Projects

Composer

Christian Yom, composition (Carmel, NY), is a Korean American composer, pianist, and improviser. He began composing in 2022, and his music draws inspiration from a wide variety of sources, including the synthesis of traditional Korean folk and Western music idioms, the immense structures of Beethoven, the balance of the cerebral and emotional, storytelling and image arcs, and even Korean food.

During his first year of composing under Paul Frucht, Christian received a Morton Gould Young Composer Award (2023), was a YoungArts Finalist in Classical Music (2023), won a National Young Composers Challenge Ensemble prize (2022), and earned 1st place in MTNA’s Senior Composition Competition (2022).

He has worked with renowned artists including Emily Levin, Katie Althen, and Jeremias Sergiana Velasquez. His works have been performed at Steinmetz Hall by the Orlando Philharmonic, the New World Center in Miami by the NuDeco Ensemble, and at the National Arts Club and Ridgefield Playhouse. His most recent project is a commission to orchestrate “A Concerto for My Family” by 2023 Grammy-winning bassist Ranaan Meyer for chamber orchestra.

He is currently continuing his musical and academic pursuits at Harvard University and New England Conservatory through the B.A./M.M program.

Composer

Matthew is a Korean American Adoptee researching Korean music both old and new as well as traditional and popular. His research explores the intersections of Korean music with Western culture, the influence of cultural taste and aesthetic on musical sound, and deconstructing the impact of colonization on global musics. An advocate for Adoptee voices, his more current work and interests lie in studying Korean music while creating music int he space between being Korean and American.

Most recently, Matthew was awarded a Fulbright Research Grant to conduct his doctoral research on traditional music in South Korea. He was then commissioned by the Dareumi Gahteum Project to compose and arrange an evening of music combining elements of the Western classical canon with Korean traditional melodies through an ensemble comprised of instruments from both cultures. His work, Anxiety Cycles, received its premiere at Symphony Center, Chicago IL as part of a co-commission by Sound Mind and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago for their musicians and mental health initiative. Dear Mother: A Transracial Adoption Story received a virtual ballet production in collaboration with Boston Korean Adoptees and KAAN: Korean American Adoptive Family Network. In 2016, Matthew's Winter Unending, Invincible Summer won the Charles B. Olson award, and has since been performed by The Guards Band of Finland, the Peabody Wind Ensemble, and recorded by the ​Encore Wind Ensemble. His works have been performed by The Guard's Band, the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Peabody Wind Ensemble, University of Massachusetts at Amherst Symphonic Band, Fredonia State University Wind Ensemble, Kent State University New Music Ensemble, and MezzoBlasto Clarinet Quartet.

​Born as Jihoon Lee (이지훈) in South Korea, Matthew was raised on Long Island, New York. He is currently completing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree with Oscar Bettison at the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, where he also completed his Master of Music degree. During his time at Fredonia State University of New York he studied Music Composition with Dr. Rob Deemer, Dr. Sean Doyle, and Dr. Karl Boelter, and Oboe Performance with Mark Dubois. Throughout his studies he has been awarded a Dean's Doctoral Fellowship, the P. Bruce Blair Award in Composition, and the Lee Mitchell Endowed Memorial Scholarship at Peabody, and the Hillman Music Scholarship and Price Oboe Scholarship at Fredonia. Equally active as a teacher, Matt has served as a Faculty Associate at Peabody Conservatory for the Music Theory department, and instructor of oboe, flute, and saxophone at the Park School of Baltimore. He resides somewhere on the east coast with his cat, Gnocchi, and when not making noise, he can be found hiking, or making/eating pasta.

https://www.mattpellegrinomusic.com/

Composer

Minoo Dixon (b. 1999) is a Korean-American composer who has been recognized by ASCAP and the National Band Association (NBA) and has been on the rise composing meaningful and exciting music meant for a variety of audiences in the Concert Hall. He also has been an enthusiastic supporter for bringing diversity into the Concert Hall. Minoo grew up in Suwanee, Georgia, where he was a passionate member of the music community, which eventually led him to develop his aspirations for becoming a composer.

Throughout his years of composing, he has been awarded the Donald Martino Award for Excellence in Composition, NBA/Alfred Young Band Composition Contest, two NEC Honors Ensemble Composition Competitions, and a Finalist of the ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Young Composers Awards Competition. Minoo’s pieces also have been performed at locations such as Carnegie Hall, Busan Cultural Center, Jordan Hall, and the Midwest Clinic.

Minoo earned his Bachelor of Music in Composition from New England Conservatory, where he studied under the tutelage of Michael Gandolfi.  He also earned his Master in Music in composition at University of Texas at Austin’s Butler School of Music where he was under the tutelage of Omar Thomas.

https://www.minoodixon.com/

Composer

Wan Heo is a Korean-born composer based in Chicago. Her works have been performed internationally in South Korea, Germany, Italy, Singapore, Spain, and throughout the United States. Her percussion solo Unveiled Future is published by Alfonce Production.

Wan’s music has been commissioned and featured by Darmstädter Ferienkurse, SEAMUS, Yarn/Wire, Unheard-of Ensemble, line upon line, New Music on the Point, highSCORE Festival, and the Valencia International Performance Academy (VIPA), among others. She received an Honorable Mention for the Christine Clark/Theodore Front Prize in the IAWM New Music Search.

Her doctoral dissertation explores the vulnerability of South Korea’s sonic environments through field recordings made at Buddhist mountain monasteries. This research has been supported by two research awards from Northwestern University: the Graduate Research Grant and the Buffett Institute’s International Dissertation Research Travel Grant. Works from this project have been presented at NYCEMF, the Composition in Asia Conference, the Society of Composers National Conference, the North American Saxophone Alliance Regional Conference, the National Student Electronic Music Event (NSEME), and the University of Miami’s Composition Colloquium.

Wan is a Visiting Assistant Professor at Wake Forest University. She holds a B.M. in Composition from Ewha Womans University and an M.M. in Composition from Florida State University. She is currently ABD in the Ph.D. program in Composition and Music Technology at Northwestern University, where she works under the guidance of Alex Mincek, Stephan Moore, and Jay Alan Yim.

https://www.wan-heo.com/

Composer

Sanggeun Choi is a Korean composer and music arranger whose work bridges non-Western philosophical concepts and traditional aesthetics with contemporary Western art music. He explores the expressive potential of global traditional instruments and creates innovative sonic landscapes that connect cultural narratives and foster cross-cultural understanding. Specializing in orchestral music, Choi’s orchestrations were featured at national celebrations and state banquets during his tenure with the Korean National Police Orchestra, including performances at the Blue House. His music has reached international audiences in the United Kingdom, China, Oman, as well as in Boston, New York, and Chicago. His orchestral work Arirang Fantasy was presented at the Vibration for Visualized Sound concert in the U.K. (2018) and the 30th Anniversary of Korea–China Diplomatic Relations in China (2022). Choi was awarded 2nd Place in the 38th JoongAng Music Concours and received the Henry and Parker Pelzer Fellowship Award in Composition. He holds a master’s degree from the Mannes School of Music. He is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Iowa, where his research focuses on the intersection of Eastern philosophy and contemporary orchestral practice. He collaborates with ensembles including the JACK Quartet, Ensemble Dal Niente, Qingdao Symphony Orchestra, and Ensemble Yeon.

https://www.sanggeun-choi-composer.com/