BAHLEST EEBLe readings Performer FELLOWS 2027-2028
Cycle Twenty-Two: 2027-28
Composing Earth Fellowship 1
Photo by Alexia Webster
Jess Tsang
Jess Tsang is a percussionist, researcher, and improviser dedicated to the creation of new interdisciplinary works. Her sonic practice utilizes bass drums as conduits for tactile feedback loops and acoustic amplifiers for found objects. With a foundation in classical percussion technique, Jess draws inspiration from material culture studies and Foley artists to examine how objects shape our lives, and how that might be translated into music. She released sound shadows, her debut album for amplified bass drum, feedback, and objects, in 2021, and has presented her lecture recital on the intersection of found objects and percussion music at Harvard University.
Jess has appeared in performances throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. She is a founding member of guitar and percussion duo party of one and experimental ambient sextet dogsbody, and has worked extensively in theater and opera, most recently on creating the live score for Official Puppet Business’ Parched, a post-apocalyptic water scarcity Western. In 2024, Jess held the vibraphone chair in Justin Peck and Jackie Sibbles Drury's Tony-award winning Broadway musical, Illinoise. Other favorite projects include premiering Nicole Lizée’s interactive Mozart murder-mystery opera No One’s Safe at the Banff Centre, and performing within Martin Creed’s installation The Back Door at the Park Avenue Armory.
Jess completed her graduate studies at McGill University and holds a B.M. from The New School. Since 2022, she has worked with Found Sound Nation, serving as the Programs Manager for OneBeat and other musical exchange programs. www.jesstsang.net
Kenken Gorder
Kenken Gorder is a versatile trumpeter, music educator, interdisciplinary collaborative artist, and arts administrator based in Austin, Texas. He is a member of the new music collectives Density512 and Black House Collective. He can be heard on various albums and labels such as Crystal Records, Toccata Classics, and Earth Libraries. Most recently, Kenken co-founded a Filipino-American trio called Tatsulok which is composed of trumpet, soprano (Katrina Saporsantos), and piano (Benjamin Dia). Kenken enjoys engaging in interdisciplinary collaborations and performing alongside his friends. His 2025 album, NÜTOOTS, is an example of his passion for music, creativity, and collaboration
As a music educator, his students have performed at the regional, state, and national levels. He served as an adjudicator for the 2026 National Trumpet Competition and the 2024 International Women’s Brass Conference in Japan. Currently, Kenken serves as the Program Manager at the Austin Chamber Music Center, where he executes its education initiatives and produces concerts throughout the year.
Kenken earned a Master of Arts in trumpet performance from the University of Iowa and a Bachelor of Science degree in music education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. More information can be found at www.kenkengorder.com.
Photo by Shayne Gray
Emma Meinrenken
Canadian-German violinist Emma Meinrenken is an artist praised for her effortless technique and virtuosity, as well as her skill in interpreting contemporary music. She is the newly-appointed Associate 1st Violin of the New York City Ballet, and is a recipient of the 2023 Sylva Gelber Music Foundation Award, the 2023 Yale Presser Foundation Music Award, and a 2024 Yale Alumni Association Award. She received 1st place at the Stradivarius International Violin Competition, the Prix Ravel at the Ecole d'Art Américaines de Fontainebleau, and has participated in chamber music festivals such as the NUME Festival, Gstaad Menuhin Festival, Verbier Festival Academy, Krzyżowa Festival, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, and the Four Seasons Winter Workshop. She is a co-founder of Music Around the Corner, a concert series based in Toronto.
Meinrenken made her solo debut with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 2011, and has since performed with orchestras across North America and Europe. She often collaborates with composers, and has been the dedicatee of many new compositions. She made her Carnegie Hall debut giving the New York premiere of a piece for violin and guitar by Fred Lerdahl, and was the soloist for the premieres of violin concertos by Maya Miro Johnson and Jaebong Rho. She was a featured solo artist at Bang on a Can’s 2026 ‘Long Play’ festival.
Upon graduating from the Curtis Institute of Music, where she studied with renowned pedagogue Ida Kavafian, Meinrenken received the Milka Violin Artist Prize. Originally from Toronto, Canada, she spent her formative years in the studio of Atis Bankas as a student in the Taylor Performance Academy for Young Artists. She has a Master of Musical Arts from Yale, where she was under the tutelage of the violin luminary Augustin Hadelich, and is currently pursuing her doctorate degree at the CUNY with Mark Steinberg. She plays on a 2013 Mario Miralles violin, and a ca.1870 Nicolas Maline bow.