Benjamin Taylor – Program Director
Benjamin Dean Taylor (DM, Indiana University) is an award winning composer of concert music. With a catalogue of more than 100 works including music written for orchestra, wind band, opera, choir, and jazz big band, he enjoys frequent performances of his compositions all over the world
Han Lash – New Workshop Director
Han Lash (they/them), hailed by The New York Times as “striking and resourceful . . . handsomely brooding,” is an American composer whose music has been performed at Carnegie Hall, Los Angeles Walt Disney Concert Hall, Lincoln Center, and Chicago Art Institute, among other prestigious venues. Lash has held teaching positions at the Mannes School of Music and Yale School of Music, and is currently associate professor of music in composition at Indiana University.
Don Freund – Honorary Guest Faculty
Don Freund is an internationally recognized composer with works ranging from solo, chamber, and orchestral music to pieces involving live performances with electronics, music for dance, and large theatre works. Freund is Professor of Composition at IU’s Jacobs School of Music.
Corey Chang – Assistant Program Director and private lesson faculty
Corey Chang (M.M., The Juilliard School), described as “a major composer…of his generation” by The Millbrook Independent, is a composer, pianist and educator based in Bloomington, Indiana. As the recipient of an ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award and a nominee for a 2022 Academy of the Arts and Letters music award, Chang has had his music workshopped and performed by many top musicians and ensembles, both nationally and internationally.
Alexey Logunov – Administrative Assistant and private lesson faculty
Born in Russia, Alexey Logunov is a composer and pianist whose music explores textural density and timbral complexity. His compositions have been consistently performed by internationally recognized ensembles at numerous festivals such as reMusik.org, Sound Ways and From Avantgarde to Present Days. He is a winner of the 2023 Georgina Joshi Composition Commission Award at Jacobs School of Music.
Emma Cardon-Wake – private lesson faculty
Emma Cardon-Wake (MM, Cleveland Institute of Music) is a composer, harpsichordist, and cellist from Logan, Utah. She has been recognized as an ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award winner and has received commissions from the acclaimed Fry Street Quartet, the American Festival Chorus and Orchestra, and many other ensembles and instrumentalists.
Yi-De Chen – private lesson faculty
Dr. Yi-De Chen has a passion for teaching and a drive to connect with students with diverse backgrounds. Chen’s career as a composer encompasses works for stage concerts, film, animation, and ballet. The rich portfolio has showcased his exceptional creativity and equipped him with teaching methodologies that resonate with his students.
Xinyuan Deng – private lesson faculty
Xinyuan Deng is a composer, pianist, conductor, and educator who hails from Henan, China. Currently pursuing a D.M. at Indiana University, her diverse compositions blend delicate timbres from both Eastern and Western influences. Her award-winning works have seen performances by prestigious ensembles such as the PHACE Contemporary Ensemble, Zhejiang Symphonic Orchestra, and Harbin Symphonic Orchestra.
Jamey Guzman – private lesson faculty
Jamey Guzman (M.M. Composition and M.M. Music Scoring for Visual Media, in progress, Indiana University) is a composer and storyteller who tells necessary underrepresented stories with experimental and innovative techniques. Jamey has received major commissions from The Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel, Indiana; Really Spicy Opera, Opera Arlington, Strange Trace Opera, ENAEnsemble, Paradox Opera, and SONIT.
Kian Ravaei – private lesson faculty
Composer Kian Ravaei (B.A., UCLA, M.M. in progress, Indiana University) takes tone painting to a new level, synthesizing diverse inspirations into evocative musical portraits. Whether he is composing piano preludes inspired by mythical creatures, flute melodies that mimic the songs of endangered birds, or a string quartet that draws from the Iranian music of his ancestral heritage, he takes listeners on a spellbinding tour of humanity’s most deeply felt emotions.
Edmund Song– private lesson faculty
Recognised for blending ‘idioms of Hollywood film music and Broadway musicals’ (The Straits Times, Singapore 2023) seamlessly with Asian Traditional influences, US-based Singaporean composer Edmund Song is acclaimed for his diverse commissions and film music nominations globally. Outside composition, He’s also a versatile double bassist who creates sound designs for media while recording and audio-engineering concerts.