Ink Still Wet

Christian-Frédéric Bloquert is a French composer & conductor noted for his subtle and innovative uses of colour and orchestration, and his attention to detail. His music has been played by such groups as the Ensemble InterContemporain, Les Siècles, the MIVOS Quartet, the Juilliard Symphony, National Sawdust, the Society for New Music, and the PHACE Ensemble amongst others. He was most recently awarded the Pisar Prize. 

As a conductor, Bloquert often premieres works by fellow composers and is the Music Director & Co-founder of the BeComEnsemble.

Alexander Papp is a 24 year old UK based composer whose works have been performed in prestigious venues such as the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, St John’s Smith Square and the Purcell Room, Southbank Centre. He has worked with artists such as Flow Unit 3, the Carice Singers, Ensemble 10/10, the London Chamber Orchestra and has had his music broadcasted on BBC Radio 3’s New Music Show.

Alex’s works have also been performed internationally, in Solsona, Catalonia with cellist Gerard Flotats Boix and in Piacenza, Italy at the Conservatorio Nicolini. He has also collaborated with the Brandenburgishes Staatsorchester Frankfurt Oder and conductor Howard Griffiths, where his orchestral music has been used and recorded for educational projects. As a participant in the Riot Ensemble Art Mentorship Scheme, his new double concerto is to be recorded at Deutschlandfunk Köln in 2025.

He has attended festivals such as Dartington Music Summer School and Cheltenham Music Festival Composium as well as having lessons/masterclasses from renowned names such as Augusta Read Thomas, Brett Dean, Daniel Kidane, Hans Abrahamsen, Hannah Kendall, and Nico Muhly.

Alex currently holds a WH and George Myddleton Award scholarship to study composition at the Royal Academy of Music with Philip Cashian and Rubens Askenar, kindly supported by the Ralph Vaughan Williams Foundation and the Countess of Munster Musical Trust.

Pablo Domínguez Pérez is a Spanish composer born in Carrión de Calatrava (Ciudad Real) in 2000.

He began his studies at the Professional Conservatory of Music, graduating with the highest honors in the euphonium discipline in 2017, studying composition under Professor Fernando Villanueva. 

Between 2018 and 2020, he studied composition at MUSIKENE (Donostia) with Professor Gabriel Erkoreka.

Since 2020, he has been studying at the Reina Sofía School of Music under Professor Fabián Panisello, earning a Master's degree in Dramatic Composition and Instrumental Ensemble in 2024. He also studied conducting with Professor Baldur Brönnimann from 2020 to 2022.

During his time at the Reina Sofía School of Music, he was awarded the Diploma for the Most Outstanding Student of his chair in 2022, presented by Her Majesty Queen Sofía of Spain.

He has participated in workshops and masterclasses with composers such as Kaija Saariaho, Tristan Murail, Heinz Holliger, Jörg Widmann, Stefan Prins, Alessandro Solbiati, Ramon Lazkano, and Daniel D’Adamo.

His works have been performed at festivals such as the XI Encuentros Sonoros Festival, the XII Spanish Contemporary Music Days, the IX Rafel Festival, and Il suono dei parchi e dei laghi del Piemonte by various instrumental groups and performers, including Pluralensemble, the Extremadura Orchestra, the Ensemble Contemporary Piedmont Academy, Bruno Vlahek, and Donatienne Michel-Dansac.

Kai Johannes Polzhofer, one of the most aspiring Austrian conductors and composers in his generation and made recently his debut with the Danish Philharmonic Orchestra (after graduating from National Soloist Class under Michael Schønwandt). Invitations to high-ranking masterclasses through personal selection and conducting awards by a.o. Paavo and Neeme Järvi, Jorma Panula as well Daniele Gatti). He further completed his studies in Composition in early age with a Doctorate at Harvard University where he received a full scholarship under the guidance of Chaya Czernowin. He worked with Steven Takasugi after prior studies in Graz (with Klaus Lang) and Leipzig (with Claus-Steffen Mahnkopf, Wolfram Schurig). Several national and international awards and stipends.

Assistant conductor at Bavarian State Opera Munich, German Opera on the Rhine, Kai Johannes Polzhofer has been invited by and worked with soloists, chorus and orchestra of Opera Gothenburg, Mariinsky Theatre, Odense Symphony Orchestra, Aarhus Symphony, ensemble gageego! (New Music Ensemble of Gothenburg Symphony), Solistenensemble Kaleidoskop (Berlin), Aalborg Symphonic Orchestra as well Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra. His compositions were premiered a.o. by internationally renown ensembles as JACK Quartet, Ensemble Mosaik, Elision Ensemble, Ensemble Recherche, Mivos Quartett, Parker Quartet, Ensemble Dal Niente and are published by Edition Gravis.

Kai Johannes Polzhofer is passionate about bringing classical music to the next generation and founded a.o. in 2015 with Karen Cueva the DuBois Orchestra Harvard (a symphony orchestra – he served as Music Director for – creating diverse and progressive platforms for symphonic initiatives to fight racism, sexism and social injustice with and through classical music.) Kai Johannes Polzhofer is equally passionate about bringing contemporary arts to society and therefore initiated forma Leipzig (Dialogue between New Music and contemporary literature).

The premiere of his new orchestra piece «Eurydike weeps» marks the first work with an Austrian symphony orchestra after his return to Vienna.

Zihan Wu (b.2001) is a Chinese composer and pianist. Her music is often praised for her sophisticated and imaginative crafts of personal soundscapes.

She has collaborated with ensembles including Meitar Ensemble, Divertimento Ensemble, JACK Quartet, Fabrik Quartet, Ensemble Court-Circuit, Improta Ensemble, Yale Philharmonia, Eastman Musica Nova Ensemble, Eastman School Symphony Orchestra, Ossia New Music Ensemble, and among others with performances across the North America, Europe, and Asia. Her works have been featured in the 2024 Rondò Season in Milan and CEME Festival, and will be programmed for the 2025 ECLAT Festival in Stuttgart. She has been selected as a composition fellow at festivals including DeGaetano Composition Institute by the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Aspen International Music Festival, Barcelona Modern International Composition Workshop, International Workshop for Young Composers, Bowdoin International Music Festival, New Music On the Point, and Bei-jing International Composition Workshop.

Her works have won several prizes including 1st prize in the 10th Matan Givol International Com-posers Competition; winner of 1st Call for Scores - Biennale “Annamaria Strano”; 1st prize in the MaestrosVision Award International Composition Competition; 1st prize in the 9th Beijing Interna-tional Composition Workshop; 3rd prize in the Improta Ensemble Composition Competition, East-man Student Composition Award, and among others.

Currently based in New Haven, CT, Zihan is pursuing her Master of Music in composition at Yale School of Music, studying with Martin Bresnick, Aaron Jay Kernis, Katherine Balch, and Chris-topher Theofanidis. She completed her BM degree at Eastman School of Music, double majoring in composition and piano, after graduating from Music Middle School Affiliated to the Shanghai Con-servatory of Music. She has previously studied with Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez, Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, Robert Morris, David Liptak, Matthew Barber, and Qing Shao, and received guidance from composers such as Hèctor Parra, Daniel D’adamo, Philippe Leroux, Sarah Nemstov, Mauro Lanza, among others outside the school. Her piano teachers include Douglas Humpherys, Vincent Lenti, Melvin Chen, and Xiangjun Yu.