We are thrilled to announce the 2018-19 EtM Con Edison Composer Residencies. This year we have added a SIXTH residency slot, at Third Street Music School. Other host facilities include: Bloomingdale School of Music, Brooklyn Conservatory of Music, Flushing Town Hall, Queens Museum, Third Street Music School, and Turtle Bay Music School. This marks the tenth year of the EtM Con Edison Composer Residencies, which originally started in 2009 at Flushing Town Hall with three composers. This year’s panel evaluated close to a hundred applications and over 190 work samples.

“I can’t think of a more exciting and diverse group of composers for the tenth year of our Con Edison Composer Residencies,” said EtM Executive Director David Johnston.  “And to top that off, we are able to add a new sixth residency slot this year, thanks to the generosity of Consolidated Edison, and the increased support of the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, and the New York State Council on the Arts.”

The 2018-19 EtM Con Edison Composer Residencies Recipients

TAYLOR BROOK– Bloomingdale School of Music
DANIEL FISHKIN – Flushing Town Hall
KATE GENTILE – Brooklyn Conservatory of Music
ELORI SAXL KRAMER – Third Street Music School
ANNA WEBBER – Queens Museum
ALEX WEISER – Turtle Bay Music School

TAYLOR BROOK creates music for concert, film, theater and dance. Described as “gripping” and “engrossing” by the New York Times, his compositions have won numerous awards and prizes. His music has been performed around the world by ensembles and soloists such as the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, Quatuor Bozzini, JACK Quartet, MIVOS quartet, Talea Ensemble, Ensemble Ascolta, and others. His music is often concerned with finely tuned microtonal sonorities, combining his interest in exploring the perceptual qualities of sound with an individual sense of beauty and form. Brook holds a master’s degree in music composition from McGill University and a Doctorate in music composition from Columbia University. Brook is the technical director for TAK ensemble.

DANIEL FISHKIN’s ears are ringing. Composer, sound artist, and instrument builder. Completely ambivalent about music. Daniel studied with composer Maryanne Amacher and with multi-instrumentalist Mark Stewart. He has performed as a soloist on modular synthesizer with the American Symphony Orchestra, developed sound installations in abandoned concert halls, and played innumerable basement punk shows. Daniel’s lifework investigating the aesthetics of hearing damage has received international press (Nature Journal, 2014); as an ally in the search for a cure, he has been awarded the title of “tinnitus ambassador” by the Deutsche Tinnitus-Stiftung. Daniel received his MA in Music Composition from Wesleyan University, and has taught analog synthesis at Bard College. After a stint working toward his PhD at University of California, San Diego, Daniel returned to the East Coast, and now lives in Queens, NY.

Brooklyn-based drummer and composer KATE GENTILE is originally from Buffalo, NY. Her music explores unconventional and often complex harmonic and rhythmic material, as well as the intersections of acoustic and electronic sounds, while equally valuing improvisation and composition. Gentile has been involved in many forward-thinking projects including Matt Mitchell’s sextet Phalanx Ambassadors; Snark Horse, Mitchell and Gentile’s collaborative-led rotating cast ensemble; Dustin Carlson’s Air Ceremony, and Will Mason’s noise-rock/classical crossover band Happy Place. Gentile has also worked with Michaël Attias, Tim Berne, Anthony Braxton, Marty Ehrlich, Michael Formanek, Helado Negro, Matana Roberts, Chris Speed, Anna Webber, and John Zorn.

ELORI SAXL KRAMER is a musician, composer, and filmmaker whose work explores how new technology affects our relationship to land, our patterns of communication, and our capacity for empathy. Her work often blends acoustic instruments with electronic instruments and processed field recordings. Originally from Minneapolis, she now lives in Brooklyn, New York.

ANNA WEBBER is a New York-based flutist, saxophonist, and composer whose interests and work live the overlap between avant-garde jazz and new classical music. With her Simple Trio, featuring drummer John Hollenbeck and pianist Matt Mitchell, she has released two critically acclaimed albums on Skirl Records: Binary (2016) and SIMPLE (2014). Webber’s other projects include Jagged Spheres with Devin Gray and Elias Stemeseder, and The Hero of Warchester with Nathaniel Morgan and Liz Kosack. She has performed and/or recorded with bands led by Dan Weiss, Jen Shyu, Matt Mitchell, Ohad Talmor, John Hollenbeck, Ches Smith, Hank Roberts, Harris Eisenstadt, and Adam Hopkins. Webber is a 2018 Guggenheim Fellow. She has additionally been awarded grants from the Shifting Foundation (2015) and residencies from the MacDowell Colony (2017), the Millay Colony for the Arts (2015), and the Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts (2014). In 2014 she won the BMI Foundation Charlie Parker Composition Prize as a member of the BMI Jazz Composers’ Workshop. Webber is originally from British Columbia.

Broad gestures, rich textures, and narrative sweep are hallmarks of the “compelling” (New York Times), “shapely, melody-rich” (Wall Street Journal) music of composer ALEX WEISER. Born and raised in New York City, Weiser creates acutely cosmopolitan music combining a deeply felt historical perspective with a vibrant forward-looking creativity. Weiser has been praised for writing “insightful” music “of great poetic depth” (Feast of Music), and for having a “sophisticated ear and knack for evoking luscious textures and imaginative yet approachable harmonies.” (I Care If You Listen). An energetic advocate for contemporary classical music and for the work of his peers, Weiser co-founded and directs Kettle Corn New Music, an “ever-enjoyable,” and “engaging” concert series which “creates that ideal listening environment that so many institutions aim for: relaxed, yet allowing for concentration,” (New York Times) and was for nearly five years a director of the MATA Festival, “the city’s leading showcase for vital new music by emerging composers.” (The New Yorker). Weiser is now the Director of Public Programs at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research where he curates and produces programs that combine a fascination with and curiosity for historical context, with an eye toward influential Jewish contributions to the culture of today and tomorrow.