Whether writing music, sharing a composer’s perspective, or engaging others in creative activities, Chung Wan Choi hopes that her momentary presence will leave the world a slightly better place. Composer, Taiko drummer, sound engineer, and bike commuter, Chung grew up in Hong Kong, one of the most densely populated cities in the world. In the midst of skyscrapers, Chung found herself seeking a more peaceful environment for composing music. A move to New York City to study at Mannes College of Music enforced a solid foundation on traditional musicianship, also plenty of refills on fresh brewed coffee to fuel creative work through the wee hours. Leaving behind the big-city flare, Carnegie Mellon University provided Chung not only a fine music school for developing her art, but also a vital community hungry for entrepreneurship and innovation. As a Master’s student, opportunities to work in concert productions, both as a musician and arts administrator, have been many. As an opera lover, Chung is currently working on a new collaboration: a 20-minute chamber opera, “Last Night in The Hague” to be premiered at the Pittsburgh Opera in Spring 2015.

Twenty-five-year-old composer Sean Salamon's music has been performed by ensembles, both professional and amateur, in 20 countries around the globe. In 2013, Salamon founded Ping, an early music/new music vocal quintet with whom he has given concerts across the USA, garnering praise from critics and audiences. Ping has collaborated with artists as diverse as hip-hop artist Frzy— and a concert series with Chatham Baroque in which the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review called Salamon's performance "superb... as stylish as [he was] expressive."

Salamon holds a master's degree in composition from London's Royal Academy of Music (2015), and a bachelor's from Carnegie Mellon University's School of Music in Pittsburgh (2014). While studying at Carnegie Mellon, he was the music director for the CMU Originals, an award-winning all-male a cappella group, and the composer-in-residence and baritone choral scholar at Trinity Cathedral in downtown Pittsburgh.

Salamon works during the day as a headhunter in Midtown Manhattan and, during his free time, enjoys taking photographs of his friends.

I'm mostly a singer but I also make my own music.

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