Kentaro Noda was born on 24th February 1976. He studied under Nobuko Ishiodori, Takuya Kosugi, Tatsunori Ishihara and Norimasa Matsuda all before graduating from Mie Prefectural Yokkaichi Senior High School. He studied under Yasuko Tasumi at Music Department of The Kyoto City University of Arts from April 1994, and also debuted at Kyoto Concert Hall in 1996 and graduated in March 1999. During September 1999 and May 2000, He studied under Kasandra Keeling, Theresa Bogard, Mary Ann Jones and Anne Marie Guzzo at the Performance Certificate Program of The University of Wyoming Department of Music. After transfer, he studied under Gary Smart and Charlotte Mabrey at the Performance Certificate Program of The University of North Florida Department of Music, and also finished in May 2002. He is first Japanese non ex-aequo winner of The 12th Young Composers' Meeting and first invited Japanese composer from The 10th Avantgarde Tirol in 2006.

Based in Toronto, Canadian composer, musician, and teacher Alison Yun-Fei Jiang explores the intersections of cultures, genres, and identities through composing, performing, and teaching music. Through “musicking,” she connects and communicates with audiences, performers, and students of diverse backgrounds.

As a composer, Alison draws inspirations and influences from life experiences as well as an array of sources such as Asian aesthetics and philosophies, natural landscapes, art, literature, film and popular music, creating musical narratives and experiences in a lyrical, dynamic, and storytelling nature. She has served as the RBC Affiliate Composer with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (2022-24) and was a Carrefour Composer-in-Residence with Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra (2020-22). She has collaborated with ensembles, performers, and artists such as Esprit Orchestra, the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, JACK Quartet, the Kaleidoscope Chamber Orchestra, Imani Winds, Molinari Quartet, pianist Daniel Pesca, carillonist Joey Brink, visual artist T.M. Glass, among others. Her music has been performed in Canada, the US, and Europe, featured on CBC Radio, the Royal Conservatory of Music 21C Festival, as well as the University of Toronto New Music Festival. Awards and recognitions come from the SOCAN Foundation, the Graham Sommer Competition for Young Composers, ASCAP, the American Prize, and International Alliance for Women in Music.

Aside from composing, Alison is a pianist and keyboardist in solo, chamber, and collaborative settings with a focus on performing contemporary piano music by living composers. She runs a pianist-composer concert series titled “Is It Theoretically Possible?” where she annually premieres and performs brand new as well as underrepresented piano works by living composers at the Canadian Music Centre. She also collaborates with composers on recording projects; upcoming recordings include albums by Amy Brandon and Steven Webb.


Performing at Massey Hall for the Roy Thomson Hall Youth Musician Commission (YMC) Charity Event

Alison also runs a private teaching studio where she teaches piano, music theory, composition, and musicianship to students ranging from children to adults from diverse backgrounds. Past teaching experiences include lectureships at the University of Chicago and guest lectures at Manhattan School of Music, University of Ottawa, McGill University, Carleton University, and University of Regina. She has served as a mentor composer for the TSO, NACO, Continuum, and the Roy Thomson Hall Youth Musicians Commission (YMC), and has given masterclasses for the Association of Canadian Women Composers (ACWC).  

Alison holds degrees in music from the University of Chicago (Ph.D.), New York University (M.M.), and Manhattan School of Music (B.M.). Her work has been generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, SOCAN Foundation, the RBC Foundation, the Michael and Sonja Koerner Charitable Foundation, New Music USA, and the Johan Franco Composition Fund. Alison gratefully acknowledges the support of the Chalmers Family Fund administered by the Ontario Arts Council.

When not “musicking,” Alison enjoys listening to J-pop, taking long walks, reading, and grocery shopping in Asian supermarkets.

BIO:
Composer/ musician/ curator/ writer. Recordings on Divorce/ Heavy Fog, Entr'acte, Orange Milk Records, Never Anything, Scissor Tail Editions, Notice Recordings.

Chamber and solo work performed by Esprit Orchestra, Eve Egoyan, Arraymusic, Quatuor Bozzini, Madawaska String Quartet. Electronic work commissioned by AKOUSMA Festival, appeared at the MoMA with installation piece Tentacle. Work also programmed at the Technische Universitat (Berlin), Sonic Arts Research Centre (Belfast), Musicacoustica Festival (Beijing), Soundplay Festival (Toronto). Harvestworks Festival (NYC)

Recipient of the Canadian Music Centre's 2011 Toronto Emerging Composer Award & Canadian Electroacoustic Community's Jeux De Temps Competition (2008). Awarded Canadian Music Centre's Norman Burgess Fund to create a work for solo harp for young performers with educational guidance from Lori Gemmell.

Pianist/Composer Adam Sherkin is a dynamic and versatile musician who commands a multi-dimensional approach to performance and composition. Adam has appeared in performance at the Four Seasons Centre, the St. Lawrence Centre, the Glenn Gould Studio, the Toronto Centre for the Arts, St Martin-in-the-Fields, Covent Garden and the Royal Albert Hall. Adam's works been premiered throughout Canada, the United States and Britain including Toronto, Ottawa, Washington, Philadelphia, Manchester and London (UK). Venues have included the Luminato Festival, the Spotlight Festival (Waterloo), the King’s Lynn Festival (Norfolk), The Bridgewater Hall (Manchester), The Warehouse and the National Portrait Gallery in London. 

An associate of the Canadian Music Centre, Adam is set to release his debut recording on Centrediscs, As at First, in November of 2012. 


www.adamsherkin.com

Described as “a voice to watch out for” by CBC’s Bill Richardson, Joseph Glaser’s music creates space for performers and audiences alike to have out-of-the-ordinary experiences. Having had many years of training as a dancer, Joseph looks at composition with a choreographic eye leading to pieces that are as much about physical movement as they are about sound. A graduate of McGill University where he studied with Jean Lesage, his thesis explored the relationship between dance theory and music performance. Joseph also holds a degree from the University of British Columbia where he studied withJocelyn Morlock, Dorothy Chang, Keith Hamel and Stephen Chatman.

Joseph has had his works performed across the country in Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal. Notable performances include a one-act opera developed with FAWN Chamber Creative, premieres by Bakarlari, theToy Piano Composers, McGill Contemporary Music Ensemble under Guillaume Burgogne, Caution Tape Sound Collective, the Gryphon Trio and the Amici Chamber Ensemble among others. Joseph co-founded Ear Camera, an experimental music collective that was based in Montreal.

Alison Yun-Fei Jiang is following