Jakub Ciupinski (‘yacoob chioopinsky’) is Polish composer living in New York City. Although his music is often associated with electronics and interactive performances, he has written numerous pieces for traditional acoustic forces, varying in scope from solo miniatures to an hour long Oratorio for symphony orchestra and double choir. At the age of 18, he signed a contract with Sony Music Poland and since then has been recording electronica-infused world music under the stage name Jakub Żak. His concert music has been commissioned by various institutions and ensembles including Metropolis Ensemble, The New Juilliard Ensemble, The New York City Ballet’s Choreographic Institute, as well as the world-famous violinists Anne Akiko-Meyers and Philippe Quint. His works have been performed around the world, including prestigious venues such as Tonhalle in Zurich and Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, New York. Ciupinski is a co-founder of Blind Ear Music, New York based group of composers and instrumentalists performing improvised, real-time compositions, using wirelessly connected laptops as musical score displays. He has also designed his own instrument for performing electronic music using hand gestures. He has collaborated with a variety of artists, musicians, choreographers and film directors, including Oscar winning director Andrzej Wajda, and scored the music for United Nations documentary “Opening Doors”. Ciupinski studied with Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Christopher Rouse at The Juilliard School, Zbigniew Bujarski and Krzysztof Penderecki at the Cracow Academy of Music, and with Edwin Roxbrough and Joe Cutler at the Birmingham Conservatoire. Since 2013 he has been teaching at Purchase College, State University of New York where he serves as head of Studio Composition program as well as artistic director and conductor of Purchase Orchestra Electric, an innovative multimedia project combining live orchestra with electronics, lights and and video projection
mapping. www.jakubciupinski.com

Composer Ricardo Romaneiro was born and raised in Sao Paulo, Brazil and moved to the U.S. at an early age. Ricardo’s music synthesizes his major musical influences & passions: classical and electronic music, and the percussive rhythm/beat of his native country Brazil. The New York Times described his work (Strata) as “a blissful and compelling mix of Minimalist-derived rhythmic ecstasy and nightclub beats”.  His music has been commissioned and performed by ensembles and institutions such as the the Museum of Modern Art’s Summergarden Series, Metropolis Ensemble, Wordless Music, Ensemble LPR,  Nu Deco Ensemble, ECCE, New Juilliard Ensemble, ACO Underwood Readings, Quintet of the Americas, the Alvin Ailey Dance Company, Colorado Ballet at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House, and the Sacramento Ballet. Ricardo’s music has been featured on NPR live broadcast from Prospect Park Bandshell as part of Celebrate Brooklyn! summer concerts. Esquire Magazine featured his music and work process in their annual “Best & Brightest” issue. A recipient of the ASCAP Rudy Perz Songwriting Scholarship, Ricardo earned a Master degree in composition from The Juilliard School and a Bachelor degree in composition from Manhattan School of Music.

Recently, Ricardo has been collaborating on curating concerts, salons and supper clubs with ensembles and venues such as Metropolis Ensemble (Scar Arias), National Sawdust (On A Sphere), Ensemble LPR (Lunaire), Sandbox Percussion (Supperclub), String Noise (Polytope), House of Yes (Black Angels), Verboten (Drumming) and has an on going salon series at the American Irish Historical Society with collaborators. The Wall St Journal described as “one of the most successful concerts in terms of disrupting the conventions of classical music”.

Ricardo Romaneiro is self published, he is endorsed by Sibelius (Avid) and has served on Avid’s Customer Advisory board for Pro-Tools and Sibelius integration and development. Select music available on iTunes, Apple Music and Spotify

www.romaneiro.com

Ola Gjeilo (pronounced Yay-lo) was born in Norway in 1978, and moved to the United States in 2001 to begin his composition studies at the Juilliard School in New York City. He is currently composer-in-residence with Voces8 and DCINY. Ola’s albums include Ola Gjeilo on the Decca Classics label, a portrait of his choral and piano works featuring Tenebrae and Voces8. His debut recording as a composer and pianist, the lyrical crossover album Stone Rose, was followed by its 2012 sequel Piano Improvisations, both on the 2L label. Phoenix Chorale’s bestselling Northern Lights collection of Ola’s choral music on Chandos was named iTunes Best Classical Vocal Album of 2012. All four recordings are available on iTunes, Amazon and Google Play.

A full-time concert music composer based in New York City, Ola is also very interested in film, and his music often draws inspiration from movies and cinematic music. Ola’s choral works are published by Walton Music, wind band works by Boosey & Hawkes, and piano pieces by Edition Peters.

As co-founder, resident DJ, and primary creative director of Blk|Market Membership since its founding in 2006, Taimur Agha has been instrumental in building the rapidly growing New York dance community to where it now stands. After participating in the famed late ‘90s’ and early 2000s club residencies in NYC, including Sasha & Digweed’s stint at Twilo and Danny Tenaglia and Deep Dish at Vinyl, he witnessed the scene’s retreat to the underground post-9/11. When Bill Patrick, Nick Ac, and Dennis Rodgers ended ROBOTS, they handed the torch to Taimur and partner Fahad Haider to become the leading lights the next nightlife era in New York.

As head of buying and distribution at Halcyon Records from 2008 until mid-2014, Taimur’s work helped lead the resurgence of the local scene. His community-oriented radio show The Bandwagon ran 116 episodes and brought together labels and promoters from around the city, with showcases for The Bunker, ReSolute, L.I.E.S., Deconstruct Music, Underground Quality, The Corner, Plan B Recordings, and more. Guests included Blkmarket headliners and many others: Rhadoo, Fred P, Adam X, tiNI, Aybee, the Martinez Brothers, DJ Qu, Joey Anderson, Anthony Parasole, Function, DVS1, Gerd Janson, Juan Atkins, Raresh. His A&R for distribution led to agreements with Novel Sound, Deconstruct, The Corner, Strength Music, Sonic Groove, White Material, Scissor & Thread, Dystopian, and more. On the strength of these accomplishments, Taimur devoted himself full-time to his own DJ career, to the management of the BlkMarket Membership label, now two releases in, and to his nightlife empire.

With ten years of history and accolades for helping to revive one of the world’s most important dance music centers, Taimur and Blk|Market Membership hold an esteemed position as architects of New York’s contemporary scene as well as guiding lights for its future.