Faculty

Subject to change:

Dr. Rob Deemer, Professor of Composition, SUNY Fredonia

Lauren Spavelko (b. 1989) is a composer, educator, performer, and visual artist. Her compositions foster deeper connections within ourselves and with others, creating works that explore play, healing, joy, and catharsis.

Spavelko has received commissions from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Johnstone Fund for New Music, and the Central Ohio Symphony, among many others. Her compositions have earned multiple accolades, including the Spoleto Festival’s Young Composers Prize (Italy, Baby Book), the American Prize in Vocal Chamber Music: The Charles Ives Award (From Edna, with Love), and the Ruth Anderson Commission Prize (IAWM, Black Box 2.0). Her music has reached audiences across the U.S., Italy, Singapore, Vietnam, and Canada.

Notable works include Baby Book, a song cycle on miscarriage, pregnancy, and motherhood; Kéyah, a symphonic work in collaboration with National Parks photographer Frank Lee Ruggles; and Grit, a widely performed string orchestra piece featured at honor and all-state festivals nationwide.

In addition to composing, Spavelko operates Musical Life, a private studio offering lessons in voice, piano, violin, and composition. She teaches at Otterbein University, presents in K-12 classrooms, and designs youth composition workshops. She holds degrees from the University of Louisville (M.M. Composition) and Ohio Wesleyan University (B.M. Music Education).

Songwriter Emily Pinkerton crafts original music that “unites the traditional and the modern in a stunning, beautiful fashion” (PopMatters). She is a founding member of The Early Mays, a band that has topped the National Folk-DJ charts and has appeared twice on NPR’s Mountain Stage. Emily is currently producing two new projects: an album of piano songs, and “Ephemera Ballads” a chamber piece for voice, banjo, flute, clarinet, electric guitar and bass (commissioned by Rochester-based fivebyfive). Both works explore themes of voice, gender and bodily autonomy. Past chamber music projects include Rounder Songs (New Amsterdam Records, 2017), and Looking for Violeta, a folk opera about Chilean songwriter Violeta Parra (Quantum Theatre, Pittsburgh, PA). In addition to her performance and songwriting, Emily is a passionate educator. She has worked as a Music Industry professor at The College of Saint Rose, an Ethnomusicology Instructor at The University of Pittsburgh, and an ENL Teacher at Albany High School. She serves on the New York State School Music Association (NYSSMA) Composition and Songwriting Committee which provides creative opportunities for K-12 students across the state.