Thomas Kraines – cello

Melinda Rice – viola

Sepehr Pirasteh – kamancheh

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Sarah Parker – augmented saxophone

Nathan McAdams – oboe

Robbie Strauss – flute

Thomas Kraines, a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music and the Juilliard School, has gained renown as a versatile cellist, composer, and teacher. In addition to the Daedalus Quartet, he performs often with his wife, violinist Juliette Kang, with the Philadelphia-based Network for New Music, the Arcana Ensemble, and the improvisatory ensembles Great Blue Heron and Basquiat Blues. Kraines’ solo cello and chamber compositions have been heard around the country. He has performed his own works in collaboration with artists such as Awadagin Pratt, Mimi Stillman, Maria Jette, Ilana Davidson, and Kinan Abou-afach. He currently teaches at the University of Pennsylvania and the Settlement Music School in Philadelphia. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife Juliette, and daughters Rosalie and Clarissa.

Melinda Rice is a person invested in creating space for music in community. Her string ensemble has performed music in collaboration with the film and anime clubs on campus, performed for graduation, and is planning to join the professional ensemble Not So Silent Cinema to present a score along with a silent film. Melinda enjoys digging into new chamber works, plays with a wedding band, co-authored an article on Listening in the 2023 issue of The Turnaround, and has released two albums of original works, and recently released tracks including right beneath the moon on Strange Woman Records.

Sepehr Pirasteh (He/They/او) is a composer, conductor, and interdisciplinary artist born and raised in Shiraz, Iran. His compositions draw on Persian classical and folk traditions, as well as contemporary classical music vocabularies, to express his deep concerns and fears about the political and social realities of the world we live in. Through his art, Sepehr reflects on his personal journey as an immigrant and his commitment to activism. Sepehr is based in Philadelphia and plays Persian Kamancheh and Tanbour. He is the co-founder and artistic director of the Shiraz Ensemble, which has collaborated with arts organizations such as the Asian Arts Initiative, Bowerbird, and Fire Museum Presents. Their ensemble has also been featured at New Music New Haven at Yale University, Princeton University’s Center for Iranian Studies, Temple University’s Cybersound, and Icebox Project Space Philadelphia.

Robbie Strauss is a composer and flutist from NJ, based in Baltimore. People with ears have described his music as “clueless,” “uninspiring,”and “complete and total garbage”. What he lacks in musical ability he does not make up for in sarcasm. He studies composition with Felipe Lara at the Peabody Institute.

Hailing from Louisville, Nathan McAdam, “Sexiest Man Alive” according to most sources, is a composer-oboist based in Baltimore. Knowing just about anything about any composer or piece you might mention, its safe to say he’s done his score study. An avid whiskey enjoyer, he now attends the Peabody Institute, studying composition with Sky Macklay.

Sarah Parker is a composer-saxophonist from eastern MD, with playing is as colorful as her hair! If you have an idea for an awful way to mod a woodwind instrument, don’t bother. Sarah’s beat you to it. With her modifications she can turn the saxophone into the wrong instrument for any scenario, making her a fantastic addition to any improvisatory ensemble. You can find her keeping the Peabody Institute’s residence halls from burning down, where she studies composition with Sky Macklay.

Event location:

Normals' Book and Records