Two Jades

Composer Rachel Lanik Whelan (b. 1992) writes lyrical, honest, narrative-driven music. Much of her work is written in collaboration with living poets; she has had the pleasure of setting the words of Paul L. Thomas, Katherine Cooley, and Jehanne Dubrow. A child of English majors, she strives to honor and elevate texts through melody, gesture, and repetition. Her music has been performed by Choral Arts Initiative (California), SBO Wind Ensemble (Taiwan), KC Vitas Choir (Kansas City), and she has opened for singer-songwriter Susan Werner at the Johnny Carson Theatre in Lincoln, Nebraska. Her instrumental music is an exploration in color and character and is full of delightfully unpredictable grooves.

Passionate about arts management and administration, she has worked as an administrator or intern for the Cortona Sessions for New Music (Cortona, Italy), Savvy Arts Venture (Columbia, SC), and the Lied Center for Performing Arts (Lincoln, NE). As an undergraduate researcher, she connected writers with student composers and coordinated music in celebration of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Press annual Book Prize. She received her master of music degree from the University of South Carolina, studying composition in addition to coordinating the New Voices student composer concerts and the Southern Exposure New Music Series.

She is currently a PhD student and teaching fellow in composition at the University of North Texas in Denton, TX. Her current research and compositions involve exploring emotions and characters in music for voice. Her dedication to the performance of music by living composers is further evident in her work as Assistant Director for the non-profit concert series Treefalls: New Music in Spartanburg, South Carolina. A typical optimist, she's frequently inspired by the upsides of life: riding her bike on a sunny morning, solo travel, exceptional food, and talented, spirited friends. When not composing, she can be found in these activities. She occasionally performs on flute, piano, or voice. Her teachers in composition include Kirsten Broberg, Sungji Hong, Mandy Fang, John Fitz Rogers, and Jesse Jones. Her primary flute teachers have been Carolyn Cline Corbett and Laura Schulkind. To hear her music, purchase scores, or commission a work, please visit www.rachellwhelan.com

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Chris Neiner (b. 1994) is a Cleveland-based composer of contemporary classical music with colorful harmony, diverse influences, and engaging energy. Neiner’s style derives from his passion to foster collaborative works with instrumentalists. His recent collaborations include Playtime, a new work for horn, violin, and piano, commissioned by a consortium of collegiate horn professors across the United States; and Serenade for the Ghosts, a phantasmic fantasy for clarinet and string quartet, commissioned by Musical Upcoming Stars in the Classics. His work has been praised by Cleveland Classical for "incorporating the zazzy colors of the current new music dialect," and "pleasant shocks and melting cadences." Currently, Neiner serves as a composition faculty and composer-in-residence at the Aurora School of Music in Aurora, Ohio.
       
The music of Chris Neiner has appeared on programs by the Grammy award-winning Cleveland Chamber Symphony, Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra, Minnesota Sinfonia, American Modern Ensemble, Boston New Music Initiative, Cochran Chamber Commissioning Project, Copper Street Brass Quintet, Red Hedgehog Trio, loadbang, Minnesota Symphonic Winds, Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies, Rocky Ridge Music Center, Sewanee Summer Music Festival, faculty of the MacPhail Center for Music, and more.
       
Beyond his collaborative work as a composer, Neiner is a producer and coordinator for several music events. In 2019, he served as the associate director, composer-in-residence, and conductor for Music in the Circle, a summer concert series facilitating collaboration between international artists and students, faculty, and alumni of the Cleveland Institute of Music. Other projects include Leora’s Reverie, a concert to benefit the One Voice Foundation by American-Israeli songwriter Katia Bolotin, and New Music for Horn, a multidisciplinary project that facilitated music making between hornists, composers, conductors, and recording artists studying at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.
       
Neiner has also gained a reputation as a highly sought-out arranger and copyist, working with organizations such as Reimagining Opera for Kids, the Vietnamese American Society for Creative Arts and Music (VASCAM), the Cleveland Institute of Music, and internationally recognized composer and trumpeter Anthony Plog.
       
Neiner completed a master's degree at the Cleveland Institute of Music, studying with Keith Fitch. Previously, he studied composition and horn performance at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music with composers Claude Baker, Aaron Travers, P. Q. Phan, Don Freund, and hornist Richard Seraphinoff. He is an alumnus of the Mostly Modern Festival, New Music on the Point Festival, RED NOTE New Music Festival, and the Oregon Bach Festival Composers Symposium.

I was born in Leicester in the late 1950's. Since semi-retirement and subsequent retirement (as a Dermatologist and formerly G.P) I have spent some of my spare time trying to learn music theory. I also enjoy long distance running as well as cycling, skiing and tennis. I enjoy cooking, gardening and growing a few vegetables. And fine wine (in moderation). I enjoy insect photography, with a particular interest in hoverflies..
To my regret I never learnt a musical instrument when younger but I have listened to and been fascinated by music for as long as I can remember. The advent of the computer age has allowed me to pursue my desire to compose music. I use Logic Pro X software (and MuseScore3 for recent piano compositions). My compositions reflect my varied listening preferences (including Contemporary Classical, Jazz and  Music from other cultures around the world).

I am a composer and Associate Professor of Composition at Michigan State University.

Two Jades

Kristin Kuster