Biographies

Rodolfo Valente is a Brazilian composer who combines musical tradition with the exploration of new sounds. Drama, beauty and expression always play a central role in his music.

Gregor Kulla (born 2000) is a composer, performance artist, writer and model. They studied composition at the Estonian Academy of Music and Theatre and focused on sustainable art at the EU School of Participation. Kulla was honoured as Tartu Noor Kultuurikandja 2020 and has been teaching at the University of Tartu Viljandi since 2021. Kulla’s work focuses on gender studies, feminism, minority cultures and Eastern philosophies.

Bo Huang is a composer from Changsha, China. Her works are performed worldwide. She has collaborated with renowned ensembles such as Ensemble Modern and Ensemble Musikfabrik and is a participant of the Lucerne Festival and ManiFeste Academy. She is currently studying composition at the Eastman School of Music.

Krõõt-Kärt Kaev (1992) is an Estonian composer who lives in Hamburg. She studied composition at the Tallinn Music High School, Georg Otsa Music School and the Estonian Academy of Music (Galina Grigorjeva). She obtained her bachelor’s degree in instrumental and electroacoustic composition at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media. She is currently continuing her master’s degree at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz with Prof. Franck Bedrossian.

Njabulo Phungula is a composer from Durban, South Africa. He graduated from the University of KwaZulu-Natal, where he studied with Jürgen Bräuninger and later with Clare Loveday. His music explores complex forms inspired by the concepts of time, memory and the creative process itself.

Ármin Cservenák is a Hungarian composer and conductor. After studying in Budapest, he continued his training at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz with Beat Furrer, Bernhard Lang and Georg Friedrich Haas. He is a scholarship holder of the Akademie Musiktheater Heute and won 3rd prize and the audience prize at the 76th Concours de Genève in 2022.

Stephen Mulligan comes from Baltimore, Maryland (USA), and began his musical career by studying the violin before embarking on a career as a conductor. During the pandemic, he expanded his focus to composition and graduated with a degree from Jörg Widmann at the Barenboim-Said Akademie in Berlin.

Nilufar Habibian is an award-winning Iranian-British composer and kanun player. She holds a BA in Music from Royal Holloway, University of London, and a Masters in Composition from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and Anton Bruckner University. In 2023 her work ‘Az Nahayate Tariki’ was nominated for the Royal Philharmonic Society’s Chamber-Scale Composition Award.

Dea Ahma was born in 2003 and comes from Gjakova, Kosovo. She is currently studying composition in the bachelor’s programme at the University of Prishtina ‘Hasan Prishtina’ in the class of Drinor Zymberi.

Emre Şener (born 2001) is an award-winning Turkish composer and conductor. He is co-founder and conductor of the London Contemporary Soloists. Şener studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London and graduated with highest honours. From autumn 2024 he will begin his master’s degree at the Juilliard School.

Zampia Betty Mavropoulou is a Greek composer who lives in Hanover. She completed her diploma in classical guitar in Greece and is currently studying composition at the Hanover University of Music, Drama and Media. She studies instrumental composition with Aaron Cassidy and Niklos Drelas and electronic composition with Joachim Heintz.

Marie Nečasová lives in Prague, Czech Republic. She studied composition in Prague, Linz and Lyon and is continuing her studies in Vienna. She also studied music publishing, book graphics and early music. In her compositions, she pursues a ‘visual’ approach and combines sound textures with voices and melodies – watercolour abstractions with graphic lines.

Yalda Jahangiri (born 1999) studied music at the University of Tehran. She discovered her passion for contemporary composition during her studies. She is currently studying composition with Maurizio Azzan in order to further develop her artistic voice.

Camila Agosto is an electroacoustic composer, interdisciplinary artist and educator based in New York City. Her work is inspired by concepts such as memory, perception and psychoacoustic experiences. In 2023, she received the Berlin Prize from the American Academy in Berlin and is a Deutsche Bank Fellow in Music Composition. She is currently completing her doctoral studies at Columbia University.

Hsin-Hua Wang is an award-winning Taiwanese composer, pianist and author based in Los Angeles. She was nominated for Best Film Score at the 2023 New Jersey Web Fest and received the 2021 Special Achievement in Music for Animation award from The American Prize. She holds an MFA degree in Composition from CalArts and a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design from National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan.

Hyo Eun (Heather) Ahn is a South Korean composer currently living in Baltimore. Ahn studies at the Peabody Institute with Oscar Bettison and Felipe Lara and has previously earned degrees from the Peabody Institute and Ewha Women’s University.

Cem Güven (born 1997) is a Turkish composer from Istanbul. He graduated from the Juilliard School and the Royal Academy of Music and is currently studying for a doctorate at Columbia University on a scholarship. Güven is nominated for the Gaudeamus Award 2024 and has won numerous international prizes. His works have been performed by renowned orchestras and ensembles.