichsen Award and Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Lee has received many commissions including from Pascal Rogé, Del Sol String Quartet, and American Composers Orchestra who will premiere Echo of a Dream on October 22, 2011. Lee has earned a doctorate degree in music composition at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Praised for the “sheer power” of her compositions (TimeOutNY), Kamala Sankaram’s music has been performed at HERE Arts Center, American Opera Projects, the Bang on a Can Summer Festival, the Santa Fe New Music Festival, the Lucerne Festival, the Music with a View Festival, and was the featured commission for the 2009 21C Liederabend (selected as one of Time Out’s 10 Best Classical Concerts). Kamala’s opera MIRANDA, will premiere at HERE Arts Center this coming January. As a performer, Kamala Sankaram has collaborated with the Wooster Group, the Philip Glass Ensemble, John Zorn, Anthony Braxton, eighth blackbird, and the Albany Symphony, among others.

Danielle Eva Schwob is a New York-based but London-born composer, songwriter, guitarist and singer whose work spans both concert and popular idioms. Her music has been described as “satisfyingly dark” (Sequenza21) and “an emotional exorcism” (SonicScoop), and can be characterized by focused melodies and coloristic choices. Some of her recent activities include: the release of her debut EP, Overloaded; a performance of her music at MATA’s Interval series; and serving as Co-Artistic Director/Founder of SYZYGY NEW MUSIC.  Described as “imaginative [and] progressive” (BeaconPass), SYZYGY is an ensemble and concert series that presents thoughtfully curated events with an emphasis on work by young composers.

Demetrius Spaneas leads a varied international career and has worked with such diverse artists as John Cage, Ray Charles, and Kyrgyz traditional musicians. He has been featured soloist and composer at major concert venues and festivals throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. Interested in creating artistic dialogue through cultural diplomacy, he has initiated projects in Central Asia, the Balkans, China, and Russia. He has won grants and awards from ASCAP, Meet the Composer, the American Music Center, and the U.S. Government, as well as a special certificate from the Russian Duma (senate) for ‘enriching the cultural life of St. Petersburg.’ He teaches at Five Towns College.

Ron Tucker composes for and plays a wide array of percussion instruments, including traditional mallet percussion (marimba, vibraphone, glockenspiel) as well as non-western and unique percussion instruments (e.g., tuned gongs, Indian cow bells, African gankogui, Tibetan bowls, toy deskbells, bowed wine glasses).  Ron has performed throughout North America with award-winning ensembles including Racermason, which won the Grand Prize award in the 2002 ASCAP Recording Review Contest, and has had his music licensed for network television.  Ron recently founded ensemble, et al., a Brooklyn-based indie-classical percussion group whose music is being featured this summer on NPR’s All Songs Considered.

Nicholas Urie Born in Los Angeles, California in 1985, Nicholas Urie was a recipient of the first ASCAP Young Jazz Composer’s Award at the age of 17. Nicholas left Los Angeles to study composition with Bob Brookmeyer in Boston, MA receiving both bachelors and masters degrees from the New England Conservatory.
Nicholas’ music has been heard internationally at festivals and concerts throughout Scandinavia, Europe and the Americas. Nicholas’ music has been performed by some of the most celebrated names in modern jazz including; Kurt Elling, the Metropole Orchestra, Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, Klüvers Big Band, Vince Mendoza, and Donny McCaslin, among others.