Congratulations!
Congratulations to our winning composers for Batture Contemporary 2025!
Chris Alford
New Orleans based improviser/guitarist/composer Chris Alford utilizes a spherical approach in his artistry. In one hemisphere is the deep tradition of jazz and blues languages of the past and in the other is avant-garde, unconventional, creative syntax. Warping the old with the new, Alford keeps his feet rooted in the ground all the while looking beyond the horizon. He is just as likely to galvanize an audience with peculiar, angular, sharp flourishes as he is to allure with luscious, atmospheric harmony and melodies. An openness to sound and collaboration allows Alford to shape and guide the music in an organic flow.
Andrew Bass
Andrew Bass is a 28 year old Composer/Songwriter/Musician who is currently working towards his M.M. in Music Composition at LSU. He is currently studying under Dr. Brian Nabors.
Stephen David Beck
Stephen David Beck (b. 1959) teaches music composition and electroacoustic music at Louisiana State University where he is the Derryl & Helen Haymon Professor of Music. He received his PhD in music composition and theory from the University of California, Los Angeles where he studied with Henri Lazarof, Elaine Barkin, Paul Reale, Alden Ashforth and Roger Bourland. In 1985, he studied computer music at IRCAM with the support of an Annette Kade/Fulbright Fellowship, and joined the faculty at LSU in 1988. Since 2003, he has held a joint position at the Center for Computation & Technology, where he established the Cultural Computing group and led the development of the PhD program in Experimental Music & Digital Media.
Jeremi Edwards
Jeremi W. Edwards, a Louisiana native, earning a bachelor’s degree in music education from McNeese State University, followed by a Master of Music in Theory and Composition at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette under the mentorship of Dr. Quincy Hilliard. Next He earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Music Composition from Louisiana State University, guided by Dr. Mara Gibson. His doctoral dissertation, titled “A Synthesis of Contemporary Music Composition Pedagogy Practices for the Undergraduate and Graduate Level Sequences, and An Exploration of Time, Sound, and Space: An Aleatoric Event Score in Collaboration with the LSU Museum of Art” (2022), Presently, Dr. Jeremi W. Edwards holds the position of Assistant Professor of Music Theory and Composition at McNeese State University, where he also serves as the Coordinator of Music Theory. his music finds its roots in the sounds of the Late Romantic, Impressionistic, and Early 20th Century periods, “Harmonies serve as a tools, allowing me to blur the lines between tonal and non-tonal progressions, exploring the depths of extreme chromaticism while embracing the beauty of minimalist compositions.”
Mara Gibson
Composer Mara Gibson originally from Charlottesville, VA, graduated from Bennington College, and completed her Ph.D. at SUNY Buffalo. She has received grants and honors from the American Composer’s Forum, the Banff Center, Louisiana Division of the Arts, ArtsKC, Meet the Composer, the Kansas Arts Commission, the National Endowment for the Arts, the International Bass Society, ASCAP, the John Hendrick Memorial Commission, Virginia Center for Creative Arts, the MacDowell Colony and Yale University. Internationally renowned ensembles and soloists perform her music throughout the United States, Canada, South America, Asia, and Europe. Dr. Gibson has had performances of her works at prestigious festivals and universities around the country and the world and she currently leads the composition program at Louisiana State University.
Ryan Harrison
Dr. Ryan Harrison (New Orleans native) is a composer of classical music and wildlife photographer. His artistic output, be it musical or through other media, seeks to communicate and evoke emotions, sentiments, and themes universal to the human condition: e.g., loss, triumph, dread, hope. Through the years, he has been fortunate to study under composers and educators such as Jerry Sieg, Barbara Jazwinski, Edward Dulaney, Rick Snow, Scott Lindroth, John Supko, and Stephen Jaffe. He has collaborated with a variety of ensembles and performers, including Mivos Quartet, Jeremy Huw Williams, the Lunar Ensemble, the New Orleans Chamber Orchestra, Horszowski Trio, the Weekend of Chamber Music, Timothée Varon, and members of the Louisiana Philharmonic. He holds degrees in music composition from the University of New Orleans (Bachelor of Arts), Tulane University (Master of Fine Arts), and Duke University (Master of Arts and Ph.D.).
Dietrich Hitt
Dietrich Hitt is a composer, sonic artist, and percussionist based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He works as a freelance composer in concert and film music, as well as an instructor, mentor, and artistic advocate. His work has been presented at the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival, the Bare Bones International Film Festival, the Missouri Experimental Sonic Arts Festival, the Pellegrini Festival of New Music, the Texas New Music Festival, and the Sao Paulo Contemporary Composers Festival. Dietrich holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music Composition and Mathematics from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and a Master of Music degree in Composition from The University of Oklahoma. He is studying for his Ph.D at Louisiana State University, where he researches topics in music technology and pedagogy.
Sam Kohler
Sam Kohler is a composer and multi-instrumentalist based in Baton Rouge, LA. Currently he serves as Director of Music at Trinity Episcopal Church. A lifelong musician from a family of dedicated musicians, he has pursued a wide range of music-making avenues. Recent collaborations include the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble, Marigny Opera Ballet, Talea Ensemble, Rhythm Method String Quartet, Avenue Azure, Polymnia Quartet, and the New Orleans Chamber Orchestra. His work “sun-splash color-room” was awarded the ASCAP Morton Gould Award in 2022. He has been on the faculty at Baton Rouge Conservatory, LAAPA, Baltimore School of Music, and Make Music NOLA. Previously, he served as organist and choirmaster at St. Paul Lutheran in the Marigny, and was guitarist for New Orleans-based fusion band Skeptic Moon. He studied composition with Felipe Lara at the Peabody Institute, Barbara Jazwinski at Tulane University, and Christopher Theofanidis at the Aspen Music Festival.
Mel Mobley
A native of Texas, Mel Mobley currently resides in Monroe, Louisiana. As composer, conductor, performer, and advocate of new music, he has been part of numerous premieres and festivals around the country. He is a founder and coordinator of the New Music on the Bayou Festival in north Louisiana. While frequently performing with the Monroe, Shreveport, and South Arkansas Symphonies, Mel is also heavily involved in the production of contemporary chamber music. His compositions have been performed throughout the U.S. and abroad and can be found on the Ansonica, Navona, and Revello labels. Dr. Mobley teaches at the University of Louisiana at Monroe and at several camps throughout Haiti in the summers. He is a member of ASCAP, National Association of Composers USA, and the Southeastern Composers League. More information can be found at melmobley.com.
Ben Robichaux
Ben Robichaux (b. 1991) aims to write accessible music that musicians and non-musicians alike can enjoy. He is a two-time recipient of the James E. Croft Grant for Young and Emerging Wind Band Composers, and he was selected as a participant in the National Band Association Young Composers and Conductors Mentor Project culminating in a performance with the U.S. Air Force Band. His work As the Lights Go Out for wind ensemble and electronics earned him an ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award in 2021. He received a DMA and an MM in Composition from the University of Georgia where he studied with Natalie Williams, Leonard V. Ball, Peter Van Zandt Lane, Adrian Childs, and Emily Koh. His music is published by Murphy Music Press, and he is the Director of Athletic Bands and Assistant Professor of Music Composition at Nicholls State University.
Greg Robin
Greg Robin is a composer and guitarist from Louisiana. Gregory’s music explores timbre, rhythmic partitioning of motivic elements, and the juxtaposition of dynamic contrast and musical interruption. Through a tightly controlled yet intuitive process, motivic aspects of pitch, rhythm, and timbre meld together to form a cohesive and organic whole. Currently, he serves as guitar instructor for Comeaux High School and as Chair of the Guitar Committee for the Louisiana Music Educators Association.
Ben Zervigon
Born in 2000 in New Orleans, LA, B.K.Zervigón began composing at a young age. Often dealing with the challenges facing the Gulf Coast due to climate change and industrialization, his work seeks to create a soundscape which reflects the interplay between heavy industry and ancient, sickly nature. This Southeast Louisiana landscape seeps into his work through its often massive architectural process against intensely emotional and intuitive feeling. His output includes works for piano, retuned piano, instrumental solos, chamber works, electronic music and installation work. In addition to writing, Zervigón is an active piano soloist and concert organizer with the Alluvium Ensemble. He holds a MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. Zervigón has studied with Yotam Haber, Michael Hersch, Carla Kihlstedt and Tristan Murail among others. His music can be heard regularly in New Orleans and has been played across the northern hemisphere.
