I have been playing music on and off for over 45 years – including a disco band in high school, the Purdue Black Voice of Inspiration during my undergrad, and the University of Michigan Gospel Choir during graduate school. Since then, I’ve played for many choirs and groups.

In 1994 I took a 25 year hiatus. Then in late 2019, right before the pandemic, I decided to pursue music more seriously. As the pandemic wore on, I started writing music in response to the social unrest that was gripping our nation. I hope to continue writing music that will be thought provoking in a meaningful way.

My professional career has been spent in Engineering and Technology. In the spirit of provoking thought, I have an opinion about DEIA:

Including my time as a summer intern at Bell Labs, my professional experience dates back to the summer of 1978. As you might imagine, I have benefited from programs and initiatives aimed at encouraging underrepresented groups to pursue careers in STEM. As a professional, I have been involved in recruiting efforts focused on broadening the talent pipeline to ensure it draws from a diverse range of sources rather than being exclusionary. At no point in my career have I seen an unqualified candidate hired to meet a target. DEIA and its predecessors have always been about ensuring organizations can compete for talent across the full breadth of America.


Elliott Miles McKinley’s music has been performed throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe, with commissions including those from the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble, the Czech Philharmonic Chamber Music Society, the SOLI Chamber Music Ensemble, the Whatcom Symphony Orchestra, the Duquesne University Contemporary Ensemble, and the Martinů String Quartet. The Minnesota Orchestra, the Warsaw Philharmonic,and  the Czech Radio Symphony have performed his orchestral works, and his music has been featured on international festivals including the Alba International Music Festival in Italy, the Mid-American Center for Contemporary Music Festival, the Ernest Bloch Music Festival, and the University of Minnesota SPARK Festival. McKinley is a recipient of a number of awards and fellowships including a BMI Student Composer Award, a Virginia Center for the Creative Arts fellowship, grants from Meet the Composer, the American Music Center, and the American Composers Forum. Among other honors, McKinley was awarded a New Frontiers for the Arts and Humanities grant from Indiana University, and has also received two Indiana University Faculty Research Support Grants.

McKinley holds a Bachelor of Music degree in jazz studies from the New England Conservatory of Music, a Master of Music degree in composition from the University of Michigan, and a Ph.D. in composition from the University of Minnesota. He taught at Indiana University East for four hers, starting a program in music, and is currently Visiting Assistant Professor of Music Theory and Composition at Washington and Lee University. 


Indigo Knecht is a composer, tubist, and educator fascinated with the challenges people face as they navigate this world. Through a synthesis of contemporary classical music and rock & roll, Indigo explores themes such as environmentalism, mental illness, and self-realization.

Indigo has a BM in Composition from Bowling Green State University and a MM in Composition from University of Michigan. They are currently in their fourth year at University of Miami pursuing a DMA in Composition under the guidance of Dr. Juan Chattah. Their multimedia installation, “The Chanting of Coral Reefs: Bringing Awareness to the Endangerment of Coral Reefs Through the Sonification of Settling Larvae,” received the 2024 Presser Foundation Graduate Award. Indigo currently teaches music theory and composition at Tennessee Technological University while they continue to develop expansive compositions that bring awareness to issues in our world with groundbreaking technology.

I am an undergraduate art & design student at the University of Michigan. 

Harold Ford Jr. is a highly sought-after US financial, political and corporate advisor.  He was elected at 26 to Congress and was the last chairman of the (now defunct) Democratic Leadership Council, as well as Special Assistant at the US Department of Commerce.  He is also a frequent contributor to CNN, CNBC, MSNBC and NBC.  Harold Ford is the author of the book More Davids Than Goliaths: A Political Education where he presents his personal mission statement for America’s future.  He holds a BA from the University of Philadelphia and a JD from the University of Michigan Law School.

GRACE HALE is an American composer of both film and classical concert music. Her contemporary classical works often draw on the filmic tradition. By integrating storytelling, visual arts, stage directions, or multimedia in her concert music, Hale strives to create multidisciplinary immersive experiences that invoke listeners’ imaginations. 
 
In 2018, Hale was recognized as the first prize recipient of the Colorado Collegiate Composition Competition with her piece Rhapsody on a Cityscape for British Brass Band. She also holds an honorable mention in the 2017 International Summer Academy of Music’s Joseph Dorfman Memorial Competition with her solo piano work The Vagabond. Her published music includes two piano solos, A Wayward Leaf (2022) and Thorne Miniatures (2020), that were published by the CCC Music Company. Among notable large ensemble performances, Hale collaborated with mandolinist Sierra Hull on an orchestral arrangement of her song "Sunday," which was performed by the Portland Chamber Orchestra and the Walla Walla Symphony, conducted by Jaacov Bergman in 2019. 
 
Hale has attended programs at the Collaborative Composition Initiative Workshop (2022), LunARTS Festival (2018), the International Summer Academy of Music in Germany (2017), Snow Pond Music Festival (2017), Curtis Summerfest (2016), California Summer Music (2015), NYU/ASCAP Film Scoring Workshop (2015), Oberlin Composition Workshop (2014), and Interlochen Summer Academy (2013). Recently, she was invited to Alderworks Alaska for a month-long residency where she composed her new piano quartet with fixed media Under-Skin River (2022) and gave a workshop on musical intuition and composition. Under-Skin River was premiered by the Unheard-of Ensemble in Brooklyn in July, 2022. 
 
Hale is currently pursuing her Master of Music in Composition at the University of Michigan and received her Bachelor of Arts in Music from Colorado College in 2020. She studied composition under Michael Daugherty, Kristy Kuster, Ofer Ben-Amots, and David Tcimpidis.

A graduate of Rollins College with a bachelor of arts in Latin American affairs, Brad Blaicher has also completed the Executive Management Development Program at the University of Michigan and the Managing Innovation Program at the Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management. After holding a number of senior positions with the subscription-based construction information business CDC Publishing, Brad Blaicher owned and operated MACPRO Software Partners from 2008 to 2010.

Based in Phoenix, Arizona, for the past nine years, Brad Blaicher serves as chief operations officer of OnSite Temp Housing. Since cofounding OnSite in 2012, he purchased 100 percent of this RV/temporary housing rental company and completely restructured it. From 2012 to 2015, he oversaw an increase in annual revenue from $250,000 to $1.8 million.

When he isn’t working, Mr. Blaicher enjoys golfing, hiking, surfing, and snowboarding. He is also an avid world traveler and a passionate car aficionado.

Ton Trio II with Aram Shelton, alto saxophone; Scott Brown, bass; Alex Vittum, drums. They are an avant/modern jazz trio that thrive in, and out of conventional structure.  Drawing from Shelton’s bright and even folk-like compositions, the trio weaves continuously through melody, rhythm, and texture with written parts that serve as entry points for spacious improvisations.  All three members play almost continuously, keeping the voices of melody, harmony and rhythm on an even level.

The Oakland based Ton Trio II was formed by Shelton in late 2012 as the newest vehicle for his small ensemble avant jazz writing, heard before in groups including Arrive (482 Music and CleanFeed) with Jason Adasiewicz, Jason Roebke and Tim Daisy; Cylinder (CleanFeed) with Darren Johnston, Lisa Mezzacappa and Kjell Nordeson; and the Fast Citizens (Delmark) with Fred Lonberg-Holm, Josh Berman, Keefe Jackson, and Frank Rosaly.

A recent midwestern transplant to Oakland, originally from Chicago, Scott Brown studied at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor with Robert Hurst, Geri Allen, and Donald Walden, and composition Andrew Mead & Andrew Bishop. He attended the Steans Institute in 2008. He currently performs throughout the bay area with Astronauts Etc, Waterstrider, and many others.

Alex Vittum is a percussionist, sound designer and electronic musician based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is a member of several groups including Stratic, For Now, Ton Trio II, and performs solo electro-acoustic works as Prism. Alex has collaborated with a diverse group of musicians, composers and choreographers including Roswell Rudd, Kitty Brazleton, Ben Goldberg, Daniel Carter, Stuart Dempster, Annie Lewandowski (Powerdove), Thomas Kozumplik (The Clogs), Paul Dresher Ensemble, and Gina Gibney Dance. He has a BA from Bennington College, an MFA from Mills College and has studied percussion with Milford Graves and William Winant. www.alexvittum.com

Student at the University of Michigan.  Finding and listening to music that I love, hope you love it too. 

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