About the Galileo Creators
Bertolt Brecht
A Life of Galileo playwright and author
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director of the 20th century whose epic theatre departed from the conventions of theatrical illusion and developed the drama as a social and ideological forum for leftist causes.
Until 1924 Brecht lived in Bavaria, where he was born, studied medicine (Munich, 1917-21), and served in an army hospital (1918). From this period date his first play, Baal (produced 1923); his first success, Trommeln in der Nacht (Kleist Preis, 1922; Drums in the Night); the poems and songs collected as Die Hauspostille (1927; A Manual of Piety, 1966), his first professional production (Edward II, 1924); and his admiration for Wedekind, Rimbaud, Villon, and Kipling. During this period he also developed a violently anti bourgeois attitude that reflected his generation's deep disappointment in the civilization that had come crashing down at the end of World War I. Among Brecht's friends were members of the Dadaist group, who aimed at destroying what they condemned as the false standards of bourgeois art through derision and iconoclastic satire.
In Berlin (1924-33) he worked briefly for the directors Max Reinhardt and Erwin Piscator, but mainly with his own group of associates. With the composer Kurt Weill he wrote the satirical, successful ballad opera Die Dreigroschenoper (1928; The Threepenny Opera) and the opera Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny (1930; Rise and Fall of the Town of Mahoganny). He also wrote what he called "Lehr-stucke" ("exemplary plays")—badly didactic works for performance outside the orthodox theatre—to music by Weill, Hindemith, and Hanns Eisler. In these years he developed his theory of "epic theatre" and an austere form of irregular verse. He also became a Marxist.
In 1933 he went into exile—in Scandinavia (1933-41), mainly in Denmark, and then in the United States (1941-47), where he did some film work in Hollywood. In Germany his books were burned and his citizenship was withdrawn. He was cut off from the German theatre; but between 1937 and 1941 he wrote most of his great plays, his major theoretical essays and dialogues, and many of the poems collected as Svendborger Gedichte (1939). The plays of these years became famous in the author's own and other productions: notable among them are Mutter Courage und ihre Kinder (1941; Mother Courage and Her Children); Thirty Years' War; Leben des Galilei (1943; The Life of Galileo); Der gute Mensch von Sezuan (1943; The Good Woman of Setzuan); Der Aufhaltsame Aufstieg des Arturo Ui (1957; The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui); Herr Puntila und sein Knecht Matti (1948; Herr Puntila and His Man Matti); and The Caucasian Chalk Circle (first produced in English, 1948; Der kaukasische Kreidekreis, 1949). Brecht left the United States in 1947 after having had to give evidence before the House Un-American Activities Committee. He spent a year in Zurich, working mainly on Antigone-Modell 1948 (adapted from Hulderlin's translation of Sophocles; produced 1948) and on his most important theoretical work, the Kleines Organon fur das Theater (1949; "A Little Organum for the Theatre").
The essence of his theory of drama, as revealed in this work, is the idea that a truly Marxist drama must avoid the Aristotelian premise that the audience should be made to believe that what they are witnessing is happening here and now. For he saw that if the audience really felt that the emotions of heroes of the past--Oedipus, or Lear, or Hamlet--could equally have been their own reactions, then the Marxist idea that human nature is not constant but a result of changing historical conditions would automatically be invalidated. Brecht therefore argued that the theatre should not seek to make its audience believe in the presence of the characters on the stage--should not make it identify with them, but should rather follow the method of the epic poet's art, which is to make the audience realize that what it sees on the stage is merely an account of past events that it should watch with critical detachment. Hence, the "epic" (narrative, nondramatic) theatre is based on detachment, on the Verfremdungseffekt (alienation effect), achieved through a number of devices that remind the spectator that he is being presented with a demonstration of human behaviour in scientific spirit rather than with an illusion of reality, in short, that the theatre is only a theatre and not the world itself.
Yuval Sharon
Concept, Direction & Translation
Described by The Hollywood Reporter as "LA's avant-garde opera darling," Yuval Sharon has been creating an unconventional body of work that seeks to expand the operatic form. He founded and serves as Artistic Director of The Industry in Los Angeles, directing and producing the company’s acclaimed world premieres of Hopscotch, Crescent City, Invisible Cities, and In C. His productions have been described as “ingenious” (New York Times), “virtuosic” (Opernwelt), “dizzyingly spectacular” (New York Magazine), and “staggering” (Opera News). He is the recipient of the 2014 Götz Friedrich Prize in Germany for his production of John Adams’ Doctor Atomic, originally produced at the Staatstheater Karlsruhe and later presented in Seville's Teatro de la Maestranza. Yuval also directed a landmark production of John Cage’s Song Books at the San Francisco Symphony and Carnegie Hall with Joan La Barbara, Meredith Monk, and Jessye Norman. His most recent production was Peter Eötvös's Three Sisters at the Wiener Staatsoper, which lead Opernwelt to call him "one of the most interesting arrivals on the musical landscape."
Andy Akiho
Composer
Described as “mold-breaking,” “alert and alive,” “dramatic,” and “vital” by The New York Times, Andy Akiho is an eclectic composer and performer of contemporary classical music. Recent engagements include commissioned premieres by the New York Philharmonic, National Symphony Orchestra, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, China Philharmonic Orchestra, American Composers Orchestra (ACO), and Carnegie Hall’s Ensemble Connect. Akiho has been recognized with many awards, including: the 2014-15 Rome Prize, the 2015 Lili Boulanger Memorial Fund, a 2014 Harvard University Fromm Commission, the 2014 ACO Underwood Emerging Composers Commission, the 2012 Carlsbad Commission for the Calder Quartet, and two Chamber Music America grants.
Akiho is also an active steel pannist and performs his compositions with various ensembles worldwide. He has performed with the South Carolina Philharmonic, the Scharoun Ensemble of the Berlin Philharmonic, the LA Philharmonic's Green Umbrella series, toured in Taiwan for the International Drum Festival, and has had three concerts featuring his compositions at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Akiho was born in Columbia, South Carolina (1979) and is currently based in New York, NY.
Liz Glynn
Sculpture and Production Design
Liz Glynn creates sculptures, installations, and participatory performances using monumental architecture, cultural artifacts, and epic historical narratives to explore the potential for change in the present tense. Her work seeks to explore the position of the human within complex superstructures in the face of technological acceleration and an increasingly abstract economy. Recent projects include Open House, a project of the Public Art Fund sited in Central Park, NYC; The Myth of Singularity at LACMA, Los Angeles; and RANSOM ROOM at SculptureCenter, Long Island City, NY. Her work has also been presented at The New Museum, NYC; the Barbican Centre, London; MoCA, Los Angeles; the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; the Petit Palais, Paris; and Künstlerhaus Halle für Kunst & Medien, Graz, Austria. She is the recipient of a 2016 Creative Capital Award and the California Community Foundation Fellowship in 2010. Glynn earned her BA from Harvard College and her MFA from the California Institute of the Arts. She is represented by Paula Cooper Gallery, New York. In 2017 Glynn will open The Archaeology of Another Possible Future in Building 5 at MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA.
Marc Lowenstein
Music Director & Conductor
Marc Lowenstein has conducted the premieres of several new operas including The Mortal Thoughts of Lady Macbeth, Dice Thrown, The Scarlet Letter, The Peach Blossom Fan and Wet, and the American premieres of Schaeffer’s Loving and Aperghis’ Sextour. For four years he conducted with the New York City Opera’s VOX new music festival and he has conducted on the Monday Evening Concert Series, with Jacaranda, with the Ear Unit, the Vinny Golia Ensemble, the Kadima Conservatory, the CalArts New Century Players, and Ensemble Green. He was the founder and music director of the Berkeley Contemporary Opera, a company that produced four seasons of contemporary operas.
Mecca Vazie Andrews
Choreographer
Mecca Vazie Andrews is an artist, dancer, choreographer, and educator. She has choreographed and performed for film, theater, and music videos, creating work for The Joffrey Ballet School, LA Contemporary Dance Company, Daft Punk, Toro y Moi, Basement Jaxx, Wild Belle, Ari Up, Ricki Lake, Free City clothing, and many others.
The MOVEMENT movement, Andrews' Company, was established in 2007 with the mission to develop location inspired, diversity embracing and activism motivated alternative performance experiences. The MOVEMENT movement has been commissioned at museums, galleries and artful happenings including Pacific Standard Time, REDCAT, The Art of Elysium, 356 Mission Rd., LACMA, The Hammer Museum, LACE, and The Santa Monica Cultural Affairs Division.
Jaymee Ngernwichit
Costume Design
Jaymee Ngernwichit is a freelance Costume, Scenic, & Projection Designer. She graduated from UC San Diego in 2017 with an MFA in Theatre Design and in 2011 with two BA’s in Communication and Design for Theatre and Film Production. After a brief stint as an Art Director/ Costume Designer/ Production Assistant in Indie films and national food commercials, Jaymee took a wild tangent into the world of Social Work as an Eligibility Worker in Compton, CA. Through this experience, she has gained an immovable fortitude as well as renewed interests in social justice and the importance of stories in everyday life as a source of inspiration. Notable credits: Qualcomm Robot Dress (Costume Designer, 2017), Though it May Shift (Costume & Projection Designer, 2017), Territory (Art Director, feature length indie, 2011), Becoming Henry (short film - Wardrobe/Production Designer), Mojave ’43 – (short film-Head Scenic Painter), Dead Hearts – (short film-Production Designer Assistant).
The Galileo Cast
Lisa Wolpe
Galileo
Lisa Wolpe is an actress, director, teacher, playwright and producer. From 1993 to 2016 she was the Founder and Producing Artistic Director of the all-female, multicultural Los Angeles Women's Shakespeare Company, where she produced, directed, and performed many iconic male roles to great acclaim, earning “Best Actress” nominations for her performances of Hamlet, Shylock, and Iago. LAWSC was named by LA Magazine as “one of the ten coolest things to do in Los Angeles”, and has been featured on PBS, CNN, ABC, NBC, and CBS News. Lisa has been touring her solo show, Shakespeare & the Alchemy of Gender, to venues around the world.
She has directed and/or acted regionally at theaters including Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Orlando Shakespeare, Colorado Shakespeare Festival, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Shakespeare & Company, Arizona Theater Company, Arizona Theater Company, Southwest Shakespeare Company, San Diego Repertory Theater, California Shakespeare Festival, Boston Theater Works, Sedona Shakespeare Festival, the Actor's Gang, American Conservatory Theater, Prague Shakespeare Company, and also directed at many universities including the USC, UCLA, NYU, the Academy of Classical Arts, the American Shakespeare Center, Cal Poly Pomona, AMDA, AADA, UNLV, Emerson, Wellesley, Boston University, and MIT.
Honors include the Lee Melville Award for Sustained Excellence from Playwright’s Arena; the L.A. Drama Critic's Award for Sustained Excellence, the Key to Harlem, a Congressional Certificate of Merit, a Certificate of Recognition from the City of New York, The Key to Harlem, NBC News’ “Local Hero” award, the Jacob Bronowski Award for Theater Excellence, Women in Theater’s “Red Carpet” “Woman of the Year” Awards, the Women’s Theater Festival’s “Rainbow Award for promoting Diversity in L.A. Theater, Whittier College’s “Distinguished Artist Award”, and Colorado University Boulder's “First Scholar” and also “Roe Green Distinguished Artist” residencies.
Kalean Ung
Andrea
Kalean Ung is an award winning actress, singer, and interdisciplinary artist based in Los Angeles. She has performed at The Kirk Douglas Theatre, Theatre @ Boston Court, REDCAT, Highways Performance Space, The Actors’ Gang, The Getty Villa among others. She has worked with critically acclaimed theatre companies such as Critical Mass Performance Group, Independent Shakespeare Company, Four Larks Theatre and CalArts Center for New Performance. Her recent acting LA credits include: “Measure for Measure” (Isabella), "The Snow Geese" (Viktorya), "A Midsummer Night's Dream" (Titania), “The Tempest” (Ariel), “Richard III” (Margaret), “Othello” (Desdemona) with Independent Shakespeare Co., “Paul Sand Presents: Kurt Weill at the Cuddlefish Hotel” at the Actors’ Gang, “Pericles” (Marina) with Independent Shakespeare Co., “The Temptation of St. Antony” (Queen Sheba) with Four Larks Theatre (Ovation Award Winner), “Purple Electric Play” (The Vital Organ) at Machine Project, “Twelfth Night” (Viola) with Independent Shakespeare Company, “Prometheus Bound” (Chorus) directed by Travis Preston with CalArts Center for New Performance/ Getty Villa, and the title role of “Alcestis” directed by Nancy Keystone with Critical Mass Performance Group/ Theatre @ Boston Court. Other LA favorites include: “Camino Real” (Esmeralda) directed by Jessica Kubzansky at the Theatre @ Boston Court and “Jomama Jones: Radiate!” (Sweet Peach) at The Kirk Douglas Theatre. Opera roles include: “Both Eyes Open” (Catherine) with First Look Sonoma, “Light and Power” (Tesla) with wildUp at the Hammer Museum, “The Mortal Thoughts of Lady Macbeth” (Witch) directed by Yuval Sharon, as well as “Fairy Queen” (Hermia), “The Magic Flute” (Second Lady), “Winter’s Child/ Moth” (Bird), and “Dice Thrown” a chance operations opera by John King at CalArts. She is writing and performing in her own solo show this fall, “Letters from Home,” that will be produced by ISC with music by her father, Chinary Ung. She received her Master of Fine Arts in Acting from California Institute of the Arts and her Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of California at Santa Cruz. More news at www.kaleanung.com.
Tony Abatemarco
Barberini / Ensemble
Skylight Theatre Company’s Co-Artistic Director is an award-winning actor, director, writer, producer, and teacher. He is the author of ten plays, two of which are collaborative (BRAIN HOTEL, SIR VIVAL SWEEPSTAKES) produced at the Olympics Arts Festival & Mark Taper Forum respectively, while others have been seen at CTG’s New Works Festival & the Audrey Skirball Theatre. His latest plays are BEAUTIFIED and FOR-EVER HOUSE, which each received world premieres at Skylight. He is the recipient of two NEA Directing Fellowships, a DGA /SDC George Stevens Observership, and the first Ted Schmitt Memorial Award from Theatre LA, In 2009 He directed Robyn Peterson’s CATWALK CONFIDENTIAL at the Arts Theatre in London’s West End and in Miami. He directed Ms. Julie Harris in William Luce’s LUCIFER’S CHILD on Broadway and for A&E TV. He’s also directed at the Pasadena Playhouse, The Taper&Taper, Too, Santa Fe Stages, La Mama ETC, and Theatre Grévin in Paris. He won Lead Performance kudos for THE MYSTERY OF IRMA VEP at the Tiffany, RED at ICT Long Beach, BACH AT LEIPZIG at SCR, LA BETE at the John Anson Ford, SLOW MOTION at Stages & FOUR FATHERS, his original one-man show at the Tiffany, His opera credits include Mozart’s THE ABDUCTION FROM THE SERAGLIO (“Pasha”), Stravinsky’s SOLDIER’S TALE at Long Beach, and Bernstein’s WONDERFUL TOWN (“Appopolus”) at LA Opera and Reprise. He starred as ‘Salieri’ in the Pittsburgh Public Theatre production of AMADEUS & ‘Polonius’ in HAMLET at A Noise Within. Internationally, he starred in PLATO’S SYMPOSIUM at the ICA in London and The Getty, and in ELECTRA at the Int’l Socrates Festival in Delphi, Greece. His original short story, COLOGNE, was adapted and played Off Broadway/Rattlestick, & in LA, Santa Fe, and Miami. His story SCHWINN appeared in issue 4 of Bone-shaker. He has extensive film & tv credits, including guest spots on HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER, FRASIER, & E.R.
Maria Elena Altany
Ensemble
Upon her LA Opera debut as Susana in ¡Figaro! (90210), Opera News called Maria Elena Altany "delightfully smart and quicksilver." She has sung lead roles with contemporary opera company The Industry's productions of Anne LeBaron's Crescent City, Chris Cerrone's Invisible Cities, and Hopscotch: An Opera for 24 Cars, for which she was featured in The New Yorker. Recent appearances include the Najade in Ariadne auf Naxos with Pacific Opera Project, and soloist in the premiere of Rand Steiger's NIMBUS for the LA Philharmonic’s Green Umbrella series. Upcoming performances include at tribute to Yma Sumac in the Radical Women series at the Hammer Museum, and as Sinopa in LA Opera’s tour of The Marriage of Figueroa.
Stephen Beitler
Ensemble
Stephen Beitler is a storyteller. From telling the story of his own path, mixed with those who have come before, in creating FreeYogaTV; to telling other’s stories, both big and small. You may have seen him as Jameson on a motorcycle in Hopscotch, or Palleas in a box in Palleas et Melisande, and now is excited to be part of setting Galileo on fire! His work has been called "virtuosic-"–The New Yorker, "showstopping" – LA Weekly, "intoxicating" –TGTB, but he hopes if you are moved to more curiosity you will Google him, and say ‘hello.’ He has recently been seen in museums, theaters, under bridges, on screens around the world, and flying through the air or dancing with flames. He is the co-founder of the LA based Experimental Experiential Performing and Healing Arts collective; WeAreEfflorescence, where you will find him dancing on a cliff’s edge in their internationally acclaimed film: Dances for the End of the World. Stephen is fascinated by the human form and its myriad of ways of expressing itself.
David Castillo
Ensemble
DAVID CASTILLO is a New Orleans-native performing artist and producer who delivers "impassioned," (LA Times) "beautifully sung and confidently acted" (Opera News) performances in the US and Europe. Castillo collaborates on and creates many cutting edge projects in music and theatre. He is the Founder and Creative Director of Jukebox Castle, a company that harvests multi-sensory productions based on the immediate influences of Food + Music. Jukebox Castle created Seven Deadly Sins this past January and creates a show based on 1970s music and cuisine this October. Castillo launched world premieres with the LA Phil as Goethe in Louis Andriessen's Theatre of the World and in Steiger & Sharon’s NIMBUS, The Industry as Jameson in HOPSCOTCH (recorded/released on The Industry Records) and as Buck Barrow in McIntosh + Rice’s Bonnie and Clyde, the Los Angeles Opera (and later in his Off-Broadway & NY Debut) as Atzuko in Mozart+Guerrerio's ¡Figaro! (90210), the Los Angeles Master Chorale as King David in Kirchner's Songs of Ascent, the USC Fischer Museum in Parola's infinite self, and Loyola New Orleans in Skelton’s Letters to Santa. Highlights from his 2017 performing engagements include returns Off-Broadway in ¡Figaro! (90210) and to the Los Angeles Philharmonic in Yuval Sharon and Annie Gosfield’s War of the Worlds and to cover in Night and Dreams: A Schubert/Beckett Recital. He debuts with The Cleveland Orchestra in Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande with Maestro Franz Welser-Möst and Yuval Sharon, with Long Beach Opera in Rodríguez's Frida and collaborates with three dance companies: Luminario Ballet in Schubert's Winterreise, Mojacar Flamenco in Romance Sonambulo, and the American Contemporary Ballet in Le Fate in Italia. He performed West Coast premieres as the Title Role in Britten's Owen Wingrave and as Ferdinand in Hoiby's The Tempest. He made his European Debut in Paris with pianist Francois Chouchan performing Schubert's Winterreise, a work they previously performed in LA and New Orleans. On the screen, he has been featured on America's Got Talent and in commercials for Burger King, Heineken, and PicBot. Castillo graduated with Honors both from USC and Loyola New Orleans.
Nicholas LaGesse
Ensemble
Baritone Nicholas LaGesse has been hailed by The Huffington Post as "wonderful eye and ear candy." As a participant in the Martina Arroyo Foundation's Prelude to Performance program, he recently made his New York City debut as Marco in Gianni Schicchi and covered Morales in Carmen. His previous Los Angeles highlights include starring as Sheriff Danny Loewe [Count Danilo] in Pacific Opera Project's (POP) Western-themed The Merry Widow and Harlekin in the POP's Ariadne auf Naxos, and Jameson in the critically acclaimed, revolving location production of Hopscotch with the Industry.
He has been honored as a finalist in the Palm Springs Opera Guild Competition, the winner of the Chicago Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) Competition, and was a Bella Voce award recipient in the Bel Canto Foundation Competition. In addition his operatic endeavors, he is also a member of SAG-AFTRA and was previously on the dance faculty at Soho Dance Los Angeles, where he taught Bachata and studied under the tutelage of former world champion, Raul Santiago.
Gabriel Romero
Ensemble
Best known for his groundbreaking performance as Dr. Fernando Salazar in the award-winning Telemundo sitcom "Los Beltran", Gabriel is also a prolific voice over artist, has extensive credits as Host and Master of Ceremonies, and is President of LOVE & LIGHT INC., a spiritual entertainment company. Born and raised in Mexico City, Gabriel began acting and playing the piano at an early age. Other stage credits include the starring role in the international touring production of "The Ogreling" with 24th St. Theatre; Moises in "Seven Spots on the Sun" at Theatre@Boston Court; Rafas in "Zoot Suit" at San Diego Rep; and a crazy Reveler in The Industry's "Crescent City." He holds a BFA in Theatre - Stage Management from the University of Southern California and is ecstatic to be collaborating with Yuval and the amazing creative team at The Industry once again!
Zion Berry
Mathematician
Zion is thrilled to be making his debut with The Industry. Other credits include King George in American Revolution. Zion performs regularly as a solo and ensemble singer with Los Angeles Children’s Chorus and All Saints Episcopal Youth Choir. Current projects include Carmina Burana with the LA Master Chorale. He is also an accomplished cellist. When not on the stage, you can find him in the music room (or the living room), teaching himself to play a new musical instrument - growing his can-play list from his present seven.
Beckett Ledahl
Philosopher
Beckett has a lot on his plate at all times. Balancing the rigors of 7th grade with baseball, singing, acting, composing, creating zip lines, and shooting bottle caps, Beckett is a whirlwind. Beckett is in his third year as a member of the Mirman School Concert Singers and his eighth year singing with the Los Angeles Children’s Chorus. As a member of the Concert Choir of LACC, Beckett has had the honor of singing under the direction of such icons as Maestro Placido Domingo, Maestro James Conlon, John Williams, and Kobe Bryant, not to mention the incomparable artistic staff of LACC. Beckett’s stage performances include Pagliacci (LA Opera), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (A Noise Within’s Summer with Shakespeare), Annie and The Drowsy Chaperone (both with Mirman School). He is currently in rehearsals for the West Coast premiere of The Hubble Cantata, which has been described as “an unprecedented live experience that pushes the boundaries of arts and sciences” — just like the incredible Galileo!
The Galileo Musicians
Isaac Schankler
Accordion
Isaac Schankler is a composer, accordionist, and electronic musician living in Los Angeles. As an accordionist, he appeared in The Industry’s production of Hopscotch, and his playing can be heard on the Netflix series A Series of Unfortunate Events. As a composer, his 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’s recent performances and commissions include works for the Nouveau Classical Project, the Ray-Kallay Duo, Friction Quartet, gnarwhallaby, the Los Angeles Percussion Quartet, Lorelei Ensemble, Juventas New Music Ensemble, flutist Meerenai Shim, and bass-baritone Nicholas Isherwood. Recent honors include awards and grants from Meet the Composer, the National Opera Association, the American Composers Forum, the Atlantic Center for the Arts, and the American Prize. He is a past winner of the USC Sadye J. Moss Composition Prize and the ASCAP/Lotte Lehmann Foundation Art Song Competition. As a composer for video games, Schankler has written music for critically acclaimed and award-winning independent games, including Ladykiller in a Bind, Analogue: A Hate Story, Hate Plus, Redshirt, and Depression Quest. As a writer and researcher, Schankler has written numerous articles for NewMusicBox, the multimedia publication of New Music USA, and in 2013 was a winner of the ASCAP Deems Taylor Award for excellence in music journalism. His writing has also appeared in the International Journal of Arts and Technology, Computer Music Journal, and the proceedings of various international conferences. Schankler is the artistic director of the concert series People Inside Electronics. He 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. He is currently Assistant Professor of Music at Cal Poly Pomona, where he teaches composition, music technology, and music theory.
Benjamin Finley
Bass
Ben Finley grew up on a music farm in southern Ontario and now plays the bass, composes, and writes. He is interested in exploring improvisation and multi-stylistic compositional models for original ensembles. Ben’s primary performer-composer focus is developing a communicable network between written literary forms, philosophical insight and improvisation within a chamber music setting. Ben is also interested in the lifetime pursuit of attuned Bass playing which he explores in acoustic and electric environments through his primary instruments: the Double Bass and the Electric Bass tuned in 5ths and other alternate tunings. He is involved with a multitude of projects in Toronto and Los Angeles and is currently working on several upcoming album releases of original works including an affected electric bass and voice duo called Kat and Ben, who have recorded at Capitol Records, a stylistically diverse chamber music collective called Weaving Locus, who presented at the International Society of Improvising Musicians, a solo bass and voice project under the name Pluto Theremin, and a quartet of musicians from all over North America called the Desert Quill Quartet. Ben also enjoys teaching in the Los Angeles area with Double Bass masterclasses at CalArts and with organizations like the Youth Orchestra of Los Angeles. He completed his Masters in the Performer-Composer program at the California Institute of the Arts and his undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto in Music Performance and Philosophy.
Derek Stein
Cello
Described by the LA Times as “compellingly, vehemently virtuosic,” Derek Stein is a cellist whose active performance schedule knows virtually no bounds and is met with the same committed abandon he brings to his playing. Whether in the intimate intensity of a contemporary music concert, the rhythm section of an indie rock show, or in the cello section of an orchestra, his energetic and distinctive performing style can be heard in virtually any musical context and venue across Los Angeles and Southern California.
He can be heard on the GRAMMY-winning Bridge Records release Harry Partch: Plectra and Percussion Dances performing on the composer's unique invention, the Adapted Viola. His recorded playing can also be heard on a number of releases from Bedroom Community, Cold Blue, Populist, New World, Bôłt, and The Industry record labels.
Derek is a founding member of the new music ensembles gnarwhallaby and Trio Terroir, as well as the easily recognizable cellist with the critically acclaimed wild Up Modern Music Collective. As a contemporary classical musician, he has premiered hundreds of new works collaborating with some of the finest composers of our time. His flair for rock and pop styles can be heard in his work as both cellist and arranger with the Vitamin String Quartet. Derek has earned degrees in music performance from Arizona State University (BM) and the California Institute of the Arts (MFA).
Alison Bjorkedal
Harp
Alison Bjorkedal, harp, is a freelance GRAMMY award-winning musician who teaches and performs in the Los Angeles area. She has performed with the San Diego Symphony, Pasadena Symphony/Pops Orchestra, Long Beach Symphony, Long Beach Opera, Opera Santa Barbara and wildUP. Alison is harp faculty at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) and Azusa Pacific University, as well as being Music Appreciation faculty at Pasadena City College.
Named "excellent player" and "enterprising young harpist" by the LA Times for her chamber music performances, her world premieres include the music of William Kraft, Anne LeBaron, Unsuk Chin, and Wadada Leo Smith.
Her chamber recordings include Grammy winning Harry Partch "Plectra and Percussion Dances", plus Southwest Chamber Music's "Complete Chamber Music of Carlos Chávez, Volume 4" and William Kraft's "Encounters", both Latin-Grammy nominated. As part of Just Strings, she released "Harrison: Works for harp, guitar and percussion".
In the studio and stage, Alison has performed for artists including Sia, Madonna, Nate Ruess, Kid Cudi, and Mary J. Blige. She is active in the motion picture and television industry recording industry.
Alison was born and raised in Kennewick, WA. She earned her Masters and Doctorate of Musical Arts degree in harp performance from the USC Thornton School of Music and her Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Oregon.
Alison also plays the Kithara (an instrument created for the music of Harry Partch) with LA-based ensemble Partch. Partch's 2014 recording "Plectra and Percussion Dances" took home the 2014 GRAMMY for Best Classical Compendium.
Lizzie Upton
Horn
Praised by the Cleveland Plain Dealer for her “haunting sound,” horn player Elizabeth Upton has performed around the world, performing in operas, symphonies and chamber music concerts throughout North and South America, Europe and Asia. After growing up outside of Chicago, Illinois, she received her Bachelor of Music from Oberlin Conservatory studying with former principal horn of the St. Louis Symphony, Roland Pandolfi and her Master of Music from the Yale School of Music under the tutelage of renowned solo and chamber musician, William Purvis. Elizabeth then completed a Professional Studies Certificate at the Colburn School Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles, California where she studied with former principal horn of the San Francisco Symphony, David Krehbiel and the current principal horn of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Andrew Bain. As an orchestral performer, Upton has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and has appeared with the Macau Orchestra in China and Portugal and in Los Angeles as Principal Horn of the Debut Orchestra. Her summers have been spent playing at such festivals as Spoleto USA, Festival Mozaic, The Aspen Music Festival, Sarasota Music Festival, Banff Institute, Colorado College Music Festival, the Norfolk Chamber Festival and is a member of the Eastern Sierra Symphony each August in Mammoth, CA . Recently, she joined faculty at the Colburn School of the Performing Arts and teaches at the Jumpstart Young Musicians Program at Colburn.
Melinda Rice
Viola
Melinda Rice made one of her first appearances with The Industry in 2015 as (the viola-playing) one of the Luchas in Hopscotch. A graduate of The California Institute of the Arts and Sarah Lawrence College, she is also a member of wild Up, a former member of the Isaura String Quartet, and a violinist as well. In these and other roles she has performed and recorded numerous new and premier compositions, as well as releasing two albums of her own arrangements and original works. She wrote the libretto for Andrew McIntosh's opera, Bonnie and Clyde, which was given a concert workshop performance by The Industry in early 2017.
Adrianne Pope
Violin
Adrianne Pope is a violinist and sound maker based in Los Angeles. As an active chamber musician and promoter of new music, she is a member of the new music collective wild Up and a founding member of Aperture Duo. In addition to her chamber music projects, Adrianne spends her time as a freelance musician, soloist, and Teaching Artist at The Harmony Project.
She has premiered countless new works and has had the privilege to work closely with composers including Stephen Rush, Steve Reich, Julia Wolfe, Michael Gordon, Yehudi Wyner, Martin Bresnick, and David Lang. Her love of new works has sparked her enthusiasm for interdisciplinary collaboration. She has collaborated with dancers, visual artists, writers, and the University of Michigan’s hockey team on new works.
Adrianne holds a Bachelor’s degree from the Boston Conservatory, and Master’s degrees in Violin Performance and Chamber Music from the University of Michigan. Her primary teachers include Andrew Jennings of the Concord String Quartet, Yehonatan Berick of the Los Angeles Piano Quartet, and Sharan Leventhal of the Gramercy Trio.
Matt Barbier
Trombone
Matt Barbier is an LA based trombonist and composer focused on experimental intonation, noise, and the physical processes of his instrument. His playing has been described by the LA Times as being "of intense, brilliant, virtuosic growling that gave the striking impression that Barbier was dismantling the instrument while playing it." To encourage new repertoire and the expansion of his instrument, Matt engages in collaborative relationships with a range of composers including Wolfgang von Schweinitz, Michelle Lou, Nicholas Deyoe, Andrew Greenwald, Timothy McCormack, Elise Roy, and Ulrich Krieger. He has also given world premieres of works by Marc Sabat, Richard Barrett, James Tenney, Jürg Frey, and David Rosenboom. He is a member of the low brass duo, RAGE Thormbones, with Weston Olencki, gnarwhallaby, Trio Kobayashi, wildUp, and is an assistant director of wasteLAnd music. Matt is on the performing arts faculty at CalArts and teaches trombone and euphonium at Los Angeles City College (LACC). Matt has performed for the Monday Evening Concerts, LA Phil's Green Umbrella, Darmstadt Music Course, Dartington International Summer School, Hamburg's KlangWerkTage and Kampnagel, Berlin's 7Hours, and the Palimpsest Ensemble, as well as presenting guest lectures at CalArts, UCSD, UCSB, University of British Columbia, and Simon Fraser University. In addition to completing residencies at Harvard, Stanford, CalArts, UCSD, UCSC, and UCLA, Matt has upcoming residencies at Columbia and NYU. He has recorded works for release of Populist, Mode, Hat Hut, and Innova Records. His trombone teachers include Rick Stout, Jim Miller, Michael Svoboda, Alex Iles and Dick Erb. He studied composition with Ulrich Krieger and Wolfgang von Schweinitz. Matt has received degrees from the Cleveland Institute of Music, NOCCA, and CalArts, with additional studies at the Internationales Musikinstitut Darmstadt (IMD).
Dustin McKinney
Trumpet
Dustin McKinney is a Los Angeles-based trumpet player and teacher. As a freelancer he has played with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, Pacific Symphony, and Los Angeles Opera. Mr. McKinney joined the Santa Barbara Symphony as second trumpet in 2014 and has been principal trumpet of the Golden State Pops Orchestra since 2005. As a studio musician, his recent credits include X-Men: Apocalypse and Logan.
Dustin currently serves as adjunct professor of trumpet at Pepperdine University in Malibu and Occidental College in Los Angeles. Originally from Des Moines, Iowa, Dustin attended DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois where he studied with Matt Lee and John Hagstrom.
Mona Tian
Violin
Mona is an original member of Red Coral string quartet, appointed by Jazz composer and trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith. Mona is currently touring Smith’s Pulitzer award finalist Ten Freedom Summers. She has performed with Pacific Symphony, Santa Barbara Symphony, Opera Santa Barbara, WildUp, Wordless Music NYC, Grammy Award-winning ensemble Southwest Chamber Music, the Flux Quartet, Bill T Jones Dance company, Martha Graham Dance Company, International Contemporary Ensemble and with musicians such as Timothy Fain, Sarah Chang, Kamasi Washington, Miguel Atwood Ferguson, Irvine Arditti, Nathan Cole and many more. Mona has performed widely, including the Walt Disney Concert Hall (Los Angeles), Lincoln Center (NYC), Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Zipper Hall, Staples Center, Mostra SESC de Artes (Sāo Paulo), Roulette Theater (NYC), Congress Center Saalfelden (Austria), Pritzker Pavilion (Chicago), Segerstrom Center for the Arts, Atlas Theater (D.C.), Granada Theater (Santa Barbara). Mona is also an active session musician in Los Angeles and has recorded over 50 projects just in the last year, including Transformers 5, League of Legends, Halo Wars 1&2, An Inconvenient Truth Sequel: Truth To Power, Luke Cage (Netflix), Dear White People (Netflix series).
Sandbox Percussion
Lauded by The Washington Post as “revitalizing the world of contemporary music” with “jaw-dropping virtuosity,” Sandbox Percussion has established themselves as a leading proponent in this generation of contemporary percussion chamber music. Brought together by their love of chamber music and the simple joy of playing together, Sandbox Percussion captivates audiences with performances that are both visually and aurally stunning. Through compelling collaborations with composers and performers, Jonathan Allen, Victor Caccese, Ian Rosenbaum and Terry Sweeney seek to engage a wider audience for classical music. Last season Sandbox Percussion presented 35 performances throughout the United States. During a tour through California they gave the world premiere of Thomas Kotcheff’s percussion quartet not only that one but that one & that too, and were presented on the Festival of New American Music in Sacramento, CA. In collaboration with Ensemble HOWL they gave the world premiere of Amy Beth Kirsten’s Quixote at Montclair State University’s Peak Performances concert series. During the American Music Festival at the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Center (EMPAC) in Troy, NY, Sandbox gave the world premiere of a concerto by Viet Cuong entitled Re(new)al along with the Albany Symphony. During the festival they also gave a recital which featured works by American composers Steve Reich, Christopher Cerrone, and David Crowell. This season Sandbox will collaborate with The Industry, an opera company in Los Angeles, for the world premiere of Galileo, a 90-minute theatre piece by Andy Akiho. Other highlights will include a performance of Jerome Begin’s Wilderness in collaboration with the Brian Brooks Moving Company at Choregus Productions in Tulsa, OK, the first ever percussion quartet concert at the Cosmos Club in Washington, DC, a performance of Gyorgy Ligeti’s Síppal, </em dobbal, nádihegedüvel with mezzo-soprano Elspeth Davis at the Percussion Arts Society International Convention in Indianapolis, IN, and a second west coast tour including 11 performances from Seattle to Los Angeles. Sandbox Percussion endorses Pearl/Adams musical instruments, Vic Firth drumsticks and Remo drumheads.