MIXT Friday
Kennedy Taylor Dixon
(she/her)
violist
"Kennedy Taylor Dixon is a violist and composer currently based in Trenton, NJ. Dixon has been described as a “vibrant musical voice,” often writing for herself and collaborators in her musical community. Some highlights of her career to date include a premiere at Electric Music Midwest (here I stand, 2022), a presentation of her Master's Thesis discussing Wadada Leo Smith's String Quartet No. 3 at the International Allianc for Woman in Music 2022 Conference, participation in the Bang on a Can 2022 Festival 2022, performances by Jack Quartet (unstuckening, New Music on the Point 2021), a commission from Laura Lenz (first promise (of Cadillac Mountain, 2021), along with a well-received work for viola and electronics performed with colleague Kristopher Bendrick (pretty on paper, MOXsonic 2020). Dixon was also selected as a performance fellow at Nief-Norf in 2019 and again in 2020, she participated as a composition fellow at New Music on the Point in 2021. Dixon holds a MA in Music Composition in addition to her dual undergraduate degrees in viola performance and music composition from Western Michigan University. Dixon is currently pursuing her Ph.D. in Music Composition at Princeton University."
Ms. Zilbert
(He/him/she/her)
Cabaret Performer/Host
Ms. Zilbert, aka Gilbert Diego Sanchez is a queer cabaret performer and actor based in Brooklyn New York. Past creations include: Cats: The Other Cats Musical and Me and My Good Judys.
Mary-Angela T. Granberry
(She/Her)
Dancer/Actor
Elizabeth Gartman
(she/her)
Composer, Soprano
Mary-Angela Granberry is an interdisciplinary performer and dance choreographer. With a background in dance, music, acting, and visual arts. This versatility has enabled her to engage in various collaborations as a performer. Notable dance credits include The Tonight Show, Beyoncé, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, ELSCO Dance (artistic dir. Ellenore Scott), Lollapalooza Music Festival, various music videos and commercial acting credits. As a choreographer, she has presented at Harlem Dance Festival and the AAPI Dance Festival - “We Belong Here” produced by J.Chen Project and Midheaven Network. Mary-Angela is a graduate from the Meisner conservatory program at Terry Knickerbocker Studio of which she was named a recipient of their “Excellence Scholarship” and notable student. She is thrilled to be a Core Collective Member with The Why Collective this season!
"Elizabeth Gartman is a composer and soprano currently based in Berlin, Germany. Her compositions call attention to the implications behind the vocal instrument paired with the physical body. In addition, her work explores themes of process in performance, as well as active listening and response. Elizabeth’s music has been commissioned by companies such as New Chamber Ballet, the NYC Virtuoso Singers, Beth Morrison Projects, Wisconsin Youth Symphony Orchestra, Ensemble Chemie, and InfraSound Ensemble, and received performances at festivals and venues including National Sawdust, Mark Morris Dance, New Music on the Point, and Songfest. Accolades include being named Runner Up of Beth Morrison Project’s 2022 Next Gen Cycle 2, the William Schuman Prize for Most Outstanding Score in the BMI Student Composer Awards (2021), twice recognition as a finalist in ASCAP’s Morton Gould Young Composer Competition (2021, 2019), the Karl Canter Prize for Orchestral Composition (2021), and the Giampaolo Bracali Composition Award (2021), among others. As a performer, Elizabeth is dedicated to the contemporary dramatic stage, with a background in classical voice and a current emphasis on new works. Elizabeth holds degrees from the Manhattan School of Music (M.M. in Composition, 2021) and the University of Illinois (B.M. in Composition and Vocal Performance, 2019). "
Peter Ver Brugge
(he/him)
Painter
Tinkerer turned artist turned engineer turned artist turned engineer/artist. Exploration is the spice of life and life is too short to only do one thing. I was born in Albuquerque, NM, had a stint of 7 years in Tulsa, OK, and now live in Seattle, WA. My formal artistic background is music and I started on the upright bass at age 12 and studied classical and jazz, played and recorded in a band, and still play occasionally today. I turned to the visual arts about 8 years ago and have been working in acrylics as my main medium.
Lucy McKnight
(she/they)
composer/singer
Lucy McKnight prefers to write a bio in first person. So hi, hello, I’m Lucy! I work with colors, textures, and sounds to create environments where I and others can explore intense emotions and ways of surviving them. My expressive tools include paint, fabric, ceramics, tinfoil, magnets, my cello, my body and voice, my friends’ bodies and voices, and most recently, strings, pots, pipes, and wood. I am interested in touch, connection, movement, and using sound to build mutually cathartic experiences. I love to swim in natural bodies of water, with particular affinity for the Pacific Ocean off the coast of my hometown, Los Angeles. Currently, my three deeply affectionate cats and I live in my wildly colorful home in Trenton, New Jersey while I work on my PhD in Music Composition at Princeton University.
Bryce McClendon
(they/them)
Writer, Countertenor
"Bryce McClendon (they/them/theirs) often self-describes as an accidental playwright. With their Master’s in Music from the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre, and Dance, Bryce’s formal training is in classical singing and opera. As a result, their plays are musical in style, form, and content: often about musicians, involving songs and other music, or inspired by musical works and forms. They have been a contributor to The MiddleClass Artist, and their other writing can be sampled on their Substack, ""The Bryce is Wrong"": https://brycemcclendon.substack.com/ Bryce brings over two decades experience performing in plays, musicals, concerts, and operas to their writing. As a young singer, Bryce was a 2020 regional finalist in the Metropolitan Opera National Council auditions, a 2019 Eva & Marc Stern Fellow at SongFest in Los Angeles, and a 2018 resident artist at Opera NEO in San Diego. Since relocating to New York City, Bryce has collaborated with American Lyric Theater’s Composer-Librettist Development Program in a performance and panel discussion about developing new operatic repertoire for countertenors, and originated the title role in the world premiere of Jonathan Dawe’s opera Being Ariodante, with Ensemble Échappé. www.brycemcclendon.com "
Elemen2al ThePoet
(He/Him/His)
Poet
"Driven by passion that fuels the starship of his thoughts, Elemen2al roams the universe, healing through his poetry. He has the courage to confront his depression, anxiety and PTSD with words--a harbinger of agony, writing wrongs into poems, one heartbeat at a time. Fueled by his desire to enlighten all who hear his voice, he speaks with an accent of change. He is Poetry – unapologetically, deadly revolutionary and true student of all things creativity. Sum of his fears, X quotient of an unbalanced equation and seeker of truth in all forms. Voice for the voiceless, carrying the torch of love for true artistry– broadcasting truth people can use. Standing on the shoulders of giants..He is.. Elemen2al Elemen2al.com "
Laura Dearman
(she/her)
Dancer
"Originally from Statesville, North Carolina, Laura Dearman is an alumnus of UNC Charlotte (B.A. in Dance: performance, choreography, and theory). While pursuing her degree, Laura danced with Charlotte Ballet, receiving her Professional Training Certificate upon graduation. While there, Laura performed principal roles in a variety of works, including Bourneville’s Flower Festival, George Faison’s Suite Otis, and Paul Taylor’s Esplanade. Post-graduation, while attending The School at Jacobs Pillow, Laura had the opportunity to work with choreographers Ronald K. Brown, Didy Veldman, and Cayetano Soto, under the direction of Mr. Milton Myers. Since moving to New York, Laura’s professional performance experience includes Neville Dance Theatre (principal dancer), works by Brooklyn choreographer Matthew Brookoff, Visions Contemporary Ballet, and Ballet Inc., among others. She has enjoyed performing her own choreography with The Why Collective, The Omni Arts Foundation, and other independent video projects. In Spring of 2022, Laura choreographed for the operatic production of “Being Ariodante”, composed by Jonathan Dawe, which premiered at Columbia University’s Italian Academy. She is thrilled to be a part of more interdisciplinary works this season with The Why Collective!
Quaba Venza Ernest
(He/him)
Dancer
"Quaba Venza Ernest, born in Brooklyn, New York. He began his dance training at Dance Theatre of Harlem, continuing at Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts and SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance. He began his career with Ballet BC for their 2019/2020 season and began working with Doug Varone and Dancers in 2021. He received the Thayer Fellowship in the Arts for Choreography & Dance in 2019, The Ann & Weston Hicks Choreography Fellowship at Jacob’s Pillow in 2021, and was selected as an Early Career Artist for the 12th Annual Making Moves Dance Festival. Quaba has danced in the works of many choreographers such as Kimberly Bartosik, Ronald K. Brown, Sidra Bell, Sharon Eyal, Robert Garland, Johan Inger, Loni Landon, Ana Maria Lucaciu, Ohad Naharin, Crystal Pite, Jerome Robbins, Ted Shawn, Medhi Walerski. He has been featured in the NY Times for performances at BAM Fisher & Jacob’s Pillow. "
In-Person Participants
Julian Wild:@actualjullan (FB, IG, TW) Gilbert Sanchez Ms. ZilbertMs.Zilbert Sydney Anderson Sophie Delphis Chelsea Helm:@chelseahelmsoprano Ashtyn Brown:@skittish.sapphic on Instagram, Ashtyn Brown on Facebook David Ross Lawn Carla Fortmann Doori Na:IG: @findingdoori_ Titilayo Funda Cizmecioglu Tanner Stegink Patrick Thompson Lucy Mcknight:Instagram: @lucifer_mcknight Kennedy Taylor Dixon:@kenndix (insta) Mary-Angela Granberry:IG: maryangela_terumi Brooklyn Motion Capture Dance Company:https://www.instagram.com/brianellissound/ Dicky Dutton:@dickydutton Laura Dearman:Instagram: @lauradearr Legs Akimbo Quaba Venza Ernest@quaba_ernest @venzadance Norm Mattox Bryce McClendon:"IG: @the.bryce.is_wrong Twitter: @Bryce_McClendon TikTok: @thebryce.iswrong" Sir Dominique Jordan* The Prolific One:@SirDominiqueJordan on Instagram, Sir Dominique Jordan on Facebook Alberto Medero Peter Ver Brugge:Bryce McClendon Amanda Austin
Virtual
Participants
Elizabeth Gartman:Instagram: @lizafer_lemon ***Bloom Sound Collective ***Derek Weagle:Instagram @dweagz ***Molly Rabufo Bloom Sound Collective:@bloomsoundcollective @mollyrabuffo @dweagz Timmy Peterson Jorge Sosa Akshaya Tucker:IG @akshayatucker ; FB @akshaya.avriltucker Writers / Poets Lynn Lane Hannah Mae Sturges Elemen2al:@elemen2althepoet Sam Waits Kit Wren:"instagram: kitwrenaway twitter: kittalkssports" Vayl Larkin:@vayllarkin IG Chen-Yi Wu:Instagram: chenyiwu_film Nessa Nachelle @Vanessa.08 Frogg Corpse:@froggcorpse (Instagram) FroggCorpseOfficial (FB) Shockie G The Poet:Shockieg_the_poet ig &tiktok Musicians Katya Bormotina Alexa Letourneau:"@composingbyalexa - Instagram Alexa Letourneau, Composer - Facebook and Youtube @alexaletourneau and/or @mosaiccomposers - Tiktok" Charles Kreidler:@charleswilliamk_ Painters and Sculptors Angela Wei:"https://www.instagram.com/theangelawei/ https://twitter.com/theangelawei" Varvára Fern Tala Abunuwar:@kittaba Sheldon Kleeman Pamela Marino:"Instagram: @pamela.artist Instagram: @artteachermarino Etsy: @pamartshop Redbubble: @pamelarmarino Facebook: @PamArtShop TikTok: @pamela.artist " Nate Lanasa:@nathaniellanasa Sydni Peeler Emilie Karl Carlos Bortoni / n33fti:Instagram (@n33fti) Visual Artists (Digital) Kamini Avril (also physical art) John Boudreau:@johnboudreauartist Jared Schwartz Jairo Dealba Nionda Torriell:@neoforgiven, @neoforgivenart Kaylee Hernandez Nena Christeina Emma Sue Ewing: