Gabriel Mălăncioiu |The coexistence of intuition and reason in the formation of the composer Gabriel Mălăncioiu (born in 1979 in Brașov) is due to the graduation of both the Faculty of Automatics and Computers and the Faculty of Music and Theater from Timișoara. In addition to the decisive influence of Maestro Remus Georgescu – the one who initiated him in the study of musical composition, during his master’s and doctoral studies at the Gheorghe Dima National Academy of Music in Cluj-Napoca, he met important personalities such as Cornel Ţăranu, Adrian Pop, Valentin Timaru and Eduard Tereny.

Gabriel Mălăncioiu’s music has been presented to audiences on five continents in over 270 concerts, performed by prestigious ensembles such as Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart, the Slovenian Chamber Choir or the Aventure ensemble, by performers such as Florian Mueller, Gudrun Hinze or Richard Craig, by conductors such as Michael Wendeberg, Huba Hollókői or Martina Batič. Composer Corneliu Dan Georgescu remarked that Gabriel Mălăncioiu is “one of the most active personalities, a confident and very original voice in the contemporary musical landscape”. His scores are published by Universal Edition.

Gabriel Mălăncioiu is a member of the Union of Romanian Composers and Musicologists, of the Executive Committee of ISCM – Romanian section – and of some international music organizations such as Vox Novus (USA), La Villa des Compositeurs (France/Italy), Temp’ora (France), Access Contemporary Music (USA), Society of Composers (USA). Gabriel Mălăncioiu is currently teaching Modern composition techniques, Orchestration and Musical Analysis at the West University of Timişoara, Faculty of Music and Theater.

Kathryn Knowles | Kathryn Knowles is a composer, cellist, conductor, and writer from Inverary, Ontario and currently based in Toronto, Ontario. Her musical works have been played in workshops by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the New Orford String Quartet, and the Penderecki String Quartet. 

Kathryn is interested in multidisciplinary artistic exchange, and in exploring the creative process. She holds a Bachelor of Music and a Master of International Business from Queen’s University, as well as a Master in Music Composition from the University of Toronto where she was awarded the Joseph Armand Bombardier Canadian Graduate Scholarship. During her time at U of T, Kathryn initiated and led the creation of an annual interdisciplinary conference to showcase artistic creation-based research known as the Multidisciplinary Creative Conference. 

In addition to her work as a composer and writer, Kathryn is a Centre Director with Sistema Toronto, the Music Director of Music4Life String Orchestra, and the Founder of Mad Endeavour. Kathryn is a strong advocate for the accessibility and appreciation of music and art in today’s society and she values the constant pursuit and celebration of knowledge. 

Daryl Jamieson | Daryl Jamieson (b.1980) is from Halifax, Nova Scotia. He studied at Wilfrid Laurier University with Glenn Buhr and Linda Catlin Smith, the Guildhall School of Music and Drama with Diana Burrell, and then with Nicola LeFanu at the University of York. He has lived in Japan since 2006, first studying under Jo Kondo at the Tokyo University of the Arts. He is currently an assistant professor of composition at Kyushu University, and his music is published by Da Vinci Edition, Osaka, and the Canadian Music Centre.

Jamieson’s work explores time and place, and is heavily influenced by nō theatre and Japanese poetry. One of his largest works is a trilogy of musical theatre pieces called the Vanitas

Series, which received the 2018 Toshi Ichiyanagi Contemporary Prize. In his citation, Ichiyanagi called the Vanitas Series ‘an epic musical work of extraordinarily elegance and contemporary topical perspective’. Jamieson’s other pieces include solo, chamber and orchestral works, and many songs. Since 2016 he has begun to incorporate field recordings and site-specific projects into his work, particularly in his ongoing utamakura and Decants series. His music has been performed around the world by many artists, including the Quatuor Bozzini, the Thin Edge New Music Collective, Muromachi Ensemble, and Satoko Inoue.

He founded the intercultural musical theatre company Atelier Jaku in 2013. He is also active as a researcher, writing on aesthetics of the Kyoto School and Buddhist philosophy, as well as contemporary music and spirituality. He has received grants and awards from the Canada Council for the Arts, among others.

D. Edward Davis |D. Edward Davis is a composer whose work engages with the sounds of the environment, exploring processes, patterns, and systems inspired by nature. His pieces have recently been presented at the CEMIcircles Festival of Experimental Music and Intermedia in Denton, TX (2019), the Boston Microtonal Society (2018), the Third Practice Electroacoustic Music Festival in Richmond, VA (2017), the EcoSono Environmental Music and Sound Art Festival in Anchorage, AK (2017), and the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, MA (2016). His work has been performed by F-PLUS, a.pe.ri.od.ic, Polyorchard, [Switch~ Ensemble], Verdant Vibes, Occasional Symphony, No Exit New Music, Musica Nova, Callithumpian Consort, and many othe

rs. Davis holds degrees in composition from Duke University, Brooklyn College, and Northwestern University. His former teachers include Antoine Beuger, John Supko, Amnon Wolman, David Grubbs, Amy Williams, and Michael Pisaro. Davis currently lives in New Haven, CT, where he teaches at the University of New Haven.

Juro Kim Feliz |With music “[thriving] in the sustained tension, like the kinetic energy emanating from the corners of a frame, the opposing forces holding up a house” (Rachel Chiong, 2022), Toronto-based composer Juro Kim Feliz has presented his work across Southeast Asia, North America, and Europe. Born in the Philippines, he studied composition at the University of the Philippines and McGill University under Jonas Baes and Melissa Hui. Other mentors include composers Liza Lim, Linda Catlin Smith, and Japanese koto artists Hiroko Nagai and Masayo Ishigure. Since winning the Goethe Southeast Asian Young Composer Award (2009), Feliz received commissions and performances from artists including Continuum Contemporary Music, Liminar, Thin Edge New Music Collective, Ensemble x.y, Marilène Provencher-Leduc, Wesley Shen, and Renee Fajardo. He received a “Highly Commended” distinction award for Hanggang sa Paglubog ng Araw at the Ars

Electronica Forum Wallis (2018) and was nominated for the “Excellence Award in Music and Entertainment” at the Golden Balangay Awards (2019) in Canada. Commercial releases include Gandingan sa Kagiliran in the compilation album “Millennial Masters Vol. 7” (Ablaze Records, 2017) and Hanggang sa Takipsilim in “Mind & Machine Vol. 4” (Ravello Records, 2022).