New Canon Project Composers Cohort Announced

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Five composers have been named to the first cohort of the New Canon Project. With $100,000 in grant support from the Sphinx Venture Fund, Rising Tide Music Press, the American String Teachers Association, and the American Choral Directors Association are partnered together to focus on commissioning new works by Black and Latinx composers for the orchestra and choral classrooms.

The following individuals have been selected by ACDA for the first cohort of choral composers:

Brian Harris, Jr.

Brian Harris, a 24-year-old teacher and accomplished freelance composer, boasts an impressive portfolio of over 80 compositions spanning various ensembles, including solo voice and piano, choir, a flute quartet, and multiple string works. His works have been well-received both at the college level and within the community, attesting to the broad appeal of his musical prowess.

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Taleya Jordan

Taleya Jordan is a senior Music Education student at Southeastern Louisiana University where she studies classical, jazz, and musical theatre. She has performed for Southeastern’s Mozart Opera Scenes and this past December was a featured soloist in Vivaldi’s Gloria at First United Methodist Church of Hammond. She has also done productions with Swamplight Theatre such as “Oliver” (Mrs. Bedwin) and “Wilber’s Disco Inferno of Love” (Cabaret Performer). When she isn’t in productions, she competes in the Musical Theatre Division of the NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing) competition. Taleya Jordan is the business owner of “Cantante Music Lessons” where she helps both newcomers and seasoned performers achieve whatever goals they have.

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Cristian Larios

Cristian Larios (he/él) is a composer, conductor, and educator from Joliet, IL. He currently serves as choir director at Plainfield North High School. His works range from chamber music to larger choral works. Through his music, he hopes to empower the performers and provide the listener with a new perspective on the human experience. His music has been performed by the Illinois State Madrigals, No-Name Chorale, SWIC Chamber Singers, Tonality, and has been featured at the REDNote New Music Festival. In 2021, Cristian’s piece ‘in this house’ was featured on Tonality’s album America Will Be. In 2019, Cristian was accepted as a fellow for the PREMIERE|Project Festival in collaboration with Choral Arts Initiative. Larios has also collaborated with the School of Theatre and Dance and Kristin Schoenback on Ellen Mclaughin’s, Oedipus. Cristian enjoys the collaborative process and is always looking for new adventures and challenges. In 2017, Larios was the recipient of the Harlan Peithman Music Scholarship for excellence in music theory and composition as well as the Illinois Minority Teachers Scholarship in 2018. Larios graduated with his Bachelors of Music Education-Choral and his Bachelors of Music in Composition from Illinois State University where he studied composition with Martha Horst, Roger Zare, Roy Magnuson, Joshua Keeling, and Carl Schimmel. Cristian is currently pursuing his Masters of Music Education at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He is an avid supporter of ramen, flowers, and the sparkle emoji.

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Marina Quintanilla

Attending Oklahoma City University as an undergraduate student, Marina Quintanilla was a student majoring in Vocal Performance, but also participating in the Wind Ensemble and Jazz Band as the bari saxophone player. It wasn’t until her junior year when she took a composition class that she realized composing was something she enjoyed and felt confident doing. This class sparked her creativity, and she was offered a full ride to return to her alma mater as a Master’s student in Composition. Since returning to school, she has had readings with the OCU Symphony Orchestra, and has written a choral piece which made its debut with a semi-professional chamber choir, The Canterbury Chamber Voices. To follow Marina’s musical endeavors, you can follow her on instagram @ina_quintanilla.

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Khyle B. Wooten

Khyle B. Wooten (he/him), a native of Philadelphia, PA, is Assistant Professor of Music Performance and Director of Choral Activities at Ithaca College. He maintains professional activities as a conductor, educator, clinician, researcher, and composer. Previously, Wooten served as Associate Director of Choral Activities at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and has fulfilled prior K-12 teaching posts with charter schools in the cities of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Atlanta, Georgia. At present, Wooten leads ongoing research on the life and music of Lena McLin and extended choral works of Black women composers, presenting regularly at regional and national conferences. He is an inaugural fellow of the Future of Music Faculty Fellowship with the Cleveland Institute of Music. Additionally, Wooten completed commissions for the Cincinnati Song Initiative, Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra MINA String Quartet. Excerpted movements from Wooten’s baritone song cycle, A Journey in Love, are published in the digital anthology, Modern Music for New Singers. His choral recent works include Life and Death (TTBB) and The Dream Keeper (SA). Wooten is the co-founder and conductor of the Sankofa Vocal Collective in Atlanta, Georgia. Wooten holds degrees in music education and choral conducting from Lincoln University of PA (BS), Georgia State University (MM), and Florida State University (PhD).

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At the heart of the project is a commissioning partnership, involving Black and Latinx composers working with mentors – either composers who are already successful in the school ensemble market or pedagogues in choral and string music who can assist with writing works that match student skill levels – and with a school classroom ensemble. Composers and mentors will be financially compensated for their creative work and time spent with the project. Composers will be supported over a year, with professional development opportunities and workshops provided by Rising Tide Music Press, as well as, one to one mentoring and peer support. Additionally, composers will have the ability to try out drafts of their new works in school classrooms, including direct feedback from the teacher and students; and support in revising their work for publication. Upon completion, the pieces will be published as a collaboration of Rising Tide Music Press, the American String Teachers Association, and the American Choral Directors Association and will be distributed worldwide with ArrangeMe, a Hal Leonard Company.

The call for the second cohort of composers will open in early Spring 2024.

For more information about the New Canon project, visit https://www.risingtidemusicpress.com/ncp