Dan Maples is an aspiring musician from Jefferson City, Missouri currently studying Music Therapy at the University of Missouri Kansas City. He plays Classical guitar predominantly but also delves into generas such as Rock, Metal, Blues, and Jazz. He also has given guitar lessons for all generas for 5 years.

For lessons message or contact through Facebook.

I am a student at Umkc, majoring in Music Therapy. My main instrument is clarinet but I am in choir and I love playing piano. I love to travel and cannot wait to study abroad someday. 

I am a student at UMKC studying music therapy with an emphasis on saxophone. I also play guitar, drums and many other instruments. I have grown up around music and it is a huge part of my life. 

Jennifer Hopper is currently seeking a Bachelor of Arts in Music Therapy from the University of Missouri in Kansas City. There, she auditioned into the Conservatory of Music and Dance on the oboe. Beginning her band career in 6th grade, she first learned how to play the clarinet. After discovering an interest in jazz music, she started to pick up the alto saxophone and began playing in jazz band her freshman year of high school. Always longing to learn more, she chose to switch her main instrument to oboe soon after and continues to play in band in college. Now she is learning to play the piano and guitar more fluently while pursuing her degree.

Jake has been an aspiring musician since beginning Trombone at the age of 12. He was born in Lawton, OK, but has moved numerous times, spending most of his early childhood in St. Joseph, MO and his late adolescence in Blue Springs, Mo. He attended Blue Springs High School and during his time there performed in the University of Missouri-Kansas City Honors Band for high school students once, in the Blue Springs Golden Regiment Marching Band four years, the Blue Springs Wildcat Jazz Ensemble three years, and in numerous church and community occasions. While taking part in these groups, Jake has performed in venues such as the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, Missouri (2009-2012 Bands of America Super Regional); the Lucas Oil Dome in Indianapolis, Indiana(BoA Grand National); the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia (BoA Super Regional); the 2011 Missouri Music Educator's Association meeting at Tan Tara; the Showboat Branson Belle, the Branson Landing, and select other attractions in Branson, Missouri; the 2010 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City, New York; the Battleship USS Missouri and memorial at the Battleship USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii; and at the 2013 National School Board Association meeting in San Diego, California. Graduating from Blue Springs High School in 2013, he is now pursuing a Bachelor's of Music at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. 

Kerissa Breisch began playing violin at age nine and immediately realized her passion for music. In high school, she participated in the St. Charles County Youth Orchestra and had the opportunity to perform with the Lindenwood University String Ensemble and Lindenwood University Symphony Orchestra as well. Furthermore, she enjoyed being the second violinist in the La Cordicella Quartet and playing in the worship team at Hope Bible Church. 
Kerissa loves all types of instruments and styles of music. She has tried her hand at playing piano, guitar, banjo, ukulele, and dulcimer. She also enjoys singing and was a part of the St. Charles Christian Home Educators Choir for seven years. Currently, Kerissa attends the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance to obtain a degree in Music Therapy.

A composer from the Kansas City Area. Studying Music Composition at the University of Missouri - Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance. Interested in the psychoanalysis of music in compositional techniques and the musicological/anthropological studies that support the neurological understanding of music and sound.

Composer Mara Gibson is originally from Charlottesville, VA, graduated from Bennington College and completed her Ph.D. at SUNY Buffalo. She also attended London College of Music as well as L’École des Beaux-Arts in Fontainebleau, France and the International Music Institute at Darmstadt, Germany. She has earned grants and honors from the American Composer’s Forum; the Banff Center; Louisiana Division of the Arts; Arts KC; the Banff Centre; Meet the Composer; the Kansas Arts Commission National Endowment for the Arts; the International Bass Society; ASCAP, the John Hendrick Memorial Foundation; Virginia Center for the Arts; and Yale University. Recently, she enjoyed a residency at the MacDowell Colony and was awarded an ATLAS grant (32K) through the Louisiana Board of Regents for her bassoon concerto (2021). Internationally renowned ensembles and soloists perform her music throughout the United States, Canada, South America, Australia, Asia, and Europe.  Dr. Gibson has also had performances of her works at prestigious festivals and universities around the country and the world, most notably Mostly Modern Festival (New York), the Bowling Green New Music Festival (Ohio), Amici Della Musica (Udine, Italy), University of Melbourne (Australia), Thailand International Composition Festival (performances in multiple consecutive years), Reaktorhallen (Stockholm, Sweden), Daegu International Computer Music Festival (Korea) and the Beijing Modern Music Festival. 

Gibson’s music has been described as “shocking, gripping and thought-provoking… conjuring a flurry of emotions” (PARMA recordings).   She is a regular cross-disciplinary collaborator, having worked with choreographers, visual artists, writers, film makers and musicians.  In 2015, Gibson released her first portrait CD, ArtIfacts, with her second recording, Sky-born, following in November 2017 through Navona/Parma Recordings.  The later presents works including Blackbird, which feature Cascade Quartet. The music draws inspiration from a variety of artistic mediums: “haunting and epic with visceral energy.” As Gramophone magazine describes, “repertoire on this recording was mostly inspired by poetry and paintings.  What binds these pieces are Gibson’s concise handling of musical materials and her spectrum of sonic approaches. Sky-born displays a compelling contemporary voice with a restless imagination, able to morph other forms of artistic expression into daring, musical odysseys.”

In August 2017, Gibson was selected as the first-annual commissioned composer for the Baroque on Beaver Orchestra led by Robert Nordling. The ensemble showcased her chamber orchestra piece, Secret Sky, music inspired by the bird migration patterns on the island. Collaboration is integral to Gibson’s process; whether through her music, collaborations or teaching, she hopes to achieve a relationship between the macro and micro. In 2019, Gibson premiered four new works White Ash, The Clockmaker’s Doll, Four Modes and Mirror, Mirror and traveled to Athens, Greece to record Secret Sky with the Athens Philharmonic Orchestra which was selected to be included on a compilation CD released by Navona in 2020 (Prisma IV).  Additionally, Secret Sky was included in the 10th annual season opener by the Chicago Composers Orchestra and a newly arranged version was included by LSU Symphonic Winds.  In 2020-21, Mara’s work was dedicated to her large-scale new bassoon concerto Escher Keys inspired by the work of M.C. Escher; “bassoonists will be thrilled to hear such imaginative new rep for the first time, as it represents a substantial new addition to the repertoire for the bassoon; it is highly inventive and profound.” (50 International Double Reed Society – IDRS, volume 44). The collaboration was declared a finalist for the American Prize. Additionally, as a part of this video premiere she presented Galatea’s Dream, a staged song cycle where “each song gains its haunting presence through an existential twist. A chilling atmosphere hangs over the performance, and Gibson’s music abstractly engages the three narratives, accentuating their mood of existential isolation, as felt by women.” (Fanfare Magazine).  In 2023, she released the film version of the song cycle.  Her most recent work incorporates extra-musical materials into vocal and instrumental performance and integrates increasingly challenging subject matter with effective (and often unusual) instrumental and vocal delivery styles; these techniques extend performance practice and portray strong emotional content that defines the heart of her overall concept — the arc of the musical and theatrical development.

Prior to LSU, Dr. Gibson taught as an Associate Teaching Professor at the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance for over ten years, where she was founder of the UMKC Composition Workshop, co-director/founder of ArtSounds, and coordinated undergraduate composition.  She joined Louisiana State University as an Associate Professor of Composition.  She is now area coordinator with tenure and founded the Constantinides New Music Ensemble who had their debut performance at Carnegie Hall in April of 2022.  Since her arrival at LSU, the composition studio has more than doubled in size. Mara was awarded a sabbatical (fall 2023) when she began her first opera with Ann McCutchan (libretto) inspired by Lee Smith's novel “The Devil's Dream,” presumed to be roughly based on the country music powerhouse Carter family. Last fall, Mara composed at the prestigious Moulin a Nef in Auvillar, France.  Her 3rd portrait album was released fall 2024 including four new pieces composed since 2021 alongside Escher Keys.

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