UF Music Composition - Current Students

ufmusic.composition(students)

PhD

	Andrew Babcock Born in Buffalo, NY, Andrew Babcock has been working in a variety of contexts with music and multimedia for over 10 years. After studying composition with Samuel Pellman at Hamilton College, he worked in New York City as a composer and sound designer for television, radio, and film. Andrew recently completed an MA in composition at the University at Buffalo, where he studied with Cort Lippe and Jeffrey Stadelman. Andrew's main interests lie in acousmatic music and exploring the transformative potential of mundane sound materials and their ability to yield complex sonic associations and narrative structures.
	Adam Scott Neal Adam Scott Neal (b. 1981, Atlanta) is a PhD fellow at the University of Florida, studying with Paul Koonce, Paul Richards, and James Paul Sain. He studied with Robert Scott Thompson at Georgia State University, earning a BM in music technology and an MM in composition. Following this, he earned an MA in sonic arts from Queen's University Belfast, where he studied with Pedro Rebelo. Adam has enjoyed over 80 performances of his music in 14 states, as well as the UK, Canada, China, Slovenia, and Switzerland. He has organized numerous contemporary music concerts in academic and non-academic settings, and currently serves as President of the UF chapter of the Society of Composers, Inc. and Media Director of Atlanta-based Terminus Ensemble. [website]
	Benjamin O'Brien Benjamin O'Brien composes and performs acoustic and electro-acoustic music. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D in Music Composition at the University of Florida. He holds an MA in Music Composition from Mills College and a BA in Mathematics from the University of Virginia. Benjamin has studied composition, theory, and performance with John Bischoff, Chris Brown, Ted Coffey, Fred Frith, Paul Koonce, Roscoe Mitchell, and Paul Richards. His compositions have been performed at conferences and festivals including ICMC, Electroacoustic Music Studies Network conference, Linux Audio Conference, SEAMUS, Network Music Festival (UK), Musica Viva (Portugal), among others. Benjamin performs regularly with the international laptop quartet Glitch Lich.
	Michael Polo Michael Polo first studied composition with Roberto Pace at the Settlement School of Music in Philadelphia, PA. He then attended Rowan University, NJ to begin a B.M. in Composition where he studied with Dr. Harold Oliver and Denis DiBlasio. Michael completed his M.M. in Composition at George Mason University where he studied with Dr. Jesse Guessford and Mark Camphouse. Michael is currently working on his PhD at the University of Florida. In 2008, Michael published his original work 'The Chase,'(for two-pianos eight-hands), with Piano Productions Press. He also has received performances of his compositions by award winning violinist Jaroslaw Nadrzycki of the Royal Academy of London. Performances of Michael's works have been heard from within the United States to the Academy of Music in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Michael Polo is currently serving as Secretary for the International Society of Pianists and Composers. [website]
PhD (ABD)
	Russell Brown (MM '04) Russell Brown is currently pursuing a PhD in Music Composition at the University of Florida. As a member of the Society of Composers, Inc., Mr. Brown's works have been performed on local concerts, the Region IV conference and the National Student Conference. Mr. Brown also holds an M.M. in Music Composition from the University of Florida, an M.M. in Music Performance from The Ohio State University and a B.M. in Music Performance from Valdosta State University. He regularly performs contemporary music in various chamber groups and is currently a member of the Gainesville (FL) Chamber Orchestra, the Albany (GA) Symphony Orchestra, the Central Florida Symphony Orchestra, and has performed with The Florida Orchestra (Tampa) and the Valdosta (GA) Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Brown's composition teachers include: Dr. Paul Koonce, Dr. James Paul Sain, Dr. Paul Richards, and Dr. Thomas Wells.
	Travis Garrison Travis Garrison is a composer, audio engineer, and electronic musician. His compositions include electroacoustic works for fixed media and interactive works that treat acoustic and electronic instruments and performers as equals. A common thread throughout his work is a blurring of the boundaries between things organic and things electronic, between the actual and the imagined, and between the real and the hyperreal. Current research interests include computer-based improvisational systems and the aesthetics, history, and theory of electroacoustic music. Travis’s works have been performed at conferences and festivals including the International Computer Music Conference (ICMC), the Society for Electroacoustic Music in the United States (SEAMUS) conference, the Electronic Music Midwest (EMM) Festival, and the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival (NYCEMF). Travis holds a BA in Computer Music and Composition from the University of California, San Diego, and an MA in Electroacoustic Music from Dartmouth College. Travis is currently a Ph.D. Candidate in Music Composition with a cognate in Historical Musicology at the University of Florida. [website]
	Seung-Hye Kim Seung-Hye Kim is a native of South Korea. She received her BM in piano performance from Seoul National University and a MA in Electroacoustic music composition from Korean National University of Arts. Her pieces have been performed in many international festivals such as FEMF, LITSK, SICMF, ICMC, SEAMUS, NYCEMF, EMM, The 3rd Practice, Siggraph, FEASt, WEALR, SCI, Bourges "Synthese". Her piece Fluctuation for flute and computer has been released on SEAMUS label. She's currently a Ph.D candidate at University of Florida where she studies with Dr. James Sain, Dr. Paul Koonce, and Dr. Paul Richards.
	Sean Peuquet Sean is a second-year Ph.D. composition student, originally from Philadelphia, PA. His compositions have been played at the Electronic Music Midwest Festival, ICMC, Chosen Vale International Trumpet Seminar, the Boston CyberArts Festival, and the Dartmouth Festival of New Musics, among other spots. Before coming to Florida, he graduated from the Electro-Acoustic Music masters program at Dartmouth College. At Dartmouth, he explored the topic of Discoverable Composition, which deals with the composition of pieces where an audience is not explicitly aware of music happening in their environment. In undergraduate school, at the University of Virginia, he studied music, psychology, and astronomy. [website]
	Thomas Royal The music of Thomas Royal is based in the use of contemporary technology to explore the dissolution and recombination of musical identities. This is effected by investigating alternative experiential paradigms made possible through the use of custom electronic controllers, novel performance interfaces, and alternative (re)presentational media (including screens, web interfaces, and mobile applications.) He is currently completing a dissertation about how computer frames the act and representation of musical play. His music has been performed at ICMC, EMM, NYCEMF, SECL, SEAMUS and other festivals in the United States. He won first prize in the APSU 2007 Young Composer's Competition. He has studied with Mark Engebretson, Paul Richards, Alejandro Rutty, and Jeffrey Wood. Currently, he is pursuing a Ph.D. under a supervisory committee chaired by Paul Koonce with additional support from James Paul Sain and Silvio dos Santos. [website]
Masters
	Garrett Hecker Garrett Hecker is currently pursuing his Master’s degree in Music Composition at the University of Florida. He studied under Scott Stinson at University of Miami where he earned his BM. His music explores metric complexity, extended tonalities, economy of material and non-traditional instrument groupings. He is particularly interested in the legitimization of drum set as a concert percussion instrument. He also tries to find musical interest in what seems to be mundane. He is also a percussionist and has performed with several orchestras in South Florida.
	Michael Smith Michael Sterling Smith is a composer and guitarist from Delaware. He is a graduate of the University of Delaware where he studied guitar with Christiaan Taggart and composition with Dr. Jennifer Barker. In 2010 he was awarded with emerging artist fellowship from the Delaware Division of the Arts. Michael's works consist of solo guitar music and a variety of chamber music. To date he has written for guitar, flute, clarinet, cello, and piano. Recently his work A Light Begins was performed by the University of Delaware guitar ensemble. Michael is currently pursuing a Master's in Music Composition at the University of Florida. [website]
Bachelors
	Juan Camilo Giraldo Vasquez Juan Camilo Giraldo Vasquez is a Colombian saxophonist and composer born in Fresno, Tolima. At an early age, he moved to Ibague, Tolima in order to pursue his studies in the Conservatorio de Musica de Ibague. At the Conservatorio in 2002, he started his musical studies on saxophone with Enrique Ososrio. In 2006, he was awarded with an scholarship to attend the United World College of the Atlantic in Wales, where he continued his musical studies with Brian Noyes. Two years later, he achieved the International Baccalaureate Diploma and obtained a Davis Foundation Scholarship to attend the University of Florida where he currently studies saxophone with Dr. Jonathan Helton, Composition with Dr. Paul Koonce and pursue a triple major in Sociology.