Double Feature: WindSync & Musiqa

About the composers

Karim Al-Zand

Mbira Song

The music of Canadian-American composer Karim Al-Zand (b.1970) has been called “strong and startlingly lovely” (Boston Globe). His compositions are wide-ranging, from settings of classical Arabic poetry to scores for dance and pieces for young audiences. His works explore connections between music and other arts, and draw inspiration from diverse sources such as 19th-century graphic art, fables of the world, folksong and jazz.

Anthony Brandt

Livewire

Composer Anthony Brandt (b. 1961) earned his degrees from California Institute of the Arts (MA ’87) and Harvard University (BA ’83, PhD ’93). Dr. Brandt’s catalogue includes three chamber operas, as well as orchestral, chamber, vocal, theater, dance, and television scores. His honors include a Koussevitzky Commission from the Library of Congress and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, Meet-the-Composer, the Houston Arts Alliance, the New England Foundation for the Arts and the Margaret Fairbank Jory Copying Assistance Program. 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 Creativity Remakes the World, which is being published in thirteen countries. Dr. Brandt has written extensively about music cognition and creativity and is currently a co-investigator in a study of music and stroke recovery at Methodist Hospital’s Center for Performing Arts Medicine. He is a Professor of Theory and Composition at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music.

Florent Ghys

Étude for 11 Faces

Florent Ghys is a multimedia artist and double bass performer playing with moving images and music.

He composes with notated music and videos and performs on the double bass. Florent is fascinated by the use of recorded media to create audiovisual pieces, integrating samples from radio, TV shows, weather forecasts, and other field recordings into his compositions.

Central to Florent Ghys’ work is the incorporation of playfulness in the creative process, the focus of his doctoral research at Princeton, where he developed the “Ghys Entertainment System,” a digital environment which enables the real-time creation of audiovisual works.

Ghys’ whimsical creative approach infuses his works with humor, absurdity, and a sense of incongruity. His creations consist of short forms and accumulative miniatures often designed to compel the analytical mind into a state of contemplative surrender.

Florent’s music is centered around his instrument, the double bass, and his dream of creating an “alto bass”, an imaginary instrument which would fill the gap between the orchestral bass and the violoncello.

Pierre Jalbert

Pulse

Earning widespread notice for his richly colored and superbly crafted scores, Pierre Jalbert (b. 1967) has developed a musical language that is engaging, expressive, and deeply personal. Among his many honors are the Rome Prize, the BBC Masterprize, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s 2007 Stoeger Award, given biennially “in recognition of significant contributions to the chamber music repertory,” and a 2010 award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Marcus Maroney

Scherzo (How a Mosquito Operates)

Marcus Karl Maroney studied horn and composition at The University of Texas at Austin and the Yale School of Music. Since 2005, he has taught at the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music. Commissions have come from organizations and individuals such as eighth blackbird, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s, ROCO, Timothy McAllister and the Iridium Quartet and his music has been recorded on the Innova, Blue Griffin and Centaur labels, among others. Marcus and his husband are based in Houston, where they enjoy rescue dogs, wine and Eurovision, among other vices.

Timothy Roy

Southern Specter

Timothy Roy composes music steeped in imagery and allusion, which seeks to elicit a sense of time, place, and feeling.

His music has been presented at such venues and events as the National Theater of Taipei, Music Biennale Zagreb, ZKM Karlsruhe, Ars Electronica, BEAST, San Francisco Tape Music Festival, Sonorities Festival Belfast, Los Angeles County Arboretum, and the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. Recent awards and honors include the Salvatore Martirano Memorial Composition Award (1st Prize, 2022), ASCAP/SEAMUS Student Commission Award (1st Prize, 2023), SoundChain International Composition Competition (2nd Prize, 2024), Giga-Hertz Production Prize (Honorable Mention, 2022), and Prix CIME from the International Confederation of Electroacoustic Music (Distinction, 2023). Tim’s work has been further supported through grants and residencies from the American Harp Society, I-Park Foundation, Minnesota State Arts Board, and the Norwegian Centre for Technology, Art and Music (Notam).

He previously taught composition, electronic music, and theory at Western Michigan University, Rice University, and MidAmerica Nazarene University.

Tim resides in Saint Paul, Minnesota, where he is Director of Music and organist at the Church of Saint Peter. He holds a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music.

About the musicians

Nanki Chugh

Violin

Nanki Chugh is an Indian-American violinist and multidisciplinary artist passionate about the intersection of music, art, and science and its impact on education and society. She is Creative Education Director of Musiqa, a Houston-based music collective. She recently created and performed Musiqa’s “The Sound of Houston” and DACAMERA’s “The Science of Sound” through the Hobby Center Discovery Series, and the musical adaptation of her upcoming children’s book Symba and the Lobster has been performed in local libraries, bookstores, and at the Orcas Island Chamber Music Festival. Nanki’s new concert series “Between Worlds” explores connections between Indian and Western classical music. A versatile violinist, Nanki is an alumnus of the DACAMERA Young Artist Program, performs new works with Musiqa, Kinetic, and Loop38 Ensembles, and has performed in festivals including Orford Musique and Valdres Academy. She was awarded first prize at the 2024 Emerging Researchers National Conference for her research on the effects of collaborative music-making on the brain. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry from Yale University and a Master of Music in Violin Performance from the Rice University Shepherd School of Music.

Caio Diniz

Cello

Regarded as “Truly Enchanting” by the New York Concert Review, Caio Diniz is a Houston-based Brazilian cellist and musician. He joins his passion for new music with his deep roots in Brazilian folk traditions, often collaborating with emerging composers in the commission of works exploring different aspects of his heritage. For two consecutive years Caio was awarded the Houston Arts Alliance SACI Grant in support of his artistic initiatives. In 2024, his project Impressions in Translation brought to stage works for cello and piano that reimagined northeastern-Brazilian folk genres through the lenses of 5 unique composers. Most recently, his project REFRACTED commissioned 7 works for string trio that blended the cultural and musical backgrounds of the artists involved in the project.

Finding himself at home in Houston’s spirited New Music scene, Caio often collaborates with prominent groups such as Musiqa, ROCO, Kinetic and Loop38, as he explores new sounds and artistic expressions. Additionally, Caio also performs with the Houston Symphony, Houston Grand Opera and Houston Ballet. When not performing, Caio works behind the scenes as a Producer, Videographer, Sound and Recording Engineer as well as the Live Stream Director for the Houston Symphony Orchestra.

Gabriel Galley

Viola

Gabriel Galley, 25, is a violist who recently obtained a master’s degree from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, studying under Ivo-Jan van der Werff. Having played viola since the age of 10, Gabriel enjoys all aspects of the classical music world while maintaining a particular affinity for chamber music, evident in his recent second prize win at the Coltman Chamber Music Competition. Outside of the practice room, his feet often carry him into nature, a connection inspired by his Finnish roots. It is a dream and a priority of his to spend time in Europe as his studies conclude, where he feels the unique combination of rich history and vibrant innovation provides an ideal jumping-off point for the young musician.

Garrett Hudson

Flute

Garrett Hudson is a founding member of WindSync. The Canadian flutist’s roots lie in Winnipeg, Manitoba, where he made his solo debut with the Winnipeg Symphony at the age of 16. During his training, Hudson performed with the National Academy Orchestra of Canada and l’Orchestre de la Francophonie in Montreal, Quebec. He earned degrees from the University of British Columbia, under Scottish flutist Lorna McGhee, and Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, where he studied with renowned flute pedagogue Leone Buyse. A sensitive communicator both on stage and off, Hudson has coached woodwind students at the Eastman School of Music, Northwestern University, University of Iowa, and University of Texas. He lives in Houston, Texas, where he maintains a teaching studio at the beginner through professional levels.

Tali Morgulis

Piano

Tali Morgulis is an internationally acclaimed pianist, educator, and artistic innovator whose career encompasses solo and chamber performance, contemporary music, interdisciplinary collaboration, and innovative music education. A prizewinner in several international competitions, she has performed throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Israel, collaborating with distinguished artists and orchestras. Her recordings appear on the Delos, Navona, and Albany labels.

A passionate advocate for contemporary and overlooked repertoire, Dr. Morgulis has commissioned and premiered works by composers including Marcus Karl Maroney, Finola Merivale, Alona Epshtein, and Lei Liang. Her recent projects include a Manuel Ponce performance and recording initiative and Flying First Ward, an interdisciplinary collaboration combining music, dance, and circus. She is founder and artistic director of the Creative Pianist Competition.

Dr. Morgulis has served on the faculty of the University of Houston’s Moores School of Music since 2008. Her pedagogical interests include body awareness, and the neuroscience of musical learning. She holds degrees from Tel Aviv University and the New England Conservatory, as well as performance diplomas from the Manhattan School of Music and Conservatoire Royal de Bruxelles.

James Palmer

Piano

Equally at home as a soloist, collaborator, presenter, and educator, Dr. James Palmer is a dynamic musician based in Houston, Texas. Described as “one of those artists who can make classical music such great fun” (Sedona Red Rock News), James performs all over the United States and abroad as a soloist and chamber musician. His wide-ranging musical appetite has led to a diverse performing career, comprising traditional recital performances and innovative projects featuring new music.

James is the founder and artistic director of Point of Departure: Houston’s Classical Music Variety Show, which will debut in Houston in October 2026. James regularly performs with leading Houston organizations like Musiqa, Loop38, and Context.

James is a Lecturer at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. Off-campus, he maintains a robust private studio and leads the Piano Arts Intensive at AFA Texas during the summer.

A noted Scriabin interpreter, James sits on the executive board of the Scriabin Society of America (SSA). James completed his DMA in 2025 at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, where he studied with Dr. Robert Roux. He previously studied with Menahem Pressler and Emile Naoumoff at Indiana University.