About the Selected Composers

Rex Bell — Dr. Rex Bell holds a degree in piano performance and is an active composer with numerous recent premieres of choral and chamber works. Special interests include contemporary classical and jazz. A frequent performer in the central Arkansas area, Dr. Bell has also released more than 20 independent recordings ranging from jazz to contemporary classical which have received exceptional reviews in both local and national publications as well as earning airplay on local radio stations KLRE, KUAR and KABF and nationally on NPR’s Audiophile Audition.​

Murat Gülçelik — Murat Gülçelik is a NYC-based composer and multi-instrumentalist. A graduate of Columbia University (B.A., Computer Science & Music), he has received the Douglas Moore Prize and Charles S. Miller Prize for Music Composition. His work spans electronic music, contemporary classical composition, and interdisciplinary collaboration, with recent projects including scores for ballet/dance and modular synthesis. Trained as a double bassist at The Juilliard School Pre-College Division, he maintains an active performance and compositional practice alongside a full-time career. His music can be found at muratgulcelik.com.

Haig Mardirosian — Haig Mardirosian, organist, conductor, composer, church musician, writer, and academician, has served as Dean of the College of Arts and Letters and Professor of Music at the University of Tampa and as Professor of Music and Senior Vice Provost of American University in Washington, DC.

Mardirosian enjoys international standing. In 1977, he was the first American to play in the International Organ Week in Bonn, Germany. In 1989, he became one of two Americans to perform in the Soviet/American Organ Festival in Aachen, Germany. As soloist, composer, and conductor, he has more than 24 recordings to his credit on various major labels.

His compositions disclose versatility with his earliest works in the genre of electronic music. In addition to rock and jazz film and TV scores, he has produced collections of scores for his native métier of choral and organ. His recent portfolio has focused on larger orchestral and chamber pieces.

Josh Rodriguez — Known for his energetic rhythms, rich harmonic language, and striking colors, award-winning composer Josh Rodriguez (b. 1982) continues to gain recognition as an emerging composer and collaborator on a national and international scale. Born in Argentina of Colombian American parentage, and raised in Guatemala, Mexico and the United States, Rodriguez’s musical imagination has been formed by this bilingual, multi-cultural heritage. He collaborates regularly with theatre and film directors and has received notable concert commissions for a wide range of musical ensembles and genres. Rodriguez serves as Associate Professor of Music Theory and Composition at Elmhurst University. His music is available on YouTube and streaming platforms (Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple, etc) and musical scores can be purchased through Walton Music, Murphy Music Press, JWPepper, and from his own website: www.joshrodriguezmusic.com 

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Juan Pablo Santamaría — Juan Pablo Santamaría is a young Mexican composer currently based in the city of Toluca, whose work is rooted in the post-Romantic tradition. His music is distinguished by a deep and expressive approach to piano writing, a strong melodic vocation, and the pursuit of themes capable of enduring over time. Influenced by early twentieth-century symphonic music and late-Romantic expressivity, his compositional interest centers on the exploration of beauty as a fundamental artistic value.

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Paul Taylor — Paul Taylor is a Montana-based composer whose work spans concert music, media scoring, and underground performance, shaped by a decade spent in the greater Philadelphia area. He has collaborated with musicians from the Philadelphia Orchestra on productions for HBO, Nickelodeon, and NFL Films, including orchestrating the synchronization of live orchestra with American football highlights. His work includes international projects for World Cup and Olympic broadcasts and has been recognized with five Emmy Awards. He has also performed for many years as a combo-organist in an underground punk band. He holds a degree in music composition from the University of Idaho and currently works as a psychotherapist, drawing creative inspiration from the human condition.