Kristen Dye | Executive Director

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.

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Tim Davis | President and Founder

Dr. Tim Davis brings a variety of management and contemporary concert music experience to his role as president of The Boston New Music Initiative. Tim’s motivation in founding BNMI reflects his long-standing commitment to furthering the careers of composers and musicians. Tim earned his doctorate in composition from the University of Iowa in 2009, and also holds degrees from Boston College and the University of Massachusetts. In addition to his ongoing projects in composition, he has served as a judge for composition competitions with PARMA Recordings, the National Federation of Music Clubs, and on judging panels for BNMI's Calls for Scores.  He provides private composition instruction throughout New England, and previously worked as an instructor of theory and aural skills at the University of Iowa. 

Tim works as a manager in the Project Management Office at Service Credit Union, and also works with several clients as project management and administrative consultant.  He resides on the seacoast in New Hampshire with his wife, soprano Erin M. Smith, and their children Caroline and Jack.

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Dan Langa | Membership Associate

Dan Langa is a composer, producer, and arranger creating music that explores bold and vivid textures. He holds a particular fascination with electroacoustic music and incorporating elements of the natural world into his work.

Dan has received awards, grants, and recognition from Du Vert à L'Infini Festival, RED NOTE New Music Festival, Hot Air Music Festival, Fire Island National Seashore, Sō Percussion Summer Institute, Fresh Inc Festival, The Ear Competition, Amherst College, New York University, and the University of South Carolina Spark Laboratory.

Dan’s work is deeply influenced by his roots in Ann Arbor, MI. His childhood placed him between the vibrant electronic, soul, and hip-hop scenes of Detroit, the strong folk music community in Ann Arbor, and the classical music concerts presented through the University of Michigan. This eclectic mixture heavily informs how Dan listens to and writes music. Dan earned his BA in Music from Amherst College graduating magna cum laude with highest departmental honors studying with Eric Sawyer, John McDonald, Bruce Diehl, Eric Wubbels, and Ryan Vigil. He was awarded the Eric Edward Sundquist Prize for excellence in musical composition and performance. Dan received his Master’s Degree in Music Theory and Composition from New York University studying with Julia Wolfe and Robert Honstein.

Tom Scahill | Membership Advisor

Tom Scahill joined BNMI when he moved to Boston in August 2012. He currently serves as the Director of Networking and Professional Development. In the spring of 2012, Tom completed a Master of Arts in Music Theory from University of Wisconsin-Madison where he also served as the Composition Co-chair for the Midwest Graduate Music Consortium Conference. Tom also holds degrees from Nazareth College of Rochester (BM, 2010), and Finger Lakes Community College (AS, 2008).

Beth Ratay | Artistic Director

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.

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Leah Reid | ARTISTIC ASSOCIATE

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.

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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.

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Nathan Lofton | Artistic Adviser and Board of Directors