Morgan Azkenaizer, Soprano

Is a rising sophomore pursuing a Bachelor of Music in Vocal performance at Eastman School of Music. She initiated her studies at the New England Conservatory of Music Preparatory School, and now studies with Katherine Ciesinski. In her first year at the Eastman School of Music, Morgan engaged herself in numerous collaborative efforts with composers and instrumentalists. She also worked, and continues to work, closely with her twin sister who is enrolled as an art student at the Cooper Union in Manhattan. In the past, she has sung solo with the New England Conservatory Preparatory baroque orchestra, and with a baroque chamber ensemble under the direction of Aldo Abreu. Her engagement in early and new music is accompanied by a devout engagement in all art forms.

Matt Evans, Percussionist/Composer

With an equal interest in contemporary classical, indie, and experimental music, percussionist/composer Matt Evans offers a versatile palette of performance styles and musical thoughts. Currently pursuing a Master's Degree in Percussion Performance at the Eastman School of Music, Matt holds a Bachelor's Degree from the The Ohio State University where he was active as both performer and composer in and around the university. He has worked closely with members of Nexus, So Percussion, the Pendulum Percussion Duo, and currently studies with Michael Burritt. Matt is an advocate for new music of all kinds and hopes to program and perform the greatest music being written today.

Jesse Lozano, Composer

Jesse Lozano (b. 1991) is a composer and a student at the Eastman School of Music, where he studies with Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez, David Liptak, and Vincent Lenti (piano). His influences are very diverse, and he enjoys listening to everything from contemporary classical music to ragtime to musicals to Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo. Currently he is working on a musical Perfect Mirrors which explores the psychological concept of self-presentation and how humans use it when pressured by the superficial demands of today's society. Jesse Lozano is also very excited to be a Board Member of OSSIA, where he hopes to help put on four awesome concerts this year!

Aristea Mellos, Composer

Aristea Mellos is Master of Music composition student at the Eastman School of Music. Aristea currently studies under Professor Robert Morris and holds the Paul Sacher Scholarship. In 2011, Aristea was awarded the Belle S. Gitelman Prize for compositional merit. In 2010, Aristea graduated with honours (first class) from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. As a student at the Sydney Conservatorium, Aristea has been awarded the Doris Burnett Ford Scholarship and Roy Agnew Memorial Fund. Her teachers have included: Professor Don Freund (Jacobs School, Indiana), Dr. Michael Smetanin, Dr. Nigel Butterley, Colin Bright, Dr. Rosalin Page, Dr. Trevor Pearce, Professor Anne Boyd and Dr. Elliott Gyger. Aristea's works have been performed by the Cuong Vu Trio, Bosgraafand Elias, the Australian Youth Orchestra and the Ku-ring-gai Philharmonic. In 2009 Aristea was selected as one of eight composers world-wide to attend the Bowdoin International Music Festival (USA), and as one of three Australian composers to participate in the Ku-ring-gai Philharmonic's Young Composers Program. In 2010, Aristea was selected to participate in the prestigious Australian Youth Orchestra's Composers School under Dr. Elliott Gyger where her work was performed and recorded at Lewellyn Hall, in the Australian National University, Canberra.

Andrew Pramuk, Baritone

Andrew Pramuk is a junior pursuing a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Eastman. He comes from Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania and studies voice with Carol Webber. In addition to directing OSSIA's public relations, Andrew serves as secretary in Eastman's chapter of Mu Phi Epsilon. He passionately explores a vast spectrum of music, from the Medieval to 21st century electronic music. His recent interest in German Lieder led to a coaching with the world-renowned pianist and coach, Graham Johnson. At Eastman, Andrew has performed as a soloist as well as with the Eastman Chorale, the Eastman Repertory Singers, the Composers Sinfonietta, and as a vocal chamber musician with OSSIA.

Gilad Rabinovitch, Composer

Gilad Rabinovitch's principal composition teachers are André Hajdu, Menachem Zur, Yinam Leef, Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, Carlos Sánchez-Gutiérrez and David Liptak. He participated in master-classes in composition with Shulamit Ran, Samuel Adler, Denys Bouliane, Philippe Leroux, John Rea, Oliver Knussen, Walter Zimmermann, Dániel Péter Biró and Luca Cori, and in masterclasses on 18th-century style improvisation with Robert Levin and Roger Moseley. Participation and performances in summer programs and festivals includes the Asian Composers' League Festival in Wellington, New Zealand, 2007, Desert Sounds, 2007, the Abu-Ghosh Festival, 2008 and Domaine Forget, 2010. Selected for participation in the Etchings Festival, 2011, where he will study with Lee Hyla and Stefano Gervasoni, as well as in the Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme, 2011, where he will study with Oliver Knussen and Colin Matthews. Subsequently, he will have a piece for large ensemble featured in the Aldeburgh Music Festival, 2012.

Gilad holds an M.A.Mus in composition and musicology from the Jerusalem Academy of Music and the Hebrew University (2009, summa cum laude). He entered the doctoral program in composition at the Eastman School of Music in 2009 as a Sproull Fellow. Other awards include the Mozart-2006 prize for his String Quartet (Austrian Cultural Forum in Tel-Aviv), first prize in the Chana Yador-Avni memorial competition's choral category (2007), a fellowship from the America-Israel Cultural Foundation, and the Louis Lane composition prize from the Eastman School (2011). Commissioning institutions include the Israel Contemporary Players, KlangNetz, Aviv Competitions, Jerusalem Music Centre, Ensemble Meitar and the Israeli Bach Soloists.

Igor Santos, Composer

Igor Santos holds a degree from the University of South Florida, where he studied primarily under Paul Reller and Michael Timpson. At USF he was recipient of the Patrick Keim Memorial Scholarship and received yearly awards in the fields of composition, theory and electronic music. Although mainly a composer of concert music, he has collaborated extensively as composer and sound designer for professional theater productions in Tampa, FL. He is now pursuing a Master's degree at the Eastman School of Music, studying composition with Carlos Sánchez-Gutiérrez and computer music with Allan Schindler. Igor is a sponsored fellow for the American Conservatory in Fontainebleau, France, in the summer of 2011.

Ben Thomas, Double Bassist/Composer/Improviser

Ben Thomas has been fortunate to have played with Ralph Alessi, Tony Malaby, Clay Jenkins, Ted Poor, and is a member of The Dave Rivello Ensemble. Ben has attended the School for Improvised Music in Brooklyn for the past three summers, having studied with Ralph Alessi, Tony Malaby, Drew Gress, Jim Black, Andy Milne, John Hebert, Tyshawn Sorey, and attended master classes with Mark Helias, Vijay Iyer, and Steve Coleman. Ben was born in Hartford, CT and currently lives in Rochester, NY and is in his last year of a graduate degree at the Eastman School of Music and studies with Jeff Campbell. At Eastman, Ben plays in the award winning New Jazz Ensemble under Dave Rivello and has a number of self lead bands including: The Standard Jazz Band, Cardinal's Rules, Lumberman of the District, and Dug Trio.

Ben also sleeps with a teddy bear.

Jessica Wooldridge, Bassoonist

Currently pursuing her Doctor of Musical Arts at Eastman, Jessica is committed to the performance of and education about music of all styles. She is Adjunct Professor of Bassoon at the State University of New York at Buffalo, and she taught Applied Woodwinds, World Music, and American Music History at Waynesburg University. She is happy to be performing in Eastman's new music ensembles, Musica Nova and Ossia, performs with Ad Hoc, the ethereal chamber ensemble, plays with Levanto Winds, and is an active freelance orchestral musician.

Jessica obtained her Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Bassoon Performance from West Virginia University, studying with Lynn Hileman, Winston Collier, and Terry Ewell. While living in West Virginia, she participated in the lively old-time Appalachian music scene there, playing guitar, singing, and even occasionally playing bassoon. She has traveled all over the US to participate in the electronic music scene and has brought classical chamber music to some surprising places. Some proud performances include playing with NovaTango, an Astor Piazzola Tribute Ensemble, and a solo performance at the University of Michigan Jazz Festival on stage with the Count Basie Orchestra.

As an Ossia board member, Jessica is excited to be bringing the music of living composers to more people's ears. New music brings a vital energy necessary to the continuation of art music.