Composers 2020-21
Join us in welcoming these five wonderful composers to this season’s Amplify Series!
Our composers will be writing works for voice and piano set to the poetry and prose of young writers from the Chicago area.
Nico Gutierrez
Chicago-based composer, Nico Gutierrez is, according to La Vanguardia, “a young musical promise” that consistently writes powerful music for both multimedia and concert audiences. Born to Colombian parents, Nico embraces his heritage and infuses elements of his cultural upbringing into his music.
An ambassador of Latin-American music, Nico has served as Composer in Residence for the 2014 and 2019 Barcelona Festival of Song. In 2018 Nico was invited to conduct his compositions with the Youth Orchestra of Centro Fox in Guanajuato by Former Mexican President, Vicente Fox. Recently, Nico was nominated for Best Overall Composition in the London Composition Awards.
Nico earned his Bachelor’s degree in music composition from Texas Christian University in 2015 and his Master’s degree in Scoring for the Screen from Columbia College Chicago in 2017. As a multimedia composer, Nico has worked on several films and television series for A&E, CBS, and companies like Huawei and Netflix.
https://www.nicogutierrezmusic.com/
Pierce Gradone
Pierce Gradone’s music echoes the strange brew of musical cultures that made up his childhood, from playing bluegrass in the hills of Appalachia, to sprinting the marathon of blinding-fast pentecostal shout music. Described as “gorgeous, expansive” (I Care If You Listen) and “engaging” (Chicago Tribune), his work playfully engages with groove, glitch, and virtuosity. His music has been performed throughout the world by Eighth Blackbird, Ensemble Signal, Imani Winds, Riot Ensemble, Pacifica Quartet, the Chicago Civic Orchestra, and many others. He also has received awards and commissions from the Fromm Music Foundation at Harvard University, the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, Latitude 49, American Modern Ensemble, Ensemble Dal Niente, Ear Space Ensemble, Luna Nova, and Line Upon Line Percussion, among others. Pierce currently resides in Chicago and is an Assistant Professor of Music Composition at Knox College, where he directs the composition and electronic music programs.
http://piercegradone.com/
Michelle Isaac
Michelle Isaac is a Chicago-based composer and orchestrator with a knack for the musically witty and whimsical. Her music is a compelling mix of storytelling and humor, grounded in her personal connections to people, places, and experiences. Her works have been heard around the country, with notable performances by Chicago Sinfonietta at Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park and Symphony Center, including a recent world premiere of Earth Triptych: II. Symbiosis Interrupted under the direction of Maestro Mei-Ann Chen. Michelle earned her Bachelor of Arts in Music from the College of Saint Benedict and her Master of Music in Composition from the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, where she studied with Stacy Garrop and Kyong Mee Choi. Michelle believes that music is one of our most powerful tools for experiencing empathy and therefore thinks the world could use a lot more of it.
https://www.michelleisaac.com/
Mike McFerron
Mike McFerron is professor of music and composer-in-residence at Lewis University and he is founder and co-director of Electronic Music Midwest (http://www.emmfestival.org). McFerron’s music has received critical acclaim and recognition. His music has been performed by the Remarkable Theater Brigade (Carnegie Hall), the Louisville Orchestra, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and Cantus among many others.
He serves on the board of the directors for the Metropolitan Youth Symphony Orchestra and is a past Chair of the Executive Committee for the Society of Composers, Inc. McFerron’s music can be heard on numerous commercial recordings as well as on his website at http://www.bigcomposer.com.
Liza Sobel
Liza Sobel is a composer and soprano, whose compositions are often influenced by current social issues. Recent inspirations include anxiety and stress in today’s society, the negative impact of social media and its link with depression, and sexual assault. Her music has been performed at Carnegie Hall, Le Poisson Rouge, Symphony Space, Bang on a Can, Aspen Music Festival, Eighth Blackbird's Creative Lab, Aldeburgh, Brevard, and Bowdoin Music Festival. Performers that have played her music include: the Orchestra of St. Luke's, the Minnesota Orchestra, Spektral String Quartet, Ensemble Dal Niente, Cygnus Ensemble, Third Coast Percussion, Nouveau Classical Project, and Ekmeles Vocal Ensemble.
Liza’s Ticking Time Bomb was selected for the 2020 Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute. Her Requiem won the American Prize’s choral division and was a finalist in BMI’s Young Composers Award. Liza was a Fulbright scholar to the UK.
For more information, see her website at https://lizasobel.com