Guest Artists

Conductors
· Joel Smirnoff
· Tomasz Golka
· Robert Moody

Composers
· Behzad Ranjbaran
· Brad Sayles

Soloists
· Simone Dinnerstein
· Adam Golka
· Michael Zuraw

Brad Sayles, Composer

A composer since his early teens, Brad Sayles has come to fulfill his promise by displaying his talents on many different sides of the medium of music; both live and recorded. His recent sound installation for sculptor Jo Ann Fleischhauer's Parasol Project has given Houstonians an aural springboard from which to jump into the exciting visual components of the old Blanche Foley house.

His work on the independent films Echoes of Innocence and The Bracelet of Bordeaux have brought scores of both haunting beauty and uproarious fun to the movie theater, while his energetic score for the Houston Public Television special Art Is All Around Us was nominated last year for an Emmy. He is also the 2003 first laureate of the Louisa Stude Sarofim Composition Competition for his chamber suite New England Journey.

Houston Public Radio benefits from Brad's talent in myriad ways as well. He has created the music for the last three Engines of Our Ingenuity CDs with host and author John Lienhard. Brad also serves as chief recording engineer for the Houston NPR affiliate. The Houston Symphony Orchestra continuously relies on Brad's exceptional ear and technical knowledge to present its broadcasts and to produce its most recent recordings. Brad is equally at home editing sound for film, prompting Academy Award nominated sound editor Allen Robert Murray to hail Brad’s expertise as “incredible” for his work on the movie Space Cowboys.

He received his Masters in Music Composition from the University of Houston studying with Robert Nelson, and his Bachelors of Arts in Telecommunication from Michigan State University.