HUGH LEVICK, founder and director
Graduating cum laude from Yale University, and with an MFA from the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, Hugh Levick set off for Paris to write a novel. In Paris he returned to his musical beginnings and the saxophone, studying and playing with Anthony Braxton, Steve Lacy and the Chicago Art Ensemble, amongst others. Later, in NYC, he studied composition at Juilliard with Stanley Wolfe and David Diamond, and privately with John Cage and Vinko Globokar. Read more about Hugh
PETER KNELL, co-associate artistic director
Praised for being “gratefully idiomatic” (Los Angeles Times) and for its “subtle virtuosity” (MusicWeb International), Peter Knell’s music is meticulously crafted for both instruments and voices, making full use of their expressive and coloristic potential. He is deeply invested in musical structure as a crucible to intensify the affective experience of the listener, and he has consistently been rewarded by the enthusiastic reception of his work by audiences and performers. Website
JOSEPH PEREIRA, co-associate artistic director
Joseph Pereira enjoys a multi-faceted career as a timpanist/percussionist, composer, conductor, and teacher. His work in all areas has been widely hailed for his creativity and virtuosity, and has been profiled in feature articles in both the New York Times (2006) and the Los Angeles Times in 2012 and 2015. Pereira’s music has been described as “restless yet lucidly textured” (New York Times), “striking atmospherics of colour” (The Guardian), and “one sonic surprise after another” (Los Angeles Times). His works have been commissioned and performed worldwide. Website
ISAAC SCHANKLER, co-associate artistic director
Isaac Io Schankler (they/them) is a composer, accordionist, and electronic musician living in Los Angeles. Their music has been described as “powerful” (Sequenza21), “delightful” (I Care If You Listen), “ingenious” (The Artificialist), “masterfully composed” (Boston Musical Intelligencer), and “the antidote to sentimentality” (LA Times).
Schankler is the artistic director of the concert series People Inside Electronics, and holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in composition from the University of Southern California, as well as Master of Music and Bachelor of Music degrees in composition from the University of Michigan. Schankler is currently Associate Professor of Music at Cal Poly Pomona, where they teach composition, music technology, and music theory. Website
LYRIS QUARTET, artistic advisors
The Lyris Quartet is a Los Angeles-based string quartet. The quartet was created from a conversation between violinist Alyssa Park, who has enjoyed an illustrious career as an international soloist and is the youngest prizewinner in the history of the Tchaikovsky International Competition and violinist Shalini Vijayan who has built a career as an advocate of modern music as a member of Grammy nominated groups, Absolute Ensemble and Southwest Chamber Music. Drawing on their diverse backgrounds, these musicians chose to create a string quartet that could encompass their love for both standard and modern repertoire and commission works from living composers. Violist Luke Maurer and cellist Timothy Loo joined the group and Lyris was formally founded in 2008. Read more about the Lyris Quartet
EMERITUS
WILLIAM KRAFT, artistic advisor
William Kraft (1923-2022) had a long and active career as composer, conductor, timpanist/percussionist and teacher. He is Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he served for 11 years (1991 – 2002) as Chair of the Composition Department… Read more about Bill
