TED HEARNE
(b. 1982, Chicago) is a composer, conductor and performer of new music. His work Katrina Ballads is the recipient of the 2009 Gaudeamus Prize in composition, and his piece Cordavi and Fig was recently praised by Allan Kozinn of the New York Times as "fresh and muscular." Ted's music has been performed by the Minnesota Orchestra, Calder Quartet, The Knights, and New York City Opera; heard at the MATA Festival, Bang on a Can Marathon, Carlsbad Music Festival, and LPR'S Sleeping Giant; and commissioned by Chicago's Third Coast Percussion, San Francisco's Volti Choral Arts Laboratory, Charleston's New Music Collective, Newspeak, Huntsville Symphony, Albany Symphony. Ted is the artistic director of Yes is a World, resident conductor of Red Light New Music, and for five years was composer-in-residence of the Chicago Children's Choir. He served as music director for the premieres of David Lang’s opera Anatomy Theatre (performed by ICE, 2005), Michael Gordon’s Lightning at our Feet (BAM Next Wave Festival, 2008), and Bryan Senti's From the margins, this, unmentioned (Brooklyn Lyceum, 2009). Ted has received the 2008 Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and was an artist in residence at the MacDowell Colony in Fall 2009. Upcoming commissions include works for DITHER Electric Guitar Quartet, Toomai String Quintet, and a new work for Yale Glee Club and Yale Symphony Orchestra to premiered at Carnegie Hall in April 2011.

RENÉ MARIE
(mezzo-soprano) is a singer/songwriter/playwright/actress who performs and tours as a vocalist internationally, nationally and locally. Between 2000 and 2004, René recorded four award-winning CDs on the MaxJazz label before deciding to pursue an independent path. Since 2005, she has recorded and produced several CDs on her own label. In 2009, she premiered a one-woman show, Slut Energy Theory - U’Dean, a play about incest and domestic abuse told through original music, spoken word and monologue. The play was voted as Reader’s Choice Best One-Person Show by Denver Post and Best New Work by Westword. The soundtrack of the show was released in December, 2009. Her website is www.renemarie.com.

Equally expert at music from the Baroque era to contemporary work, ABIGAIL FISCHER (mezzo-soprano) has performed with New York Collegium, Early Music New York, the Rebel Ensemble, Boston Modern Orchestra Project, the Boston Pops, and has given world premieres of music by John Zorn, Elliot Carter, Nico Muhly, Missy Mazzoli, Bernard Rands, and the Bang on a Can artists. Recent highlights include the VOX contemporary opera showcase (with Ted Hearne's Katrina Ballads) and the Chandler Carter opera Strange Fruit with New York City Opera, Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel with New Jersey State Opera, and the Lee Hoiby premiere This is the Rill Speaking with American Opera Projects. Ms. Fischer’s relationship with new music ensembles such as Continuum and Sequitur has led to performances from Lincoln Center to Jakarta, Indonesia. Ms. Fischer’s other opera roles include Dido (Purcell Dido and Aeneas), Cherubino (Mozart Le Nozze di Figaro), Mother Marie (Poulenc Dialogue of the Carmelites), Sesto (Mozart La Clemenza di Tito), and Mrs. Lovett (Sondheim Sweeney Todd). Visit abigailfischer.com for more information.

(tenor) is an active singer, director and songwriter. Born into a large musical family, both of his parents are veteran recording artists as well as songwriters. Isaiah has been singing all his life and playing the piano since the age of four. With a strong gospel background, he joined the Chicago Children's Choir in 1992 and did voice-over and acting work throughout his childhood. He won a gold medal in the 2001 National NAACP ACT-SO Competition for contemporary vocal performance and a silver medal in the classical division. Isaiah has recently appeared with the New York City Opera, and Lookingglass Theater Company, and he has worked as musical director at Dunes Summer Theater Lab in Michiana Shores, Indiana. He is a founding member of Yes is a World, and with them has performed a wide variety of music, including Benjamin Britten's Serenade for tenor, horn, and string orchestra. He currently serves as the head of praise and worship at the New Life Center C.O.G.I.C and has plans for a new music production company in the works.

has been singing multiple genres of music, starting at the age of 6 with the Chicago Children’s Choir, which she was a member for 12 years, performing in Scotland, England, and Wales and Kenwood Academy Concert Choir performing around the nation and Switzerland. She received her B.M. in Classical Voice at University of Illinois where she sang in the University Black Chorus, Chambana Jazz Trio, Greg Spero Trio (with whom she works ), and was the founder of SoulEssence, an acappella group of women of color. She received her M.M. in Musical Theatre at New York University in 2009 where she performed in NYU productions The Gondoliers (Contadina), King David (Wife), Violet (Lula/Landlady), and Candide (Sheep). She currently studies with Susan Eichhorn Young. Her favorite credits include Showstoppin’: A Musical Revue (R&B Lead Girl), Scott Siegel at Townhall Presents:Broadway’s Rising Stars (2009), East Village Concert Series, Downtown Music Productions presents: Honoring Langston Hughes (Mimi Stearn-Wolfe art dir.), Dreamgirls (Lorrell), Bubbling Brown Sugar (Ella), and she is currently on tour with The Color Purple (Squeak) and expanding her creativity into songwriting. She is a proud founding member of Yes is s World.
www.allisonsemmes.com

(baritone) has appeared in opera, musical theater, orchestral and recital concerts in the United States and Europe. Recent performances include the premier of “Shikoku Postcards,” written for Mr. Turner by Houston composer Mary Carol Warwick, with the Greenbriar Consortium. He has toured with performance artist Laurie Anderson in “Songs and Stories from Moby Dick,” been a featured guest on the PBS special GREAT PERFORMANCES SERIES “Aida’s Brothers and Sisters: Black Voices in Opera,” and was featured soloist with Jessye Norman in a benefit concert for the Healing of AIDS. Mr. Turner is a member of Actors’ Equity Association, the American Guild of Musical Artists, Phi Mu Alpha, Phi Beta Sigma and a life member of the National Federation of Music Clubs.

(drums) is a percussionist based in Charleston, South Carolina. He performs regularly in the regional Southeast with ensembles ranging from jazz to free improvisation to avant-garde classical music to professional stage shows and recording sessions. An avid performer of new music, he has premiered pieces by Ted Hearne, Ray Evanoff, Sam Sfirri, Mustafa Walker, Sean Friar, Philip White, and Nathan Koci in the recent past. Mr. Wiltrout is devoted to exploring the many sonic possibilities of percussion, with particular emphasis on the drum set as a multi-faceted, highly expressive instrument. He co-leads a few jazz groups, is currently co-artistic director for the New Music Collective, and has performed and/or recorded with Lewis/Gregory/Wiltrout, The Rudy Waltz, the Garage Cuban Band, Lee Barbour, Tommy Gill, Bert Ligon, Brad Moranz, Havanason, Duda Lucena, Kopaja, Your Bad Self, Katrina Ballads, Brazil, and the Opposite of a Train.
www.ronwiltrout.com

(piano) rejoins the Katrina Ballads Band following a summer in the Merola Program at San Francisco Opera. He recently graduated from the Houston Grand Opera Studio. His mainstage credits with the company include that of principal coach for the world premiere of Christopher Theofinidis’s The Refuge. David returns to HGO this fall as music director of a new opera written by Mariachi Vargas director Jose Martinez. David has appeared in concert at such venues as the 92nd Street Y, Merkin Hall, Rose Hall at Lincoln Center, the Whitney Museum, Tonic, Zilkha Hall, Sprague Hall, Mass MoCa, and Cairo’s historic Ewart Hall. He performed in the second staged performance of Henry Partch’s Oedipus, with Newband—the opera was named one of the 10 best live events of 2005 by New Yorker critic Alex Ross. Mr. Hanlon has worked and studied with composers such as Pierre Boulez, Steve Reich, David Lang, Michael Gordon, Jim Thirlwell, Alvin Lucier, and Anthony Braxton.

is a guitarist. He is the founder & co-director of the electric guitar quartet Dither, and the Kyklos Sextet. Levine also performs regularly with the new-music band Newspeak and Ted Hearne's Your Bad Self, in addition to freelancing with other ensembles. He has worked with Meredith Monk, Theo Bleckmann, Elliott Sharp, Marco Cappelli, Nick Didkovsky, Mark Stewart, Signal Ensemble, New World Symphony, New York City Opera, Newband (A Harry Partch Ensemble), Ridge Theater, Bang on a Can, and with the Dutch dance company Emio Greco | PC in a new work which premiered at the Holland Dance Festival. Levine’s performances have opened him to an international community, which includes the United Kingdom, China, Italy, Netherlands, and France. He also pursues an active role as an educator in the NYC area. He studied at The Manhattan School of Music and The Amsterdam Conservatory. Taylor currently resides in Manhattan.

(violin) grew up in Houston, Texas, where she studied violin with Judy Offman and Fredell Lack. At sixteen, she began her college studies at the Moores School of Music, University of Houston. Batya went on to earn a BA from the Manhattan School of Music in 2005 and recently finished her MA at the University of California, San Diego. Her involvement with composers and contemporary music has led to work with the new music organizations AURA, TACTUS, Red Light, and the New Music Collective. Recent performances and collaborations include recording Michael Roth's soundtrack for the documentary Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story, and an appearance at the Manhattan venue Symphony Space in May for Red Light New Music's celebration of the composer Nils Vigeland. Batya is currently pursuing a DMA at UCSD, researching experimental music performance.

(clarinet) grew up in Australia and is now based in New York. She is a sought after new music clarinetist, and regularly performs in the city with the amplified Newspeak Ensemble, the European-inspired Red Light Ensemble, and the post-minimalist girl-band, Victoire. Eileen appears frequently as a soloist in electro-acoustic works, including several written especially for her. She has recently performed as soloist at the Canberra International Chamber Music Festival and the Bang on a Can Marathon. She has worked with composers such as Steve Reich, David Lang, and Michael Gordon, with conductors including Oliver Knussen and Pierre Boulez, and has performed in venues around the world including Zankel at Carnegie Hall, the Sydney Opera House, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw and London's Royal Albert Hall. She has been a fellow at the Bang on a Can and Norfolk Chamber Music Festivals. Eileen has a Masters degree from the Manhattan School of Music, where she studied with Charles Neidich, and is currently a doctoral student at Stony Brook University. She also studied at the University of Queensland and the Queensland and Sydney Conservatoriums. Before moving to the US in 2004, Eileen played with the Aark ensemble in Sydney and was a founding member of the Six New Music Ensemble in her home town of Brisbane. She has performed with the Queensland Orchestra, Sydney Symphony, Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, and as soloist with the Adelaide Symphony.

(viola): BA Manhattan School of Music (2005), MA University of California, San Diego (2009). Currently PhD candidate at UCSD.

(trumpet) performs extensively as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestral musician all over the world. In addition to being a member of the Canadian Brass, Christopher is also principal trumpet of the Huntsville Symphony in Alabama. As active as Christopher is in the classical scene, he also delves into the latin, jazz, and pop styles, having worked with musicians ranging from Yefim Bronfman, Pierre Boulez, and Riccardo Muti to Quincy Jones, Carlos Santana, and Gloria Estefan. Christopher performed with Miami Sound Machine in the 2009 Latin Grammy Concert as a member of the house-orchestra. A graduate of the Juilliard School, where he received his Masters, and Manhattan School of Music, where he received his Bachelors, Chris is also an active arranger and orchestrator; his arrangements have been recorded and performed by The Canadian Brass and other notable ensembles.

Cellist, composer, and vocalist JODY REDHAGE’s (cello) passions for chamber music and new music have led her to participate in an array of cutting-edge projects. Recently called an “adventurous cello songstress” by Time Out New York, Jody simultaneously sings and plays cello. Jody graduated with her master's degree from the Manhattan School of Music and resides in Brooklyn. Her wide variety of musical interests have led her to work with composers including George Crumb, David Lang, Steve Reich, and Terry Riley, and to performances with members of the Bang on a Can All-Stars, the Flux Quartet, Neil Diamond, Jay-Z, Beyonce, the Roots, Enya, Duncan Sheik, Guster, and Sufjan Stevens. Jody has appeared on “Conan O’Brien,” "The View," "The Early Show," and "The Today Show,” and her own compositions have been aired on many NPR stations including WNYC, WFMU, and WAMC. Jody’s band, Fire in July, plays her original art songs, melding the sensitivity and detail of chamber music with the drive and energy of pop, rock, and jazz improvisation. Fire in July’s debut album, Ancient Star, was released on September 15, 2009, and features 14 of Jody’s original compositions for the ensemble. Please visit www.jodyredhage.com for a list of upcoming performances.

(electric bass) is a soloist, bass guitarist, chamber musician, and teaching artist. He is also a recent alum of two professional training programs: Weill Music Institute's Teaching Artist Collaborative and The Academy-a program of Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, and The Weill Music Institute. Kris performs regularly with The Chris Norman Ensemble, Ensemble ACJW, SONYC, and Grammy Award-Winner Paul Halley. As principal bass of the Star Wars in Concert Orchestra, he recently toured the North American continent. He has also performed contemporary music with such groups as Metropolis Ensemble and Alarm Will Sound. Kristoffer teaches bass privately and in Manhattan at Louis Brandeis High School. Mr. Saebo received his Master and Bachelor of Music Degrees from the Juilliard School.