Kristen Dye is a freelance flutist based in Boston. A native of New York, she has been an active performer in New England and Colorado. She was a co-founder of the Aquila Summer Concert Series in Greeley, CO which tied contemporary music in with local businesses. Currently, she teaches band in Acton-Boxborough, MA and performs in pit orchestras and community orchestras in the Greater Boston area.
Beth Ratay is a versatile composer who is able to craft music using a wide variety of styles and techniques. From music possessed of a quiet, understated grace, to music based on mathematical concepts, to emotive and hilarious opera, Ratay's music is engaging, charming and beautiful.
Dr. Ratay received her Doctor of Musical Arts in Music Composition from the University of California, Santa Cruz, her Master of Music in Music Composition from Arizona State University, and her Bachelor of Music in Music Composition from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Her musical research has focused on the music of Harrison Birtwistle as well as text setting, poetic interpretation and the relationship of language to music, especially in Czech, German and English. She has studied with composers David Evan Jones, Paul Nauert, James DeMars, and Michael Theodore.
Leah Reid is a composer of acoustic and electroacoustic music. In recent reviews, her works have been described as “immersive,” “haunting,” and “shimmering.” She has received numerous awards and honors, including the American Prize in Composition—Vocal Chamber Music, first prizes in the 8th KLANG! International Electroacoustic Composition Competition and the Tesselat Electronic Music Competition, IAWM’s Pauline Oliveros Prize, second prizes in the Iannis Xenakis International Electronic Music Competition and the 13th International Destellos Competition, the Film Score Award in Frame Dance Productions’ Music Composition Competition, and residencies from the MacDowell Colony, the Ucross Foundation, the VCCA, and Hambidge Center.
Reid has worked with ensembles such as Accordant Commons, Blow Up Percussion, Concavo & Convesso, Ensemble Móbile, Guerilla Opera, the Jack Quartet, McGill’s Contemporary Music Ensemble, Neave Trio, Sound Gear, Talea, and Yarn/Wire. Her compositions have been presented at festivals, conferences, and in major venues throughout the world, including including Aveiro_Síntese (Portugal), BEAST FEaST (England), Espacios Sonoros (Argentina), EviMus (Germany), Forgotten Spaces: EuroMicrofest (Germany), the International Computer Music Conference (USA & Chile), IRCAM’s ManiFeste (France), LA Philharmonic's Noon to Midnight (USA), the Matera Intermedia Festival (Italy), the New York City Electronic Music Festival (USA), the OUA Electroacoustic Music Festival (Japan), the San Francisco Tape Music Festival (USA), Série de Música de Câmara (Brazil), the Society of Composers National Conference (USA), Soochow New Voice Concert Series (China), the Sound and Music Computing Conference (Germany), the Tilde New Music Festival (Australia), the Toronto International Electroacoustic Symposium (Canada), and the Workshop on Computer Music and Audio Technology (Taiwan), among many others.
Reid received her D.M.A. and M.A. in music composition from Stanford University and her B.Mus from McGill University. She is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Virginia.
Erin M. Smith | Artistic Director Emeritus and Board of Directors
Erin Smith a founding member of BNMI and served in the position of Artistic Director from 2009-2014. She is a vocal interpreter of opera, oratorio, musical theater, new music, and art song in the Boston area. She has performed with Opera Providence, Cape Code Opera, Boston Opera Collaborative, MetroWest Opera, Boston Metro Opera, The Boston New Music Initiative, Opera del West, The Falmouth Chorale, The Newton Community Chorus, and the Paul Madore Chorale, among others. In addition to performing, Erin is also an experienced voice teacher and music educator, and currently teaches voice as part of The Prodigy Program at Westwood Public Schools and at the Bedford Youth Performing Company in Bedford, New Hampshire. She also teaches elementary classroom music as a Teaching Artist of the Metropolitan Opera Guild's Urban Voices program Erin holds a Bachelor of Music, magna cum laude in Music Education and Voice Performance from Western Michigan University, and earned Pi Kappa Lambda honors and a Master of Arts degree in Voice Performance from the University of Iowa.
Nathan Lofton | Artistic Adviser and Board of Directors
Nathan Lofton enjoys an active career as a conductor, composer, and singer. Nathan has served on the musical staffs of the Boston New Music Initiative, the New England Conservatory Contemporary Ensemble, the Tanglewood Music Center, and the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia. Also a composer and arranger, Nathan’s arrangements have been performed by the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, the United States Navy Band, and members of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, and Canadian Brass. As a professional singer, Nathan has performed with the Boston Symphony and Philadelphia Orchestras at Carnegie Hall, the Lucerne and BBC Proms Festivals, and on PBS’s Great Performances. A native of San Francisco, Nathan is a graduate of the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts, the New England Conservatory, and Temple University. Nathan has studied composition with Michael Gandolfi and Scott Wheeler, and conducting with Paul Rardin, Charles Peltz, and Hugh Wolff. Nathan has participated in conducting masterclasses sponsored by the American Choral Director’s Association, Chorus America, and the Oregon Bach Festival with Simon Halsey, Helmuth Rilling, and Robert Spano.
