Dr. Adrian ChildsAssociate Professor, Music Composition and Theory Dr. Adrian P. Childs joined the UGA School of Music faculty in 2001. He holds bachelor's degrees in both mathematics and music from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and master's and doctoral degrees in music (composition and theory) from the University of Chicago. His composition studies include work with Peter Child, John Eaton, John Harbison, Andrew Imbrie, Marta Ptaszynska, Shulamit Ran, and George Tsontakis. Prior to his arrival in Athens, Dr. Childs taught on the faculties of the University of Chicago, the University of Wisconsin, and the University of Illinois. Dr. Childs was a finalist in the 1999 Rome Prize competition. Among his other awards and honors in composition are an ASCAP Foundation Morton Gould Award and a Jacob K. Javits Fellowship from the U.S. Department of Education. His music has been performed extensively in North America and Europe and can be heard on the ACA Digital label. Dr. Childs' theory work includes research in the area of transformational theory and interests in issues of post-tonal music and referential collections. His scholarship appears in the Journal of Music Theory and Music Theory Online. He is a founding member of the editorial board of the Journal of Mathematics and Music. Dr. Childs is also active as a pianist and conductor, specializing in contemporary music. Dr. Emily KohAssociate Professor, Music CompositionArea Chair, Music Composition and Theoryhttp://www.emilykoh.net Emily Koh is Associate Professor of Composition at the Hugh Hodgson School of Music, University of Georgia. Dr. Koh holds a Ph.D. in Music Composition and Theory from Brandeis University, MM degrees in Music Composition and Music Theory Pedagogy from the Peabody Institute, Johns Hopkins University, and a BMus(hons) in Composition from the Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, National University of Singapore. Her mentors include Yu-Hui Chang, David Rakowski, Eric Chasalow, Kevin Puts, and Ho Chee Kong. Prior to moving to Athens, Dr. Koh taught at Harvard, MIT, Brandeis, Longy School of Music (Bard College) and Walnut Hill School for the Arts. Dr. Koh is a Singaporean composer whose music reimagines everyday experiences by sonically expounding tiny oft-forgotten details. In addition to writing acoustic and electronic concert music, she enjoys collaborating with other creatives in projects where sound plays an important role. Described as ‘the future of composing’ (The Straits Times, Singapore), she is the recipient of awards such as the Copland House Residency Award, National Arts Council Young Artist Award, Yoshiro Irino Memorial Prize, ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award, Prix D’Ete, and PARMA competitions; commissions from the Opera America, Barlow Endowment for Music Composition, Composers Conference at Wellesley College, Singapore Symphony Orchestra, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, Dinosaur Annex Music Ensemble; and grants from New Music USA, Women’s Philharmonic Advocacy and Paul Abisheganaden Grant for Artistic Excellence. She has been a fellow at the American Composers' Orchestra Earshot Program, MacDowell Colony and Avaloch Farm Music Institute. Dr. Koh's works have been described as “beautifully eerie” (New York Times), and “subtley spicy” (Baltimore Sun), and have been performed at various venues around the world in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, the Netherlands, Italy, France, Switzerland, Finland, Israel, the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States by acclaimed ensembles and performers such as Talea Ensemble (USA), Ensemble Dal Niente (USA), New York New Music Ensemble (USA), Signal Ensemble (USA), Boston New Music Initiative (USA), New Thread Quartet (USA), Acoustic Uproar (USA), LUNAR Ensemble (USA), East Coast Contemporary Ensemble (USA/Europe), Avanti! (Finland), Israel Contemporary Players (Israel), Sentieri Selvaggi (Italy), the Next Mushroom Promotion (Japan), Chroma Ensemble (UK), The Philharmonic Orchestra (Singapore), Dingyi Music Company (Singapore) and Chamber Sounds (Singapore) among others. Her works can be heard on the Ravello, New Focus and XAS record labels, and is published by Babel Scores (Europe) and Poco Piu Publishing (USA). Dr. Koh is also an active double bassist and arts administrator. She co-leads Atlanta's ensemble vim, performs with the Dekalb Symphony and Atlanta Improvisers Orchestra, is the National Treasurer for the Society of Composers Inc. (SCI) and is a member of the artistic advisory boards of the Composers Conference, Dinosaur Annex Music Ensemble and the Indictus Project. Dr. Peter Van Zandt LaneProfessor, Music CompositionDirector, Dancz Center for New Musichttp://www.petervanzandtlane.com Peter Van Zandt Lane is Associate Professor of Composition and Director of the Dancz Center for New Music at the University of Georgia Hodgson School of Music. He holds a BM in music theory and composition from the University of Miami Frost School of Music and MA and PhD degrees from Brandeis University. His composition studies include work with Melinda Wagner, Eric Chasalow, David Rakowski, and Lansing McLoskey. Prior to arriving in Athens, Dr. Lane taught at the University of Florida, Brandeis, Wellesley College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Harvard. A recipient of the 2018 Charles Ives Fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Dr. Lane has received commissions from the Atlanta Chamber Players, Barlow Endowment, the Composers Conference, American Chamber Winds, Sydney Conservatorium Wind Symphony, Emory University Wind Ensemble, Transient Canvas, Dinosaur Annex Music Ensemble, and the SUNY Purchase Percussion Ensemble among others. His full length ballet composed in collaboration with Juventas New Music Ensemble (Boston) and The People Movers contemporary dance company (Brooklyn), HackPolitik, explores the unique topic of cyber-dissidence through live music, dance, and electronics. Bringing contemporary music and dance into the cross-section of art, technology, and politics, HackPolitik was the subject of features on BBC radio, Forbes, CNet, and Boston Magazine, praised by critics as "angular, jarring, and sophisticated . . . very compelling . . . Ballet needs live music, and this one offered it at the highest level." (Boston Musical Intelligencer). The NYC run of the ballet was a New York Times Critic's Pick, hailed as "refreshingly relevant." (New York Times). Composing primarily for chamber ensembles, wind ensembles, and orchestras, Dr. Lane often integrates electronics into works alongside traditional instruments. He has been composer-in-residence at Copland House, Yaddo, MacDowell Colony, the Atlantic Center for the Arts, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and Composers Now at the Pocantico Center. His music has been performed by the Cleveland Orchestra, International Contemporary Ensemble, Lydian String Quartet, Ensemble Signal, Triton Brass, East Coast Composers Ensemble, Xanthos Ensemble, quux collective, Freon Ensemble, the New York Virtuoso Singers, and a number of college and university ensembles. Festivals and conferences that have programmed Dr. Lane's compositions include the Sound and Music Computing Conference (Copenhagen), Festival of Contemporary Music in San Francisco, June in Buffalo, the Wellesley Composers Conference and Chamber Music Center, Festival Miami, SEAMUS, New Gallery Concert Series, Third Practice, Forecast Music, the Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Arts, Boston Cyber-Arts, and 12-Nights Music and Art (Miami). An avid advocate for new music, Dr. Lane has performed as a bassoonist in a number of contemporary music ensembles, participating in the commissioning and premiering of several new chamber and electroacoustic works. Recordings of his music are available on Parma/Navona Records, New Dynamic Records, and Innova Records. Professor Trinity Velez-JustoAssistant Professor, Film and Media Composition and Production Trinity Veleze-Justo (they/she) is a multi-hyphenate creative who engages with music, sound design, tactile arts, and visual media. Through their business, ReelScoring, L.L.C., Trinity composes music and designs audio for visual and interactive media as well as provides mentorship and independent education in media scoring and production. Through film festivals, professional media organizations (e.g., The Atlanta Film Society), and academic institutions, Trinity educates filmmakers on the effect/affect of media music/audio, business essentials for creatives, and how to successfully work with a composer. Their work has premiered at South By Southwest (SXSW), Tribeca, and Cucalorus among many other festivals, and has been exhibited at the Power Plant Gallery at Duke University, the Levine Museum in Charlotte, North Carolina, and the US Army Airborne and Special Operations Museum in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Other works can be found on Hulu [e.g., Tiny Shoulders: Rethinking Barbie (2018)] and Amazon Prime [e.g., The Farmhand (2019) and My Father’s Brothers (2019)]. Trinity has won myriad awards for Best Score and Best Orchestration for their scores, including The Talk (short, 2022), Dreg (2021), Saving Jake (short, 2020), The Farmhand, My Father’s Brothers, and Splash! (2017), an animated short they transcribed into a live-to-picture performance experience for wind ensemble and symphony orchestra. After receiving a B.A. Music at UNC-Chapel Hill and M.F.A. Film Music Composition at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA), Trinity pursued an internship through the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Foundation in Los Angeles. During and after the internship, Trinity worked with the 2017 Television Governor of Music and the acclaimed composers of Star Trek: Discovery, Cloud Atlas, and Run Lola Run. Though the L.A. experience was fulfilling and educational in understanding mainstream production dynamics, timelines, and processes, they felt compelled to return to the east coast to teach and pursue their craft as a sound designer and music composer full-time. Before arriving at UGA, Trinity taught at UNCSA, and later at the Ohio Media School in Columbus, Ohio. As an academic practitioner, Trinity’s interdisciplinary research bridges the gap between the theory and practice of media music. Research topics include music theory and cognition, timbre, pop music (with a focus in hip-hop), cinema and ludomusicology, ethnic and cultural studies, critical race theory, and women and gender studies. Trinity’s current project (as part of their dissertation) explores embodied empathy generation through narrative immersion and spatialization. Inspired by their mother’s last words, the multimedia piece, The Embodied Myth: Good Girls Shall Not Suffer, addresses the socio-historical oppression experienced by Puerto Rican women that is generationally passed down via spiritual practice and embodiment. The piece will tentatively premiere in Spring 2026 as part of their final D.M.A. Composition recital at The Ohio State University. Apart from admiring the complexities in/of Nature with their spouse and pittie pup, Trinity is an avid gamer (both video and tabletop), enjoys making jewelry and accessories out of polymer clay, and revels in culinary arts and mixology; concocting recipes with organic ingredients from their garden.
