Team
Nick Norton, Artistic Director
Nick Norton is a composer, musician, and concert producer from Los Angeles. He rejects the distinction between high and low forms of art and is interested in creating new experiences for listeners from all backgrounds and destroying social barriers to enjoying music. In addition to his work as a composer and performer, Nick has worked for The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Monday Evening Concerts, the American Youth Symphony, Synchromy, and as an assistant to individual composers. He founded and runs the preeminent blog and concert calendar New Classic LA, and has written for NewMusicBox and AMP Magazine. As a composer his music has been performed worldwide by numerous ensembles and soloists. He holds degrees from UC San Diego, King's College London, and UC Santa Barbara.
Photo by Brandon Rolle
Leaha Maria Villarreal, Interim Executive Director
Leaha Maria Villarreal is a composer and administrator specializing in the arts and academia. Previous organizations served include the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, Figment Arts Festival, Salastina, Aspen Music Festival and School, Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, and Columbia University in the City of New York. She is the co-founder and Artistic Director of Hotel Elefant, a New York based ensemble dedicated to the music of living composers. She is currently pursuing a doctorate in music composition at the University of Southern California, where she also works in the Thornton School of Music's Department of Communications. Villarreal also holds a master's degree from NYU, where she studied music criticism with Allan Kozinn and composition with Julia Wolfe and Michael Gordon; and a bachelor's from UCSD in the composition studio of Steven Kazuo Takasugi and Roger Reynolds.
Photo by Cait McCarthy
Mika Godbole, Corona Relief Fund Manager
Malavika, or Mika, Godbole is known for her enthusiastic support of new music, emerging composers, and her flair as a performer. She has premiered several works as a founding member of the groundbreaking quartet Mobius Percussion. Recent accolades include a Grammy nomination for Thomas Lloyd’s Bonhoeffer with The Crossing and winning the 2016 Bessie Award with Dan Trueman, Mobius Percussion, and Sō Percussion for Outstanding Musical Composition/Sound Design. Upcoming projects include the fifth year of Princeton, NJ’s new music marathon, aptly titled Unruly Sounds and premieres of new works with Mobius Percussion by Gemma Peacocke, Annika Socolofsky, and Donnacha Dennehy. As a pedagogue, she maintains an active studio of about twenty students at Rowan University and Westminster Conservatory. Additionally, she is also focusing on a GoFundMe campaign for other freelancers affected by the Covid-19 crisis along with volunteering her time to manage the Equal Sound Corona Relief Fund.
Photo by Evan Monroe Chapman
Wolf Woodcock, A&R Manager
Wolf Woodcock is a composer and multi-instrumentalist whose work focuses on aleatoric and improvisatory composition. These compositions range from experimental scores for animated and live action films, to chamber ensemble pieces and songs. He was recently awarded NYU's Guest Award for Best Original Score for his work on Inspector Margaret, a thesis animation by Scottie Harvey. He received his undergraduate degree in composition at CalArts, where he studied under composers Laura Steenberge, Marc Lowenstein, and Mike Fink. As a performer, Woodcock has mainly worked as an electric bass player and has performed alongside Jenny Lee Lindberg of Warpaint, Sea Wolf, and his own band, VS Colour. These projects have toured extensively throughout the US and Europe and have allowed him to play such festivals as Desert Daze and Iceland Airwaves. At home, he runs a small record label and is the co-founder of Kinetic, an LA-based animation and music festival.
Photo by Sam Lane
annais linares, Social Media Coordinator
annais is a musician and multimedia social practice artist interested in working alongside under-served communities and communities of color in imagining and engaging ideas of collective future realities through sound and movement. her most recent pursuits have been developing sound and body exploration classes in her Coachella Valley (California) hometown, and helping facilitate community programming with the Wyld Womxn Collective. she looks forward to helping build a collective future full of intention and imagination through art-making, improvising, and socially gathering in the new age.
Elise Komer, Intern
Elise Komer is a Detroit violinist currently obtaining her Bachelor's of Music Business at Wayne State University. Her involvement within the department has led to her management of the Wayne State Orchestra, as well as being awarded the Presser Scholar for academic achievement. She began studying the violin at age 6 and has studied with Patricia Gurin, Gabriel Bolkosky, and Dr. Laura Roelofs. Elise has played as a freelancer musician in the metro-detroit area for places such as the Macomb Ballet Company, Players Guild of Dearborn, Wayne State Orchestra and Detroit Chamber Orchestra. In addition to her classical studies, she recently began broadening her musical abilities to include jazz studies, as well as playing in ensembles that represent a more experimental, avant-garde approach. Elise has studied violin pedagogy under the direction of David Strom and Mimi Zweig and maintains an active teaching studio. Elise is passionate about empowering and supporting musicians not only in her own community but on a national level as well. Going forward, she plans to study musician's health and entrepreneurship, and has a vision for starting an organization for the well-being of artists in the city of Detroit.