2010 FORUM COMPOSERS MUSIC & VIDEO ART

TAYLOR BROOK [CANADA] Taylor Brook is a Canadian composer who has studied orchestration and composition with Brian Cherney, Denys Bouliane, Luc Brewaeys, Ana Sokolovic, John Rea, and Sean Ferguson. In 2008, he spent two months of intensive study in Kolkata, India, with internationally acclaimed Hindustani musician Pandit Debashish Bhattacharya, studying raga performance in the North Indian tradition on the chaturangui, a

22-stringed non-tempered slide guitar. Taylor has received the “coup de coeur” prize from le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne for his chamber orchestra work, Murder Ballad, as well as three SOCAN young composers awards, including a first prize for his solo violin work, Vocalise. Taylor Brook’s music has been performed in North America and Italy by ensembles and soloists such as le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, Quatour Bozzini, L’orchestre de la francophonie canadienne, Danielle Cumming and Mira Benjamin. Taylor will be living in Brussels, Belgium, in 2011 to study orchestral composition with Luc Brewaeys with the aid of the Canada Council for the Arts.

RAFFAELE GRIMALDI [ITALY] Composer, pianist and conductor, Raffaele Grimaldi graduated in piano with Carmen Romano, in composition "cum laude" with Lucia Ronchetti at the Conservatory of Music "G. Martucci" in Salerno, Italy, and with highest honours in the Master's Composition Courses of Ivan Fedele at the National Santa Cecilia Academy in Rome.

Here are some of the many prizes and rewards that Grimaldi has received for his work both in national and international competitions: International composition prize "R. Toscano" 2007 (Pescara); MOVIN’UP 2008; The V International Forum of Young Composers 2008 - Ensemble Aleph (France); Ton de Leeuw 2008 (Tirana, Albany); Reading Panel 2008 - IRCAM (Paris, France); Schloss Solitude Akademie 2009/2011 (Stuttgart, Germany); International Composition Competition Toru Takemitsu 2009 (Tokyo, Japan); Kalv/Project Music Lab of Gotheborg (Sweden). Raffaele Grimaldi has followed the masterclasses of Salvatore Sciarrino, Michael Jarrell, Marco Stroppa, Hugues Doufourt, Yan Maresz, and Bruno Mantovani. His compositions have been performed in Europe, the United States and Japan by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Orchestre National de Lorraine, Orchestra del Conservatorio "G. Martucci", by ensembles such as Le Neue VocalSolisten of Stuttgart, Algoritmo Ensemble, Mosesis Ensemble, Intersensemble, by soloists such as Mario Caroli, Amandine Robilliard, Matteo Cesari, Erik Carlson, and directed by prestigeous conductors like Zsolt Nagy, Tetsuji Honna, Marco Angius, Jacques Mercier, and Flavio Emilio Scogna

Raffaele Grimaldi was selected by IRCAM for the Cursus 1 in Composition and Computer Music 2008-2009 and obtained an artistic residency at the Cité Internationale des Arts. He was chosen for the International Forum of Young Composers in 2008 by l'Ensemble Aleph in France. He regularly performs piano concerts as a soloist or with various groups, playing a variety of music from various composers, from classical to contemporary, including his own works. Since September 2008, Grimaldi has been a researcher at the Mahler Médiathèque of Paris. His work is based on the music of Iannis Xenakis and is financed by European Placement. In June 2008, POGAS (the Italian Ministry for Youth in Politics and Sports), GAI (Association for the Promotion of Young Italian Artists), and PARC (General Direction for the Quality and Preservation of Landscaping, Architecture and Contemporary Art of the Ministry for Cultural Activities) gave a study grant to Grimaldi, MOVIN'UP 2008, in support of his international composition projects. Recently he received, the second prize at the Toru Takemitsu International Award (Tokyo, Japan), and his symphonic work was performed by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra. In 2010, he was selected as Composer in Residence 2009-2011 by the Schloss Solitude Akademie of Stuttgart, Germany and by the "Reading Session" of the Die Internationalen Ferienkurse für Neue Musik Darmstadt Festival, and his work will be performed by the Ictus & Nadar Ensemble. Raffaele Grimaldi presently lives and works in Paris and also works a professor of composition at the Conservatory of Music "G. Martucci" in Salerno, Italy.

ESAIAS JÄRNEGARD [SWEDEN] Born in 1983 in Stockholm, Sweden. After studies in composition, musical theory, classical guitar and piano at the KMI in Stockholm I studied at the Gotland School of Composition under Per Mårtensson and Henrik Strindberg. In 2008 I graduated from the Academy of Music and Drama at Gothenburg University where I studied primarily under

professor Ole Lützow-Holm. Also studies in Philosophy and History of Ideas at university level. My music has been performed at festivals, concerts and radio broadcasts around Europe by various ensembles, orchestras and soloists. Upcoming commissions include a piece for violinist Hugo Ticciati with choir and a piece for flautist Richard Craig and soprano Cora Schmeiser. I currently work as a freelance composer supported by commissions and grants from, among others, the Swedish Performing Rights Society (STIM). Since 2010 I'm also advisor to the editorial board of Sweden's only printed journal for contemporary music, Nutida musik.

JUAN DE DIOS MAGDALENO [MEXICO] Juan de Dios Magdaleno was born in Colima, Mexico, in 1984. Juan has been active in music since the age of 12, initially by way of his own Mexican folk heritage. In Mexico, he studied violin with Tatiana Zatina and Alessandro Orsso and composition with Anatoly Zatin and Luis Jaime Cortez, whilst, at the same time, studying architecture and mathematics. In

2009 he completed his bachelor's degree (with honors) in Composition at the Consevatorium van Amsterdam under the tutelage of Fabio Nieder and Richard Ayres. Throughout his musical studies Juan has taken part in composition workshops and lectures with Helmut Lachenmann, Tristan Murail, Ivan Fedele, Victor Rasgado, Julio Estrada, James Dillon, Jonathan Harvey, Salvatore Sciarrino, Mario Lavista, Brian Ferneyhough, Marco Stroppa, among others. Throughout his musical life he has been honored by receiving some awards and fellowships for his creative work such as: The Delta Scholarship (Dutch Ministry of Education), “Jóvenes Creadores” Fellowship by the CONACULTA/FONCA (National Council for Culture and Arts of Mexico), 1st prize at International Composers's Competition “Lutoslawski Award 2008” in Poland, 2nd prize at the "Mauricio Kagel Composition Competition" held in Vienna, among others. His Music has been played in Mexico, Canada, The Netherlands, Poland, England, Italy, Spain, France and Austria. Some of his music is published by Universal Edition Wien. Juan de Dios currently lives in Finland.

HUGO RIBEIRO [PORTUGAL] Hugo Ribeiro was born in Lisbon in 1983. In 2005 he completed a Bmus Hons degree in composition at the Escola Superior de Música de Lisboa and subsequently obtained a Mmus degree at the Royal Academy of Music in London in 2007. During this time he participated in a variety of composition courses with composers such as Emmanuel Nunes, Salvatore Sciarrino, Philippe Hurel and John Chowning, amongst others.

In 2004 he participated in the summer composition courses in Darmstadt where he worked with Bryan Ferneyhough, Georg Friedrich Haas, Toshio Hosokawa and Tadeusz Wielecki. Among the public performances of his music one can highlight the performance of Letter for Kundera for 14 players in the Festival Listen to the World! 2009 (Sweden) performed by the Ensemble Gageego!, conducted by Pierre-André Valade; and the premiere of the opera Os mortos viajam de metro at the S. Luiz Theatre in Lisbon in April 2010. He has been distinguished with awards such as 1st Prize in the 2nd International Composition Competition Póvoa de Varzim “Orchestra Category” (2007) and won the national competition Opera in Creation 2008 at the S. Luiz Theatre in Lisbon (Portugal). He is currently completing a PhD at Canterbury Christ Church University (England).

DIEGO SOIFER [ARGENTINA] Diego was born in 1981 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He studied music from an early age, and specified in Composition when he was 15 years old. At the age of 21 he moved to Canada, to continue his studies at the University of Toronto, where he obtained a Bachelor Degree with Honor Standing. When turning 24, he moved to The Netherlands to do a Master Degree at the Royal Conservatoire of The Hague. In the graduation he received

a historical mark and the Nicolaïfonds for the most exceptional graduate of his generation. He worked with Continuum Contemporary Music, Sinfonia Finlandia, ensemble Asko/Schoenberg, ensemble MAE, Brahms Trio Prague, Njwebyrth (contemporary music on early music instruments) and Fast Opera Productions among others. He also writes music for theatre and contemporary dance. Some of his projects for 2011 include the Gelders Orkest, the Nederland Trombones Collective, a piece for Orkest de Ereprijs with a dance choreographer, and an education concert for 7-year-old children at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam.

LU WANG [CHINA] Composer and pianist Wang Lu was born in Xi’an China in 1982 and is currently a doctoral candidate in composition at Columbia University. She also studied as an undergraduate at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing. Her teachers have included Fred Lerdahl, Tristan Murail, and Chou-Wen Chung. Her works for a variety of Western and Chinese ensembles and orchestras have been performed in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan,

Korea, Europe, and the US, by the Minnesota Orchestra, Orchestre National de Lille of France, Holland Symfonia, Shanghai National Chinese Orchestra, Musiques Nouvelles Ensemble of Belgium, Phoenix Ensemble of Basel, and Beijing New Music Ensemble. In New York her music has been played by renowned groups including the International Contemporary Ensemble, Argento Ensemble, So Percussion, counterinduction, Columbia Composers Ensemble, Columbia University Jazz Band, New York Miniaturist Ensemble, and Momenta String Quartet, Albany Symphony.

PEIYING YUAN [SINGAPORE] Peiying Yuan (b.1984) is a young composer from Singapore. She is currently a doctoral student and Sage fellow at Cornell University. She has received degrees from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, National University of Singapore. Her mentors include Steven Stucky, Roberto Sierra, Chen Yi, James Mobberley, Paul Rudy, Zhou Long, Kawai Shiu, and Chee-Kong Ho.

Peiying composes in both acoustic and electronic mediums. Her music has been heard at adjudicated conferences and festivals such as the Composers Conference at Wellesley College, Asian-Pacific Contemporary Music Festival, TIMF Academy,

Belvedere Chamber Music Festival, International Alliance of Women in Music Annual Concert, and Electronic Music Midwest, by performers such as Ensemble BE, Ensemble TIMF, Quadrivium, Luna Nova Ensemble, and conducted by James Baker. Peiying is a 2010 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award recipient, 2010 Missouri and Kansas Music Teachers Association Commissioned Composer, 2010 Libby Larsen Prize winner, First Annual newEar Composers’ Competition winner, second prize winner of the SCI/ASCAP 2009 Composition Commission, second prize winner at the 2009 Beethoven Club of Memphis Composition Competition, and selected composer for the inaugural Kansas City Electronic Music and Arts Alliance Newbie Commission. Upcoming projects include pieces for the Singapore Symphony Orchestra and the Momenta Quartet. Peiying holds a Diploma (DipABRSM) in piano performance from the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music (UK). She also performs on the sheng. Prior to her studies in the States, she was the principal sheng player for the National University of Singapore Chinese Orchestra. While at UMKC, she served as President of the Composers’ Guild.