About the performers:
Katie Jenkins:
Katie Jenkins is an award winning Welsh composer, now based in New York City. Her music weaves together tapestries of sound, focusing on the way that textures can be layered, evoking simultaneous environments. She is an active recording artist and features regularly as vocalist on her own tracks. Katie’s music has been performed across Europe and the US, including performances at National Sawdust Brooklyn where she held a fellowship, The Juilliard School, The Curtis Institute of Music and The Wales Millennium Centre. Her multimedia collaborations have resulted in boundary pushing theatrical projects that include ‘American A.I- Am I Dreaming’ under the direction of New York based artist, Treyden Chiaravalloti. Other successful collaborations include music for Juilliard’s choreographers as well as music for animation, featuring award-winning violinist Nathan Meltzer. Katie has been commissioned by directors across the UK and US, including BBC Wildlife film maker Nick Jones and Paper Rose production company. Her music is also featured in music libraries including Crime Sonics, MIBE and MPATH. Katie has composed for dance, theatre, opera and choir. She has written for award winning soloists such as pianist Umi Garrett and soprano Libby Sokolowski. Her work has been performed by ensembles including the Harmonia Sacra Choir, Juilliard’s string quartets and featured at music festivals in Varna, Bulgaria and The Academy of Music, Serbia. Her work ‘Toccata’ for solo piano was placed 1st in the International Piano Competition, Smederevo, Serbia this year. Katie most recently produced an online opera with director Mathilda du Tilleul Mcnicol which aired online at Opera-Vision at the end of August. At the Juilliard School, Katie was the last student of renowned composer, Christopher Rouse. She recently worked with Matthias Pintscher, conductor of the Ensemble Intercomporain, as well as Pulitzer prize winning composer Melinda Wagner.
Emily Carpenter:
Harpist Emily Carpenter is a current student at the Cleveland Institute of Music under the tutelage of Yolanda Kondonassis. Carpenter completed her undergraduate studies at Oklahoma City University summa cum laude with a Bachelor’s of Music in Harp Performance, and is now pursuing a Master of Music degree in Harp Performance. Her previous instructors include Faith O’Neal, Lawrence Odom, and Rebekah Swicegood. Carpenter received the First Place prize in the LMC Zachritz Harp Competition in 2020, and made her solo debut with the Oklahoma City Community Orchestra with a world premiere of Smetana’s Die Moldau transcribed for harp and orchestra. She has frequently performed with the Oklahoma City University Orchestra, the Oklahoma Youth Orchestras, Oklahoma City Symphonic Band, and the Oklahoma City Community Orchestras. Carpenter is a private event soloist and teaches harp and piano lessons. She is now based in Cleveland, Ohio.