Composer Dai Wei’s musical journey navigates in the spaces between east and west, classical and pop, electronic and acoustic, innovation and tradition. She often draws from eastern philosophy and aesthetics to create works with contemporary resonance and reflects on how these multidimensional conflicts and tension can create and inhabit worlds of their own. Her artistry is nourished by the Asian and Chinese Ethnic cultures in numerous ways. Being an experimental vocalist, she also performs herself as a Khoomei throat singer.
Among her extensive credits, Wei was awarded CANOA Commission (Composing a New Orchestra Audience) from the American Composer Orchestra Underwood New Music Reading and her work Invisible Portals for chamber orchestra was premiered under that baton of Marin Alsop at Carnegie Hall in 2022. Her orchestral work Samsaric Dance was featured at New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s Edward Cone Composition Institute in 2022. Wei was featured in The Washington Post’s “22 for 22’: Composers and Performers to Watch this Year.”
During the centralized quarantine, Wei wrote a piece for solo violin and electronics called Song for Shades of Crimson, which was dedicated to people who have died from coronavirus. It was premiered by violinist Todd Reynolds at the Bang on a Can 2020 Marathon. She served as Young Artist Composer-in-Residence at Music from Angel Fire and Composer Fellow at Intimacy of Creativity in Hong Kong. Other projects have included commissions and collaborations from orchestras and ensembles such as the Utah Symphony Orchestra, Curtis Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, San Diego Youth Symphony, Aizuri String Quartet, and the Rock School of Ballet in Philadelphia. Her compositions have been broadcast by WRTI, Performance Today, WHYY, Shanghai Dragon Television, Radio Television Hong Kong, and Qinghai Television.
Wei collaborated with the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia under the direction of Dirk Brossé for two consecutive years, with which she performed as a vocalist and made her premiere at Kimmel Center in Philadelphia. She has also performed her own compositions at the Bang on a Can Summer Festival, New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, International Computer Music Conference, World Saxophone Congress, and North American Saxophone Alliance.
Wei is currently pursuing a doctorate in Music Composition at Princeton University as a Naumburg Fellow. She holds an Artist Diploma from the Curtis Institute of Music. After she finished her B.A. in Music Composition at the Xinghai Conservatory of Music in China, Wei came to the United States and earned an M.M. in Music Composition at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.
Special thanks to our Sponsors:
Premiere Sponsors – Anna Butturini, Justus + Elizabeth Schlichting, and Anne-Marie Spataru
Score Sponsors – June Li, Nancy + Barry Sanders, Greg Soukup + Mary Jo Carr, and Joan Wynn
YOUR $500 SOUND INVESTMENT MEMBERSHIP INCLUDES
- Invitation for three salon events plus a special orchestral reading with Dai Wei
- Tickets for two to the world premiere on May 10, 2025
- An autographed copy of the commemorative score
LACO also offers an Introductory Membership Level at $250 for a first-time Sound Investor, as well as a $50 Student Membership. To take advantage of this special rate or for more information about joining Sound Investment, contact Laura Goodall, at (213) 622-7001, EXT. 224 or lauragoodall@laco.org.
Sound Investment salon dates:
#1 – Thursday, September 12 at 7:00 P.M.
#2 – Thursday, December 5 at 7:00 P.M.
#3 – Thursday, February 13 at 7:00 P.M.
#4 – Thursday, May 8 at 7:00 P.M.
Nina Shekhar is a composer and multimedia artist who explores the intersection of identity, vulnerability, love, and laughter to create bold and intensely personal works.
Described as “tart and compelling” (New York Times), “vivid” (Washington Post), and an “orchestral supernova” (LA Times), her music has been commissioned and performed by leading artists including the New York Philharmonic, LA Philharmonic, Nashville Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, Oregon Symphony, Albany Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, New World Symphony, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, Eighth Blackbird, International Contemporary Ensemble, JACK Quartet, New York Youth Symphony, Alarm Will Sound, The Crossing, Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, ETHEL, violinist Jennifer Koh, saxophonist Timothy McAllister, Ensemble Échappé, Music from Copland House, soprano Tony Arnold, Third Angle New Music, The New York Virtuoso Singers, Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, Lyris Quartet, Ray-Kallay Duo, and New Music Detroit. Her work has been featured by Carnegie Hall, Hollywood Bowl, Kennedy Center, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Library of Congress, National Gallery of Art, National Sawdust, I Care If You Listen, ScoreFollower, and WNYC/New Sounds (New York), WFMT (Chicago), and KUSC and KPFK (Los Angeles) radio.
Recent and upcoming events include performances by the New York Philharmonic, LA Philharmonic (joined by soloists Nathalie Joachim and Pamela Z), Seattle Symphony, Louisville Orchestra, Sarasota Orchestra, and her Hollywood Bowl debut with the LA Phil. Current projects include commissions for the New York Philharmonic, Grand Rapids Symphony, and Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA) (sponsored by LA Phil and New Music USA). Shekhar is the recipient of the 2021 Rudolf Nissim Prize, two ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Awards (2015 and 2019), 2022 BMI Student Composer Award, and the 2018 ASCAP Foundation Leonard Bernstein Award, funded by the Bernstein family.
Aside from composing, Shekhar is a versatile performing artist as a flutist, pianist, and saxophonist. She has been featured by the National Flute Association, and she has performed in the Detroit International Jazz Festival and as a soloist with the USC Thornton Symphony and the Lublin Philharmonic at the Poland International Piano Festival.
Shekhar is currently a PhD candidate in Music Composition at Princeton University. She previously completed composition graduate studies at University of Southern California and undergraduate studies at University of Michigan, earning dual degrees in music composition and chemical engineering. She was recently appointed as the 2021-2023 Composer-in-Residence for Young Concert Artists. She is a 2022-2023 Civitella Ranieri Foundation Music Fellow. An active educator, Shekhar is a faculty mentor for Luna Composition Lab and Brightwork newmusic‘s Project Beacon initiative and previously served as a Composer Teaching Artist Fellow for the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. She has also held guest composer residencies at New York University, University of Colorado-Boulder, Western Michigan University, and Portland State University. She is a first-generation Indian American and a native of Detroit, Michigan.
Special thanks to our 2023/24 Sponsors:
Premiere Sponsors – Anna Butturini and Anne-Marie Spataru
Sponsors – Nancy + Barry Sanders; Kerry + Robert Shuman; Greg Soukup + Mary Jo Carr
2022/23 SOUND INVESTMENT COMPOSER MARC LOWENSTEIN
Marc Lowenstein is a composer, conductor, and educator. He composes music infused with a searching sense of narrative and mysticism. Focusing on larger scale works, he was one of the principal composers of Hopscotch, writing scenes for limousine interiors, an outdoor park, and an abandoned theater. He has written long form pieces based on concepts of Jewish and Buddhist meditations including this for Jodie Landau and wildUp, T’shuvah for improvising Bassoon and string quartet, Every Day for mixed chorus, and a ’Cello concerto, T’filat ha-Derech. He has written an opera based on the movie The Fisher King, and a family opera called Little Bear.
Marc is the founding Music Director of The Industry, Los Angeles’ groundbreaking and widely acclaimed experimental opera company. With the Industry, he helped lead Sweet Land, Hopscotch, Invisible Cities, and Crescent Cities. With the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Industry conducted and recorded Lou Harrison’s Young Caesar and was music advisor for Cage’s EUROPERAS. Outside of the Industry, Marc has been Music Director for several opera premieres including John King’s Dice Thrown, and the American premieres of George Aperghis’ L’Origine des Espèces, Veronika Krausas’ The Immortal Thoughts of Lady MacBeth, Stephen Oliver’s Peach Blossom Fan, and Murray Schaeffer’s Loving.
He has also worked with the LAPhil as a cover conductor, leading the premiere of Hermann’s The Call, and assisting on Hearne’s PLACE and Norman’s Trip to the Moon. With Beth Morrison Productions he co-conducted the premiere of Danielle Birrittella’s Magdalene and he also conducted on New York City Opera’s Vox opera workshop program for four years. He has been called “a terrific singer” (LA Times), an “assured conductor” (New York Times) and “raptly lyrical” (New Yorker).
Marc has taught at CalArts since 1996, and teaches courses centered around a humanistic approach to Music Theory and composition. He has been named a Coursera ‘Top Instructor’ for his CalArts Coursera Class called ‘Approaching Music Theory’ and loves talking about Music Theory and the fact that it doesn’t really exist.
sound investment
composers + commissions
2023/24 Nina Shekhar GLITTER MONSTER
2022/23 Marc Lowenstein HaZ’màn HaZèh הזמן הזה
2021/22 Shelley Washington Both
2020/21 Peter S. Shin Hyo
2019/20 Juan Pablo Contreras Lucha Libre!
2018/19 Sarah Gibson warp & weft
2017/18 Ellen Reid Petrichor
2016/17 Julia Adolphe Shiver and Bloom
2015/16 Matthew Aucoin Evidence
2014/15 Ted Hearne Respirator
2013/14 Han Lash This Ease
2012/13 Andrew Norman Music in Circles III
2011/12 Timo Andres Old Keys
2010/11 Derek Bermel Mar de Setembro
2009/10 George Tsontakis Laconika
2008/09 Christopher Theofanidis Radiant Mind
2007/08 Kevin Puts Night
2006/07 Gernot Wolfgang Desert Wind
2005/06 Uri Caine Double Concerto for 2 Pianos and Chamber Orchestra
2004/05 Donald Crockett Fanfares & Laments
2003/04 Pierre Jalbert Chamber Symphony
2002/03 John Steinmetz Bassoon Concerto
(co-commission with Santa Rosa Symphony and Keene Chamber Orchestra)
2001/02 Kenneth Frazelle Concerto for Orchestra
(co-commission with Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Nashville Chamber Orchestra)