Composer Anthony Brandt is a Professor of Composition and Theory at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music and Musiqa’s Artistic Director.  Dr. Brandt’s catalogue includes three chamber operas, as well as orchestral, chamber, vocal, theater, dance, and television scores.  His commissions include works for the Library of Congress, Bowdoin Summer Music Festival, Opera in the Heights, Da Camera of Houston, River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, Houston Ballet II, SOLI, the Moores School of Music Percussion Ensemble, Webster Trio, Fischer Duo, Seattle Youth Symphony, and more.  He has been a Visiting Composer at the Bowdoin International Festival, the University of Veracruz, the Bremen Musikfest, Baltimore’s New Chamber Arts Festival, Southwestern University, SUNY-Buffalo and Cleveland State University, and Composer-in-Residence of Houston’s OrchestraX and the International Festival of Music in Morelia, Mexico.  Recordings of his music are available on the Albany, Crystal, and Navona Live labels. 

 Dr. Brandt and neuroscientist David Eagleman have co-authored The Runaway Species: How Human Creativity Remakes the World. Their book has been published in thirteen countries and inspired the Netflix documentary The Creative Brain.  Dr. Brandt has contributed chapters to the Oxford Handbook of Music and the Brain and Mobile Brain Imaging and the Neuroscience of Art, Innovation and Creativity, as well as the upcoming Oxford Handbook of Music and Language and Creative Provocations: Speculations on the Future of Creativity, Learning, and Technology.  His research has also been published in Frontiers, The Creativity Research Journal, and Brain Connectivity.  He is currently a co-investigator in an NEA Research Lab examining the benefits of musical creativity for the elderly and studies at Methodist Hospital examining music in relation to stroke recovery and surgeon burnout. Dr. Brandt has been awarded Rice University’s Faculty Award for Excellence in Professional Service and Leadership (2019), a George R. Brown Award for Superior Teaching (2007), and a Phi Beta Kappa Teaching Award (2001).

Dr. Pepe Contreras-Vidal is Hugh Roy and Lillie Cranz Cullen Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Director of the National Science Foundation-funded Research Center for Building Reliable Advances and Innovations in Neurotechnology (IUCRC BRAIN) at the University of Houston. He was a visiting Professor at the Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (National Institute of Health and Medical Research) and Pierre et Marie Curie University in Paris, France; and has been a Fellow of the City of Paris (France), the Human Frontiers Science Program (Switzerland), NATO (Trieste), and the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO). Dr. Contreras-Vidal was elected a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) for significant contributions to medical and biological engineering, including contributions to brain-machine interfaces (BMI) and wearable exoskeletons to restore motor function in individuals with spinal cord injury, stroke and other movement disabilities. His work at the nexus of art and science is opening new windows to study the neural basis of aesthetic perception and creativity in children and adults, and the development of innovative brain-art interfaces. His laboratory for Non-invasive Brain-Machine Interface Systems has collaborated with professional dancers, musicians, creative writers, film directors, visual and other performing artists to understand the brain response to the arts and creativity, while developing artistic neural interfaces. In addition to the current LiveWire collaboration, Dr. Contreras-Vidal is collaborating with visual abstract artist Geraldine Interiano Wise at the intersection of artificial intelligence, art and neuroengineering. He has edited the book Mobile Brain-Body Imaging and the Neuroscience of Art, Innovation and Creativity to identify the challenges and opportunities for engaging the creative arts, design practices, science, engineering and technology to promote creativity and innovation leading to novel approaches to solving complex challenges in science, education and medicine. Dr. Contreras-Vidal is a member of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)’s National Advisory Board on Medical Rehabilitation Research (NABMRR) and his research has been funded by the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Mission Connect – A TIRR Foundation, the Houston Methodist Foundation, the Cullen Foundation, the University of Houston Technology Gap Fund, industry, and philanthropy. His research has appeared in The Economist, Nature, Der Spiegel, NPR, Scientific American, and Wall Street Journal among others.

Bryan Ealey is a second-year MFA Lighting Design student at University of California San Diego and a newly appointed Board Member of NobleMotion Dance Company. He was born and raised in Houston, TX and holds a BA in Drama from Prairie View A&M University. Following undergrad, he went on to work at local Houston theatre’s as an audio and lighting technician and has toured across the country in large concert venues such as The Fox Theatre (Detroit) and Madison Square Garden (New York) as an Audio Assistant with International R&B Artist, Teena Marie – all while being an Audio Engineer and Lighting Designer at House of Blues – Houston and Lighting Director for River Pointe Church in Richmond, Texas. In the 14-year span of his professional career, he has also worked as the AVL Supervisor and Associate Production Coordinator at Stages Theatre (Houston) until his arrival at Sam Houston State University – Dance Dept. (2015 – 2020) as their Dance Technical Coordinator / Director. Along his career, he has been fortunate enough to design for several theatres and dance companies such as: Main Street, 4th Wall, Stages, The Landing Theatre Company, Houston Grand Opera, Unity Theatre, Horse Head Theatre, Classical Theatre Company, NobleMotion Dance, Open Dance Project, Social Movement Contemporary Dance, Houston Contemporary Dance, Urban Souls Dance, and Von Ussar Danceworks (New York Dance Festival) at the Alvin Ailey Theater. Bryan’s passion for lighting design is rooted in the fundamental ability to shape the stage in a frame that supports, gives focus, and elevates the performance. As technical and visual artists, we are here to service the story being told, whether it’s being presented through theatre, dance, or music.

Emily Fens is a Houston-based visual artist who received her formal training from the Glassell School of Art and holds a BS in Neuroscience from UCLA. Using watercolor and pen on paper, she creates fantastical portraits of the mind inspired by her studies of neuroscience and related philosophies, often with synesthetic undercurrents. Recent projects include Brainbloom for the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston’s Music on the Plaza ft. Wild Moccasins and ongoing works on paper series: Brain Portraits and Atlas Chimera.

Earning widespread notice for his richly colored and superbly crafted scores, Pierre Jalbert has developed a musical language that is engaging, expressive, and “immediately captures one’s attention with its strong gesture and vitality” (American Academy of Arts and Letters). Among his many honors are the Rome Prize, the BBC Masterprize, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Fromm Foundation commission, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s Stoeger Award, given biennially “in recognition of significant contributions to the chamber music repertory”. Jalbert has drawn inspiration from a variety of sources, from plainchant melodies to natural phenomena. His music has been performed worldwide in such venues as Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, and the Barbican. Recent orchestral performances include those by the Boston Symphony, the National Symphony, the Houston Symphony, the Cabrillo Festival Orchestra, and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra under Louis Langrée. His Violin Concerto was recently premiered by a consortium of three orchestras and soloists; Steven Copes with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, Margaret Batjer with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, and Frank Almond with the Milwaukee Symphony. He has served as Composer-in-Residence with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, the California Symphony under Barry Jekowsky, and Music in the Loft in Chicago. Select chamber music commissions and performances include those of the Ying, Borromeo, Maia, Enso, Chiara, Escher, Del Sol, and Emerson String Quartets, as well as violinist Midori. Jalbert is Professor of Music at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music in Houston, where he has taught since 1996. His music is published by Schott Helicon Music Corporation, New York and he is on the Artistic Board of Musiqa.

Andy Noble and Dionne Sparkman Noble are long time collaborators who have been entertaining dance audiences for 20 years. Andy Noble is an Associate Chair/Professor of Dance at Sam Houston State University. He also serves as the Associate Artistic Director of the Dance Gallery Festival, an international festival that occurs every year in New York City. Dionne Sparkman Noble is an Associate Professor of Dance at Sam Houston where she directs the graduate program. Together they direct the Houston based dance company, NobleMotion Dance, that was named Houston’s Best Dance Company by the Houston Press in 2015, 2016, & 2019. Andy and Dionne worked closely with Academy Award winner John Ridley to create original choreography for the Emmy Award Winning and Golden Globe Nominated ABC TV show American Crime. Their work has also been presented at New York’s The Alvin Ailey Theater, The Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston, Seattle’s On the Boards, and at The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C to name a few. Andy and Dionne have both been recognized as among Houston’s 100 Most Creatives and they teach each year in Lucca, Italy at the international dance intensive Dance Italia.

Houston-based cellist Bree Ahern is a versatile solo and chamber musician committed to building community through performing, teaching, and collaborating across art forms. She currently performs as a core member with Kinetic Ensemble, an artist-led ensemble committed to performing diverse, underrepresented, and newly composed classical music, and Loop38, a new music collective intent on building community through innovative and culturally relevant musical experiences. Her work as a Young Artist with Da Camera of Houston and the Monarch Chamber Players focuses on citizen artistry and taking classical music out of the concert hall in an effort to promote accessibility in the arts and enrich the lives of those in the Houston community. During her time in Houston, Bree has also performed with Musiqa, Aperio, and alongside pianist Brian Connelly in his “Music in Context” concert series at Rice University. In addition to being an active performer, she teaches at AFA’s Chamber Music Academy, Kinder HSPVA, and is on faculty at San Jacinto College. She is a graduate of Rice University, where she studied under Norman Fischer.

Evie Chen began her violin studies with Jenny Rudin in Palo Alto, CA. She made her solo debut with the Fremont Symphony Orchestra at age 8 after being the youngest to win the Nafisa Taghioff Award in the FSO’s 2000 Young Artists Competition. Since then, she has received recognition at several competitions and performed concertos with the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra, California Youth Symphony, Eastman Philharmonia, the Shepherd School Symphony Orchestra, and the Houston Symphony Orchestra. Currently, Evie is on the faculty of the University of Tennessee Knoxville, where in addition to teaching her violin studio, she is also the director of the UTK String Project and a coordinator of chamber music. As both an avid educator and chamber musician, she is a regular performing artist with Hoppa Project and at Kalmia Garden Music and Arts. A versatile violinist, Evie has also played in the orchestra sections of the New York String Orchestra Seminar, Britten-Pears Orchestra, Spoleto Festival USA, Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, Houston Symphony Orchestra, and Charleston Symphony Orchestra. Evie earned her master’s degree at Rice University and continues her studies in the DMA program with Paul Kantor. She received a BM in violin performance and BA in psychology through the University of Rochester and Eastman School of Music, where she additionally was awarded the Performer’s Certificate under the tutelage of Mikhail Kopelman.

Violinist Jacob Schafer is a multifaceted performer dedicated to compelling, thoughtful presentations of works old and new. Currently based in Houston, Texas, he is a core member of Loop38 and Kinetic Ensemble and has performed with MUSIQA and in Rice University’s concert series Syzygy and Hear&Now. As a Young Artist with Da Camera of Houston from 2017 to 2019, he taught students in underserved public schools and performed at venues across the city including the Wortham Center, the Houston Public Library, and the Galveston Artists Residency. Recent performance highlights include chamber music with pianists Lisa Moore and the late Leon Fleisher, the American premieres of works by Julian Anderson and Oliver Knussen, and collaborations with composers Thomas Adès, John Harbison, and George Lewis. Summer festival appearances have included Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, Norfolk New Music Workshop, Composer’s Conference Contemporary Performance Institute, Sarasota Music Festival, Heifetz Institute, and Tanglewood Music Center. Originally from Nashville, Tennessee, Mr. Schafer holds a B.A. in Ethics, Politics, and Economics and in Music from Yale University, and an M.M. in violin performance from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. He is currently working towards his D.M.A. at Rice under the tutelage of Paul Kantor.

 Violist Sebastian Stefanovic is a Baltimore native currently residing in Houston, having completed a Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at Rice University’s Shepherd School while studying with Ivo van der Werff. Mr. Stefanovic is a passionate advocate for new music and the expansion of the viola repertoire, and he has commissioned, premiered, and recorded a variety of solo and ensemble works as well as participating in the 2020 and 2021 Composers’ Conference. As a chamber musician, he has received quartet fellowships at the Aspen Music Festival and the Robert Mann String Quartet Seminar. He enjoys inventive and multifaceted programming, curating interdisciplinary collaborations for conductorless string orchestra Kinetic and working as a Young Artist for DaCamera of Houston. 

Rachel Culver is a dance artist based in Austin, TX performing with NobleMotion Dance, Ventana Ballet, Sea Legs Dance, and various freelance projects throughout Texas. Formerly, she danced with Nicolay Dance Works and as an apprentice with Bruce Wood Dance. Culver holds a BFA in Dance Performance from Sam Houston State University. While studying at SHSU, Rachel had the pleasure of working with many guest choreographers including Maurice Causey, Gerard Theoret, and Gregory Nuber. Hailing from Elida, NM, she studied classical and contemporary ballet and spent her summers training with the Kirov Academy of Ballet, among others.

LaRodney Freeman has been performing since he was 5 years old, starting out as a thespian. He first began dancing under Anna Ashy as a member of Alief Jazz Ballet. He then decided to pursue his BFA in Dance at Sam Houston State University. During his time at SHSU, he has worked under the guidance of Andy and Dionne Noble, Elijah Alhadji Gibson, Dr. Cindy Gratz, Dana and Betty Nicolay, Jonathan Charles Smith and Jennifer Pontius. He has also worked with choreographers Harrison Guy, Khaleah London, and Maurice Causey. LaRodney is in his 8^th season with NobleMotion Dance and his 6^th year with HOPESTONE Dance. La’Rodney has also performed with Social Movement Contemporary Dance under Elijah Alhadji Gibson and FRAME Dance under Lydia Hance. LaRodney teaches a wide range of classes to all ages within the Greater Houston area including Houston Ballet Academy, Workshop Houston, and for The Hope Project.

Named Houston Press’ 100 Creatives 2013 and a recipient of the Minnesota SAGE Award 2015 as an Outstanding Dance Performer, Shohei Iwahama is a dancer, choreographer, and instructor based in Houston, TX. He is currently an MFA candidate and teaching assistant at Sam Houston State University and a founding company member of NobleMotion Dance. Shohei began dancing under the tutelage of Miyako Kato in Tokyo, Japan, and eventually performed for her company, Miyako Kato Dance Space. In 2006, he received a one-year grant from the Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan to study at The Ailey School in New York City. Later he attended Sam Houston State University and received his BFA in Dance. While in Texas, he danced with NobleMotion Dance and Hope Stone Dance as a company member. In 2014, he joined James Sewell Ballet (JSB) in Minneapolis, MN, and performed with them for four seasons. While working with JSB, he had the privilege of performing works by guest artists such as Sharon Eyal of L-E-V from Israel and Norbert De La Cruz III. Shohei has also worked with Aimed Dance, Dominic Walsh Dance Theater, Earthen Vessels (Sandra Organ Dance Company), FrenetiCore, Minnesota Dance Theatre, Minneapolis Ballet Dancers, and many other choreographers in the United States and Japan.

Colette Kerwick grew up in Santa Fe New Mexico where she trained with the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet and Moving People Dance Theater. Colette attended New Mexico State University where she completed her BA in Dance. During her undergraduate studies, Colette’s choreography was selected twice for adjudication at the American College Dance Association and as an alternate for the National conference in 2016. She is currently in her fourth season dancing professionally with NobleMotion Dance, where she is also the Director of Programming and Co-Artistic Director of NMD2.  Kerwick holds her MFA in Dance from Sam Houston State University where she now works as an Adjunct Professor. Kerwick has also worked as an Adjunct Professor at New Mexico State University and The University of St. Thomas. Colette has trained at The American Dance Festival, José Limon, Lux Boreal and Dance Italia, where she performed repertory by NobleMotion Dance, Ohad Naharin, and Kidd Pivot. Notably, Colette performed in Dance Gallery Festival New York in 2017 and 2018. In 2019, Colette presented her own work in New York and Texas for the Dance Gallery Festival.

Lindsey McGill was born in Houston, Texas.  She began her formal dance training under Elizabeth and Rosemary Molak in California and continued training at the Houston Ballet Academy under the direction of Ben Stevenson, Clara Cravey, Steve Brule, and Priscilla Nathan-Murphy.  Since graduating from Houston Ballet Academy, Lindsey has worked with NobleMotion Dance, NW Dance Project, Jane Weiner’s Hope Stone Dance, iMEE, Michele Brangwen Dance Ensemble, Teresa Chapman Dance, Wanderlust Dance Project, Dominic Walsh Dance Theater, O Dance, The Next Stage Project, KDNY, and Dayton Contemporary Dance Company 2.  She has also had opportunities to dance in projects with Jacquelyne Jay Boe, Jennifer Mabus, Amy Morrow, jhon r. stronks, Paola Georgudis, Amy Ell, iLuminate, and Frenticore.  With NW Dance Project, Lindsey danced original roles by Sarah Slipper, Patrick Delcroix, Lucas Crandall, Wen Wei Wang, Yin Yue, Ihsan Rustem, Felix Landerer, Jiri Pokorni, Cayteno Soto, Daneille Agami, Rachel Erdos, Kate Wallich, Gregory Dolbashian, Loni Landon, James Gregg, Anat Greggorio, Tracey Durbin, Minh Tran, and Carla Mann among others.  In addition, Lindsey has taught ballet and contemporary dance at several schools and programs including Houston Ballet Academy, NW Dance Project, Hunter Dance Center, the Institute for Contemporary Dance in Houston, and Peridance NYC.  Lindsey currently lives in Houston where she studies, dances, teaches dance, and serves as co-director and dancer for Group Acorde.

Tyler Orcutt, a dance artist based near Houston, is currently an MFA candidate at Sam Houston State University. Former dancer with Repertory Dance Theatre (RDT) from 2012-2020, Tyler has toured the west coast performing in lead roles choreographed by Modern Dance pioneers Humphrey, Limón, Shawn, McKayle, and Cunningham. With RDT, he also worked with current choreographers Bebe Miller, Lar Lubovitch, Danielle Agami, Tiffany Rae-Fisher, and Zvi Gotheiner, among many others. He has guested with Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company during a collaboration with RDT and the Eccles Theater, as well as St. Petersburg Opera and Moving Current Dance Collective. He most recently joined NobleMotion Dance in the summer of 2020. Tyler holds a BFA in dance from The University of South Florida, during which he performed in works by Bill T. Jones and Doug Varone. Tyler is in his second season performing for NobleMotion Dance.

Abigail Schafer was exposed to both competitive and professional dance while growing up in Aurora, Illinois. She developed her movement at Steps Dance Center, eventually transitioning to Extensions Dance Company’s pre-professional training under Lizzie Mackenzie. There, she performed in Ron De Jesus’ Chicago production of The Osiris Legend and as a guest with Dance in the Parks. Abby then traveled to Sam Houston State University where she continues to cultivate her passion through a vigorous combination of technical training, choreography, and nationwide performances. Abby has performed in festivals at the Alvin Ailey theater as well as acclaimed events in Chicago, Houston, and Palm Desert. She has also participated in works by Shen Wei and Gabrielle Lamb. Abby first performed alongside NobleMotion Dance for Freeflow in 2020. Grateful for the tutelage and guidance of Andy and Dionne Noble, she is looking forward to further exploring her passion as an Apprentice with NMD this season.

Lauren Serrano is originally from Orange County, California. She received her B.F.A in Dance from University of California Santa Barbara and her Masters in Dance Education from the Arnhold Graduate Dance Education Program at Hunter College in New York City. She is honored to have worked with artists such as Andrea Schermolly, Yusha Sorzano, Christopher Pilafian, Jennifer Muller, Mike Esperanza, Stephanie Miracle, Brandon Whited, Joshua Manculich, Andy and Dionne Noble, and Edgar Zendejas. Lauren is currently a Graduate Assistant at Sam Houston State University Department of Dance pursuing her Masters in Fine Arts. Lauren is in her 2nd season dancing for NobleMotion and is also the Co-Artistic Director of NMD2.

Evelyn Toh is a dance artist, teacher, and choreographer, based in Houston, TX. She obtained her MFA in Dance from Sam Houston State University and graduated magna cum laude with her BFA in Dance from The Boston Conservatory as a National Arts Council Overseas Scholar. Evelyn has performed for numerous companies, including John Mead Dance Company, Nimbus Dance Works, MOMIX, and T.H.E Dance Company. In addition, Evelyn’s choreographic work has been presented at Barnstorm Dance Festival, T.H.E Dance Company’s New Vision, Boston Contemporary Dance Festival, and Dance Gallery Festival. She is currently in her 5th season with NobleMotion Dance, a Visiting Professor of Dance at Sam Houston State University, and an instructor at Texas Academy of Dance Arts.

Komal Kukkar is originally from Abohar, India and is currently based in Houston, Texas. He received his bachelor’s in physical therapy in 2007, MS in Kinesiology (Major-Biomechanics and Motor Control) from University of Illinois at Chicago in 2013 and MS in Data Science from Maryville University at St. Louis in 2021. He worked as a Physical Therapist for 8 years in New York City rehabilitating kids with Autism as well as stroke patients. In addition, he started teaching physical therapy students as well as conducting research on Autism in 2015. With continued interest in motor control research and machine learning, he joined the University of Houston doctoral program in Kinesiology in August 2021 under the advisory of Dr. Pranav Parikh. In addition to the full funding, he is a recipient of the Presidential Fellowship. His main research interests include Stroke fall risk prevention, Neuromechanics and Motor Control, Machine Learning and Predictive Modeling.

Mauricio Ramírez is originally from Monterrey, Mexico, and is currently based in Houston, Texas. He received his Bachelor in Mechatronics Engineering in 2010, and MS and PhD in Biomedical Engineering in 2015 and 2019 from CINVESTAV Monterrey (Mexico). In 2019, he started teaching university level courses in the Biomedical and Mechatronics Engineering Programs at Tecnologico de Monterrey (Mexico) and performed collaborative research activities with students and professors. Since the summer of 2020, Dr. Ramírez serves as a postdoctoral researcher at the NSF IUCRC BRAIN Center at Tecnologico de Monterrey, where he also acts as Program Manager. Since the fall of 2021, he is performing an international research stay as Postdoctoral researcher at the University of Houston, in the Noninvasive Brain-Machine Interface Systems Laboratory, directed by Prof. Jose Contreras-Vidal, in the fields of hyperscanning and brain-machine interfaces. His main research interests include Brain Computer Interfaces, Neuroengineering, Robotics, Biomechanics and Machine Learning.

Nishant Rao is a PhD student at the University of Houston, with a major in Motor Behavior. Originally from India, he is based in Houston, where he carries out his studies. Nishant’s research interest lies in understanding neural basis of sensorimotor control and learning. Nishant’s ongoing projects are aimed at characterizing mechanisms that underlie routine tasks such as grasping, learning to control digit forces, and maintaining upright balance in healthy and clinical populations. Nishant has been actively involved in the NSF IUCRC BRAIN Center as REU Graduate Mentor, and has served in several events as promoting STEM education. In a broader context, Nishant plans to bridge the understanding in cognitive and sensorimotor neuroscience with effective rehabilitation among patients with neurological disorders. He is a graduate research assistant at the University of Houston Noninvasive Brain-Machine Interface Systems Laboratory, directed by Prof. Jose Contreras-Vidal.