Percussion
Chris Graham is an international new music musician living and working in New York City. Chris has consistently worked and performed with notable groups such as Newband, Ear to Mind, Talujon Percussion, Mantra Percussion, and is a founding member and director of Iktus Percussion; as well as co-principal percussionist for Ensemble Moto Perpetuo. He has commissioned and premiered works by established composers such as Charles Wuorinen, Martin Bresnick, Michael Gordon, Philippe Manoury, Franco Donatoni, Philippe Hurel, Mauricio Kagel, Ron Ford, Michel Vander Aa, Hugo Morales, Gerard Grisey, Harry Partch, John Luther Adams, Lisa R. Coons, Daniel Wohl, Jenny Olivia Johnson, Angelica Negron, Sebastian Armoza, Mathew Welch, Philip Schuessler, Levy Lorenzo, Matt Hough, Joe DiPonio, Brian Jacobs, Aaron Siegel, Ted Herne, Tristan Perich, Inhyun Kim, Jen Wang, Joseph Waters, Stephan Weisman, and Billy Martin (of Medeski, Martin, and Wood), among others.
In addition to his preforming credits, Chris organizes and curates concerts in NYC working closely with young up-and-coming new music ensembles such as, Mivos String Quartet, Loadbang Ensemble, Yarn Wire, Either/Or Ensemble, thingNY, Varispeed, Panapoly Performance Lab, Ensemble Pamplemousse, Elevator Rose, Cadillac Moon Ensemble, Duo Orfeo, and Concert Black. He has co-organized several performances for Issue Project Room's "Gaudeamus Muzieweek New York" and "Darmstadt Series", receiving critical acclaim in 2010 from TimeOut New York as one of the top ten concerts of the year performing Karlheinz Stockhausen's epic works, Mikrophonie and Kontakte.
As an artist-in-residence he has taught at Suny Purchase and Cuny Brooklyn College, working with both student percussion ensembles and student composers. He is the director of the Stony Brook pre-college percussion ensemble and is on faculty at Suffolk Community College. He received a Bachelors of Music and Performers Certificate from SUNY Purchase College, Masters of Music from Stony Brook University, where he is currently a candidate in the Doctoral of the Musical Arts program. Previous teachers include Raymond DesRoches, Dominic Donato, Tom Kolor, Joseph Pereira, and Eduardo Leandro.
Piano
Dr. Brianna Matzke's dynamic pianism shows “a sense of refinement, flair, and technical prowess” (clevelandclassical.com). An avid performer and commissioner of new music, she has collaborated with many composers, including Michael Fiday, Elliot Cole, Marc Mellits, Mark Mothersbaugh, Douglas Knehans, Molly Joyce, Alexandra Du Bois, D. J. Sparr, Nate May, Tyler Eschendahl, Dylan Sheridan, Stephanie Ann Boyd, Paul Schuette, Danny Clay, Jennifer Jolley, Carrie Magin, Evan Williams, Paul Poston, Bryan Percoco, Trevor Gomes, and Lindsey Jacob. She has appeared in concert at TriBeCa New Music, ETHOS New Music, Malone University, the BOP Stop, Kendall at Oberlin, Christ Church Cathedral, Clifton Cultural Arts Center, and the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center.
Her ongoing commissioning initiative, called The Response Project, asks composers to write music for piano in response to a pre-existing artwork or idea. The project has premiered and recorded twelve new works, including five works for solo piano written in response to Karlheinz Stockhausen's Mikrophonie I (1964) and seven works for violin+piano written in response to the phrase "on behalf". In 2018, The Response Project premiered thirteen new works for solo piano, written in response to Bob Dylan's 1964 album Highway 61 Revisited.
In addition to performing, Brianna is a dedicated music educator and pedagogue. A Nationally Certified Teacher of Music (NCTM), she serves as Assistant Professor of Music at Wilmington College. She has also served on the faculties of the Oberlin Conservatory, Interlochen Arts Camp, Wilmington College, Thomas More College, and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music Preparatory Department. As an educator, Brianna believes in the power of music to incite positive social change, and she encourages that change by working on the executive board of the Ohio Music Teachers Association Southwest Division.
She holds degrees from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) and the University of Kansas.