Guest Artists

SEASON 2021-22 GUEST ARTISTS

Ileana Perez Velázquez

Cuban-born composer Ileana Perez Velázquez lives in upstate NY and is a Professor of Music Composition at Williams College, MA . The New York Times has praised the “imaginative strength and musical consistency” and the “otherworldly quality” of her compositions . Her music has been heard in concerts and international festivals in Cuba, the United States, and throughout South and Central America, Europe, China, and the Middle East .

Perez Velázquez was awarded a 2015 Commission from the Fromm Music Foundation at Harvard University . She has written works for numerous performers and ensembles, including Continuum, Momenta String Quartet, Cassatt Quartet, Ensemble Dal Niente from Chicago, Flux Quartet, Seraphic Fire, International Contemporary Ensemble, Eureka Ensemble, the instrumental ensemble Nuestro Tiempo from the National Symphony Orchestra of Cuba, and Nodus Ensemble from Florida International University . Other performances included the New World Symphony and American Composers Orchestra Chamber Players .

Perez Velázquez received her B .A . in piano and composition from the Higher Institute of Arts (ISA), Havana, Cuba . After obtaining her master’s in electroacoustic music from Dartmouth College, Perez Velázquez began her doctoral studies at Indiana University, studying with Claude Baker, Eugene O’Brien, and Marta Ptaszynska, receiving her DMA in 2000 . Perez Velázquez was a recipient of a 1999 Cintas Fellowship in Composition .

Albany Records released two CD portraits of her music in January 2008 and September 2017 . Recordings of her music have also been released by Innova Recordings, and Urlicht Audiovisual .

Melissa D’Albora

Melissa D’Albora is a Miami-based composer whose works are performed throughout the United States and Canada . Recent performances are Respire for flute and guitar by Duo Sequenza and Leaves for baritone and piano by Fresh Squeezed Opera members Andrew Wannigman and Felix Jarrar . She has had readings of her works by professional musicians and ensembles such as members of the Cleveland Orchestra and Robert Black . Currently, Melissa is working on her dissertation, a chamber opera, under the guidance of Dorothy Hindman at the Frost School of Music . The opera addresses the extreme divide in women’s bodily rights through the larger theme of family . She is also a teaching assistant for the Frost undergraduate Experiential Music Theory courses . Melissa holds two Bachelor of Music degrees in viola performance and composition at the University of Connecticut . She received her Master in Music Composition at the University of Miami Frost School of Music . Her composition mentors have been Kenneth Fuchs and Charles Mason .

Sydney Doemel

Born in Marietta, GA, Sydney Doemel is an acoustic and electro-acoustic composer and violinist . Her music has been performed by Transient Canvas, The Bent Frequency Duo, Sonic Apricity, The Departure Duo and The UGA Symphony Orchestra . Sydney was selected as the 2018-19 Student Composer-in-Residence with the UGA Symphony Orchestra; her work “Synapse” was performed in UGA’s Hugh Hodgson Concert Hall . This year, her piece “In the Teeth Of” was performed on Transient Canvas’ virtual tour at Virginia Tech, Miami University, Hamilton College and Lawrence University . Sydney has degrees in music composition and violin performance from the University of Georgia and is currently completing her master’s in composition at the University of Miami .