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Sharneisha Joyner:
Known for her writing of picturesque music, Sharneisha Joyner is an American-born composer, conductor, and flutist.
The recipient of a Master of Music in Composition for Screen from the Royal College of Music, Sharneisha is an emerging composer whose works have received international performances and recognition.
As an RCM Scholar, Joyner has had her works featured in the RCM Screen Composers Showcase, conducted film score recording sessions, and collaborated with over a dozen unique and emerging directors from all over the United Kingdom and the United States. Her studies with composers Vasco Hexel, Dimitri Scarlato, and Enrica Sciandrone have strengthened her vivid composition techniques and clarified the voice that her compositions share.
Joyner’s music was recently credited as a finalist for Best Original Score in the 2024 New York Animation Film Festival for her score in Floccinoci and Tip, produced by Fountain Pen Productions. 2025 has featured Sharneisha’s works, which have premiered at 3 different National conferences and 2 music festivals across the United States.
Future projects include an upcoming wind band commission consortium opening in October of 2025, a chamber music commission consortium in 2026, and her first posting as an honor clinic clinician.
www.sharjcomposer.com
Kat Farley:
Kat Farley is a singer-songwriter, composer, arranger, and flautist based in Durham, NC. She finds inspiration in folk, jazz, blues, and Americana and loves to explore the intersection of different genres in her compositions.
She received her Master's of Music (M.M.) in Jazz Studies (Composition) at North Carolina Central University, graduating with honors, and is currently pursuing a doctoral degree (D.M.A., Composition) at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
https://katfarley.com
Kevin Charoensri:
Kevin Charoensri is a Thai-American composer, pianist, conductor, and arts advocate based in San Diego, CA. Described by The Washington Post as offering a “bristling musical response,” his music seeks to transcend the score, often centering stories from historically marginalized communities, particularly within the AAPI community. Beyond composition, Kevin is an active voice for the arts and representation, having appeared on CNN and podcasts to speak about cultural advocacy and youth leadership in music.
Kevin made his international debut at the Sydney Opera House in June 2018, conducting his original work Return, which was recognized by the San Diego Union Tribune. Since then, he has held composer residencies at institutions such as UCLA, Texas Tech University, University of Delaware, Cal State Fullerton, Cal State Long Beach, and with ensembles including The Brooklyn Wind Symphony and the Pacific Symphony Youth Ensembles. His works have been performed in notable halls such as the Sydney Opera House, Carnegie Hall, and Cornell’s Bailey Hall. His composition Rising Light—a musical response to post-COVID Asian hate—was programmed by “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band and received national media attention.
As an educator, Kevin has guest conducted the Pacific Symphony Youth Concert Band and led composition masterclasses at Cal State Fullerton, Texas Tech, and numerous high schools. His teaching emphasizes outreach, mentorship, and self-advocacy, often working closely with underrepresented students to empower the next generation of artists.
Kevin began his formal compositional education in 2019 at the Cleveland Institute of Music’s Summer Festival, later being selected for the San Francisco Conservatory of Music’s summer composition program. He studied privately with Dr. Jules Pegram and Dr. Dan Temkin before completing his BM in Music Composition at The University of Texas at Austin under Omar Thomas, Dr. Donald Grantham, and Dr. Yevgeniy Sharlat. His works were premiered by the University of Texas Bands under Dr. Ryan Kelly and Dr. Cliff Croomes, and he studied conducting with Dr. Mike Lebrias. He also performed as pianist with the UT Jazz Ensemble under Dr. John Mills and studied jazz piano with Dr. Ross Margitza. In Fall 2025, Kevin will begin his MM in Music Composition at Michigan State University with Dr. Zhou Tian and Dr. David Biedenbender.
His artistic portfolio spans orchestra, wind ensemble, chamber, choral, jazz, film, and popular music. From 2019–2021, he contributed to the Los Angeles pop scene as a producer, ghostwriter, and engineer, helping projects accumulate nearly 300,000 streams across platforms. At twenty-two, Kevin continues to blend genres and bridge Asian and American cultures through music, fusing his artistic pursuits with his commitment to arts advocacy.
https://www.kevin-c-music.com/
Kai Clemans
Kai Clemans (they/he) is currently pursuing Masters Degrees in Music Education and Violin Performance at UNCG. They earned a Bachelor's of Music in Music Education from Western Michigan University. After graduating, they taught 5th-12th grade string orchestra in Battle Creek, Michigan. Mx. Clemans currently teaches private violin and viola lessons at Moore Music Company. They also previously taught with the Piedmont Learning Academy for Youth, an El Sistema type program run by the Winston-Salem Symphony. As an educator, Mx. Clemans is passionate about creating an inclusive space for all students to thrive. They create custom arrangements of songs for their students and use integrative accommodations to assist in the music learning process. In their spare time, Mx. Clemans loves crocheting, gardening, baking, cooking, playing music with friends, and playing ukulele.
https://www.youtube.com/@KaiClemansStringTeacher
Amy Ian Hardemon:
Amy Ian Hardemon (she/her) is a composer, clarinetist, and poet based in North Carolina. Her artistry is at the intersection of queerness, neurodivergence, and social justice, offering unique and challenging perspectives within her works. As an improvising performer, Amy Ian’s music seeks to expand upon “improvisation as queer becoming” and allows a more collaborative relationship between composer and performer; many of her works feature improvisation through text, figures, and art that is both diegetic and open to interpretation. Amy Ian believes that art and life is best practiced as a form of deepening love for what moves you and makes you more curious.
https://www.youtube.com/@amyianhardemon8648
Nathan Dumrongthai:
Nathan Dumrongthai (b. 2005) is a Thai conductor and composer whose musical influence has stemmed from many different aspects of his life. Dumrongthai started writing at the age of 12 and has written music primarily for chamber ensembles; however has also written works for string orchestra, choir, ballet, game, and film scores. Other than composing, he is classically trained in piano (starting at age 5) and cello (at age 10) and has participated in numerous local and international music competitions.
Dumrongthai's love for music stems from its collaborative nature, a value he holds dear. Over the years, his musical journey has been marked by numerous collaborations and performances. In 2018, he formed a chamber group named "Classic at the Disco" with his middle school peers, delving into the arrangement of pop medleys. Transitioning into high school in 2022, he established the "Tan Band," a jazz combo showcasing his jazz arrangements and originals. In 2024, he was appointed as the conductor of the University of Texas at Austin’s student Engineering Chamber Orchestra (EChO), an experience that is a testament to his ongoing growth as a musician.
Dumrongthai is currently pursuing a bachelor’s in music composition at UT Austin.
https://www.youtube.com/@nathandumrongthai
Sarah Martin:
Sarah is a composer from North Carolina and is currently attending University of North Carolina School of the Arts' High School program for Composition. She also sings, plays piano and guitar, and likes writing music of various genres just for fun.
https://sarahgmartin.carrd.co/
Clayton Trumbull:
Clayton Trumbull (b.2002) is a queer, transgender, American composer, violist, and optimist from Saratoga Springs, NY.
His music is cathartic, often incorporating his original poetry, empathetic and emotional presentation of struggle, contrast of comfort and discomfort through tonality, modality, and non-tonality, as well as his own passion for community and interpersonal connection. Exploring nature, heartbreak, self-discipline, relationship with the past self, materialism, queer lifestyle, and other deeply intimate and personal themes through music and poetry with the goal of genuine expression is ever present in his uniquely bittersweet, nostalgic sound. He believes that seeking to create a better, more just world for everyone can be done through art and expression, and composition is his vehicle.
He is currently pursuing a M.M. in Composition at the Pennsylvania State University, studying with Baljinder Sekhon II, Sarah Genevieve Burghart Rice, and Timothy Deighton. He received a Professional Performance Certificate in Composition from PSU in 2025, and a B.M. in Music Composition from the Eastman School of Music in 2024.
claytontrumbull.com
Talia Berenbaum:
A native of Denver, Colorado, Talia Berenbaum is a composer and freelancer based out of Rochester, New York. Her music draws on many sources, combining the avant-garde, Jewish folk music, and traditional European classical music. Her music has been performed by the Eastman Philharmonia, the Lilac Brass Quintet, and at festivals such as New Music on The Point and the 2022 Women in Music Festival in Rochester, and she has received commissions from OSSIA and the Sunrise Duet. Talia has studied composition with Elizabeth Ogonek, Daniel Pesca, Robert Morris, Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez, and Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, and trombone with Mark Kellogg, Tim Smith, and Paul Naslund.
A jack of all trades, Talia can be found performing in a variety of settings, including orchestras, new music ensembles, and klezmer bands. She regularly appears with groups like OSSIA, Musica Nova, and the Eastman Wind Ensemble, premiers new works, and freelances in the Finger Lakes region. She is also a founding member of YENTA, an all-women klezmer ensemble serving the Rochester community, which was invited to perform at the Rochester Music Hall of Fame in January 2025. Her wards include First Alternate in the 2025 ATW Solo Competition (Bass Trombone) the Bernard Rogers Memorial Prize, the Belle Gitelman Award, and honorable mention in the Israel-Pellman Prize. She holds a BM in Composition and Trombone Performance with High Distinction from the Eastman School of Music and works towards an MM in Composition there now.
In addition to her work as a musician, Talia enjoys hiking, crocheting, and spending time with her dog, Sava.
https://www.taliaberenbaum.com
Reyna Alston:
Reyna Alston an African American composer, conductor, and educator based in North Carolina. She writes music for both instrumental and vocal ensembles, with a special interest in creating pieces that are imaginative and accessible to performers of all levels.
Her compositions have been performed across the United States and Europe, and she is passionate about writing music that supports developing musicians. Reyna is a former public school orchestra director in Guilford County, where she taught advanced high school string students while pursuing her graduate studies.
She holds degrees in Vocal Performance, Composition, and Choral Conducting from High Point University and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her academic research explores the connections between theology and music, particularly in the works of J.S. Bach and Felix Mendelssohn.
Reyna currently serves as Assistant Conductor of the Duke University Chorale and Director of Music at United Church of Chapel Hill. She also maintains an active schedule as a composer, professional choral singer, and guest clinician. Her music is known for its rhythmic and harmonic richness, creating space for performers of all ages to engage deeply with the music.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/reyna-alston-a5b7ba1ab/
William Jae:
William Jae is a composer and pianist whose work spans concert music and film scores. A Los-Angeles native, his music seeks to explore his personal upbringing in Koreatown and combine it with his fascination in psychology, storytelling, nature as well as the arts and sciences. His music is inspired from a broad array of styles such as classical music, jazz, rock, hip hop, popular music and non-Western music. From 2018 to 2020, he was the recipient of the Herbert Zipper Scholarship, which allowed him to study music tuition-free at the Colburn School of Music. From 2019 to 2020, he was a fellow at the Composer Fellowship Program where he was mentored by renowned composers such as Andrew Norman, Sarah Gibson, and Thomas Kotcheff. During his time as a fellow, William premiered his first string trio, Alabaster Wool, at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. During the pandemic, William became the recipient of the Jack Kent Cooke Young Artists Award and made his From the Top debut in Blanket Fort 2. In that same year, he was also a semi-finalist in the 2020 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composers Award. In 2021, William scored his first independent feature film in Rochester, which has received several accolades at various film festivals. William has had his works performed by notable ensembles such as the Lyris Quartet, OSSIA, Bergamot Quartet, Norfolk New Music Ensemble, Salastina and the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble. In 2024, He was the composer-in-residence at Millay Arts where he has worked on several concert pieces for future announcements. Recently, William won first prize for the Society for Chamber Music in Rochester Composition Competition for Fragile Dreams and was programmed in their 2024/2025 season. William is a graduate at the Eastman School of Music and University of Rochester where he earned a BM in Music Composition and a BA in Psychology. He is also the former founder and artistic director of a student-run chamber orchestra at Eastman. Currently, William is a mentee at Grammy U, a mentorship program for young, rising artists and will be heading to the Shepherd School of Music at Rice to pursue a master’s degree in music composition.
https://www.sgsymphony.org/composers/william-jae
Andrea Rivera-Luna:
Andrea is a Peruvian-American educator, composer, and saxophonist based in New Haven, CT. She is currently the band director at Saint Martin de Porres Academy, a middle school in New Haven specifically designed for low-income students and their families. Additionally, Andrea is the assistant band director for Trumbull High School Golden Eagle Marching Band, as well as assistant band director for the Danbury Music Centre Summer Band Program. Her compositions have been performed and/or showcased in several contexts, including the 2020 "a very small consortium" concert hosted by University of Wisconsin - Green Bay, the 2022 "output~" concert hosted by the Eastman Audio Research Studio (now renamed Electroacoustic Music Studios at Eastman), and as a winner of the 2022 ScoreFollower Call For Scores. Outside of music, Andrea loves to spend time with her dogs, Rosie, Ruthie, and Buzz.
arl-music.com
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