Rock and Roll Greeley

Lauren Bernofsky (b. 1967, Rochester, MN) has written over a hundred works, including solo, chamber, and choral music, as well as larger-scale works for orchestra, film, musical, opera, and ballet. With performances spanning the world, her music has been described as "fantastic," "delightful," "evocative and witty," "brilliant," and destined to "become standard repertoire."

Lauren's work Blue Monkey will be performed on Aquila's June 25th concert.

Celebrating Diversity

Indianapolis-based duo ‘Ascending’ seeks to capture music’s unique ability to elevate the human experience through the performance and advocacy of new art music. Founded in the summer of 2014 by Tricia Frasure (violin) and Caitlin Foster (piano), Ascending has collaborated with composers across the country and was most recently a featured ensemble of the 2015 Ball State Festival of New Music this March. In January 2015 Ascending presented “In So Many Words” at the Firehouse Space in Brooklyn, NY as a concert in exploration of text and sound within music. Featuring two world premieres and the works of seven living composers alongside Ives and Prokofiev, the project involved a range of traditional and non-traditional performance approaches, from improvisation to spoken word. Beyond the concert hall Ascending connects with the local community, bringing music to Indianapolis hospitals and performing for charitable events such as the United Way of Central Indiana’s Red Carpet Gala.

Colorado Composers

Hunter Ewen is a dramatic composer, educator, and multimedia designer. During the day, Dr. Ewen teaches students strategies for digital creativity. At night, he composes, solders, choreographs, and videographs solo and collaborative projects around the world.

His works rail against the faded borders that separate art from science, music from sound, and meaning from meaninglessness. Ewen values frenzy. He buzzes and sneaks and desperately loves. His work is soothing, startling, virtuosic, and absurd. It grooves with dense, layered textures. It lusts for yowls and yips and wails and squeals. For screams that masquerade as art. For clamor and deviance. His compositions swing from chandeliers.