Joanie Brittingham (librettist) is a writer and the Associate Editor for Classical Singer Magazine. She has been praised for her “dramatic versatility” (Opera News), “meltingly beautiful” interpretations (Forbes), “lovely soprano” and “lucid diction” (New York Times), “captivating stage presence” (New York Classical Review), “strength and resistance” (Opera Wire) and “outstanding solo work” (New York Concert Review). Brittingham has performed at Carnegie Hall, Merkin Hall, and Symphony Space and with Riverside Theatre, the New Ohio Theatre, Fresh Squeezed Opera, New Amsterdam Opera, Chelsea Opera, the New Works Festival with OPERA America, American Lyric Theatre, and VHRP Live, among others. Her new book Practicing for Singers is available from Amazon. Visit her on Instagram and TikTok @joaniebrittingham or at joaniebrittingham.com.

Jason Cady (composer/librettist) Jason performs on pedal steel guitar and modular synthesizer. Pitchfork called him a “mod-synth mastermind…funny and engaging.” Anthony Tommasini, in the New York Times, described his video opera, I Screwed Up the Future, as “charming fantasy…drably comic and spacey.” Cady’s music has been released on Aerocade, Lockstep Records and Peacock Recordings, and his podcast opera, Buick City, 1:00 AM is available on Apple Podcasts. The University of Michigan Press published his essay in “Beyond Notation: the Music of Earle Brown.” Cady has an M.A. in composition from Wesleyan University, where he studied with Alvin Lucier and Anthony Braxton. He was born in Flint, Michigan and now lives in New York City with his wife, Ann Heppermann, and their two cats. He is an enrolled member of the Sault Ste Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians.

Jesse Gelaznik (composer) is a composer, visual artist, and founder of Dirty Churches. His bizarre contemporary operas have premiered at La MaMa Galleria (Era of Good Feelings, 2019) and the Mattress Factory Museum (RUMPLES a video opera, 2021). His new opera MISCHIEF (Rathattan) with a libretto by Britt Hewitt will be featured as one of the FIVE WAYS TO DIE, by Experiments in Opera. Jesse’s music for art installation is currently on view as the sound component to Andréa Stanislav’s installation “SPINNER SONG” at the Russian Museum of Art in Minneapolis, MN. His music has also recently been commissioned by The Sembrich Opera Museum in conjunction with the Hyde Museum and performed by HUB New Music (Cubes and Anarchy: A Homage to David Smith 2023). Jesse’s music has premiered at Sundance and MoMA (H., 2014), Sharjah Art Foundation for their Biennale X and the Vitoria and Albert Museum Friday Late series (PWR&$$$ 2011).

Dmitriy Glivinskiy (conductor) is a Ukrainian vocal coach and conductor and the Music Director of the Opera department and head vocal coach at the University of Connecticut. He is a graduate of Mannes College of Music and of the Peabody Institute where, among his teachers, were Pavlina Dokovska, Boris Slutsky and Scott Jackson Wiley. He is a former faculty member of Hofstra University and Brooklyn College. He is currently part of the creative team for the American Opera Projects and NYU/Tisch Opera Lab which is an incubator for new operas.

Britt Hewitt (librettist) is a performer/composer based in New York City. Hewitt earned her degree in Vocal Arts from The Juilliard School, and has performed as a classical vocalist with organizations like National Sawdust, Opera Saratoga, Le Château de Versailles, Opera Holland Park, The Stone, and Experiments in Opera. She also maintains work as an actor, songwriter, film composer, and librettist. Hewitt is a member of the New York Songwriters Circle and a staff vocalist with Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church’s chamber ensemble. Find out more about Britt’s work and other upcoming engagements here: www.britthewitt.com

Seong Ae Kim (composer) is a Korean-born composer based in New York City. Her recent works spanning the past 5 years have been acutely focused on amplifying self-truth and voicing social justice concerns. As a passionate advocate for social justice, Kim has collaborated with fellow artists and ensembles to address and confront the practitioners of social injustice in our society, particularly those who oppress others through acts of racial discrimination and immigrant scapegoating. She has been recognized with awards from Jerome Foundation, New Music USA and the Composers Now/Rockefeller Brothers Fund. Her recent commissions include Yarn/Wire, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, Tinguely Museum in Basel, Hypercube, Amanda Gookin of Forward Music Project, Popebama, Ensemble Ipse, Ensemble mise-en and Parhelion trio among others. She holds PhD in composition from Stony Brook University, MA and BA in composition and conducting from University for music and performing arts in Vienna, Austria. www.seongaekim.com

Marcella Murray (librettist) is a New York-based theater artist from Augusta, Georgia. She is a playwright, performer, collaborator, and puppeteer. Murray’s work is heavily inspired by the observed ways in which people tend to segregate and reconnect. Her work tends to focus on themes of identity within a community and (hopefully) forward momentum in the face of trauma. Her work has been seen at Performance Space NY, Abrons Arts Center, Mabou Mines, Dixon Place, St. Ann’s Warehouse, Chez Bushwick, Detroit Institute of Art, The Brick, French Institute; Alliance Française, The Loading Dock, La MaMa, UNC Chapel Hill/Carolina Center for Performing Arts, UW Madison, MCA Chicago, and BAM. She, along with David Neumann and Tei Blow, created Distances Smaller Than This Are Not Confirmed (Obie Special Citation) and Primer for an Impossible Conversation, a digital theater piece. They are currently developing a third piece with the support of UNC Chapel Hill’s Southern Futures commission. Murray is a co-curator of the Object Movement Puppetry Residency and is a guest professor of Theatre at Sarah Lawrence College.

Shannon Sindelar (director) is a theater director and producer based in New York City. Recent directing work includes the NYC premiere of Lisa Clair’s Willa’s Authentic Self and regional premieres of Madeleine George’s Hurricane Diane, Clare Barron’s Dance Nation, and the Southern premiere of Jaclyn Backus’ Men on Boats. She currently serves as producing director for the Obie Award-winning company The Builders Association and managing director for Experiments in Opera. For many years she directed the productions of the cross-media performance group 31 Down. She served as managing and programming director of The Ontological-Hysteric Theater, where she produced theatre auteur Richard Foreman’s works. She co-founded the Incubator Arts Project and served as curator for four years, where she oversaw the Other Forces festival. She is an adjunct professor at Barnard College, an affiliated artist with New Georges, and a board member of the performance ensemble Object Collection. MFA: Carnegie Mellon (John Wells Directing Fellow).