Composers

Born and raised in Seoul, South Korea, Young-Jun Lee is a distinguished composer and interdisciplinary artist currently based in both Baltimore and New York City. His innovative work seamlessly integrates orchestral music, theater, dance, visual arts, and noise, establishing him as a versatile and forward-thinking figure in contemporary composition.

Lee’s compositions have been recognized by prestigious institutions such as the Peabody Conservatory and the Fontainebleau School. He was awarded the Prix de Collaboration Inter-écoles at Fontainebleau for his exceptional collaborative skills and received the Special Prize from the third and fourth Ise-Shima Composition Competition in Japan, an award from the New Vision Composition Competition in New York, and 2nd Prize at ICIT, hosted by Thailand’s Tacet(i) Ensemble. Additionally, he is a recipient of the John Bavicchi Memorial Prize and the Vuk Kulenovic Memorial Prize during his undergraduate studies.

As a concert curator and co-founder of the New Uncertainty Collective, Lee has successfully spearheaded numerous performances in Baltimore, New York, and South Korea, showcasing his leadership and organizational expertise. These include Violin Extravaganza, Trio at Three, Korean Composers’ Night, and concerts featuring Peabody's doctoral students from Felipe Lara's studio. His innovative curation continues to foster a vibrant and inclusive musical community.

Lee’s talent has been recognized by international festivals, including the Fontainebleau American School of Music, CEME, reMusik.org, Domaine Forget, June in Buffalo, Darmstadt, and New Music on the Point, among others. He has participated in masterclasses with renowned composers such as George Lewis, Helmut Lachenmann, Chaya Czernowin, Unsuk Chin, Philippe Leroux, and Brian Ferneyhough. His works have been premiered and performed by leading ensembles and orchestras worldwide, such as the Brasilia National Theater Orchestra, Ensemble L’Itinéraire, Mivos Quartet, Ensemble Linea, Arditti Quartet, Jack Quartet, Tacet(i) Ensemble, Brightwork Ensemble, and Hashtag Ensemble.

Notably, as part of his recognition as the winner of the Macht Orchestral Composition Competition, his orchestral work was conducted by Maestro Stefan Asbury with the Peabody Concert Orchestra. His music has been showcased extensively across the United States and in countries including Canada, Israel, France, Thailand, Austria, and Germany.

Lee holds a Master’s degree in Art in Composition, with a thesis exploring the comparative studies between the etudes of Unsuk Chin and György Ligeti. He is currently pursuing a Doctorate degree at the Peabody Conservatory under the mentorship of Felipe Lara. Young-Jun Lee’s work continues to push the boundaries of contemporary music, making significant contributions to the global arts community through his innovative and interdisciplinary approach.

Zac Fick-Cambria (b. 1994) is an American composer and upright bassist. His compositional work has largely been focused on chamber and vocal works. Navigating a sea of genre fluidity, his aesthetic leans toward warped rhythmic gestures and post-minimalist soundscapes.

His chamber music has been featured at festivals and workshops such as Sō Percussion Summer Institute (2021) and Nief Norf Summer Festival (2019). Fick-Cambria’s works have been premiered by ensembles and performers such as Nadia Sirota, Chris Gross, Parker Quartet, LIGAMENT, and Esterhazy Quartet. 

He has also worked extensively in studio settings as a string/brass arranger.

Fick-Cambria worked as an editor and engraver at Carl Fischer and Theodore Presser for over five years and has been a nine-time recipient of the Paul Revere Music Engraving Awards (MPA). He now works as a freelance music editor and engraver. 

Zac earned a bachelors degree in composition with a minor in conducting from Berklee College of Music and a masters degree in composition from the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, where he is a doctoral candidate. He is currently a professor at the Community College of Baltimore County, and his music is published by Theodore Presser Co.

Jia Yi Lee is a Singaporean composer whose music explores sonic and spatial environments through movement, gesture and choreography. Inspired by natural phenomena and processes, her music challenges traditional notions of sound and creates imaginative, colorful sound worlds that captivate listeners.

Jia Yi’s music has been performed by the Singapore National Youth Orchestra, Philharmonic Wind Orchestra (SG), KOU Musik (SG), Duo Tarenna (SG), Ensemble Multilatérale (FR), Trio SurPlus (DE), Ensemble Phoenix Basel (CH), Ensemble Linea (FR), Ensemble Signal (US), Talea Ensemble (US), Alarm Will Sound (US), Ensemble Ictus (BE), Tacet(i) Ensemble (TH), soloists from Ensemble Musikfabrik (DE), Toolbox Percussion (HK), Carton Jaune (EU), Duo Stump-Linshalm (AT), International Contemporary Ensemble (US), and heard in festivals such as the Asia+ Festival (HK), WASBE International Conference (KR), IntAct Festival (TH), Toolbox International Creative Academy (HK), Académie Voix Nouvelles at Royaumont (FR), Mizzou International Composers Festival (US), June in Buffalo (US), Etchings Festival (FR), soundSCAPE Festival (IT) and Asian Composers League Festival (NZ & VN). She has been awarded the Otto Ortmann Prize in Composition (2021), and 2nd and 3rd Prizes in the Prix D'Été Competition (2022, 2020).

As a researcher, Jia Yi's interests range from timbre perception in contemporary music to Singaporean pop music, and she has presented her research at the 1st Manhattan International Composers Conference, the Music Theory Society of the Mid-Atlantic Conference and the International Association for the Study of Popular Music Conference.

Jia Yi is currently a DMA Candidate at Peabody Institute, Johns Hopkins University. She is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in Composition at Shenandoah Conservatory, as well as an Adjunct Faculty in Music Theory at Peabody Institute. She holds a MM from Peabody Institute and a BM (Honors, Highest Distinction) from Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, National University of Singapore.

David Carlton Adams is a composer, performer, teacher, and presenter of instrumental, vocal, and electronic music that seeks to cut, reflect, connect, and heal. He engages with contemporary chamber music, opera, improvisation, rock, and more. 

David’s music has been performed by the Talea Ensemble, Wet Ink Ensemble, Ensemble Linea, Friction Quartet, JACK quartet, Old Bay New Music, One Ounce Opera, and many others. He is pursuing a doctorate in composition at the Peabody Conservatory, studying with Felipe Lara, Alyssa Weinberg, Eric Wubbels, Oscar Bettison, Joel Puckett, Vid Smooke, Tony Arnold, and Wendel Patrick. He served as a co-director of Fast Forward Austin (501(c)3) and is a co-founder of the New Uncertainty Collective.

As a performer, David has premiered his own works and those of others both as a soloist and alongside members of Friction Quartet, Wet Ink Ensemble, ICE, and more on stages as varied as Antone’s in Austin, Auditorium Theater in Chicago, and the Red Room in Baltimore. Vocally, he has performed and recorded in choirs and as a lyric Baritone soloist, singing music from early to new. An electric guitarist with stage experience spanning over 20 years, he performed countless rock shows before transferring his skill and energy to the concert hall. An omnivorous electronicist, he works in hardware and software, in both composed and improvised musics. He is building a TouchOSC microtonal keyboard for ipad (controlled by SuperCollider code of his own design with guidance from Sam Pluta), and has created a prototype analog stereo “fader/ momentary mute” pedal, designing, cutting, soldering, and building it at home in his basement. His custom Pedal Stool is an ever-evolving meta-instrument incorporating digital and analog effects pedals capable of processing all manner of inputs.

David teaches Music Theory and Musicianship at The Peabody Institute at Johns Hopkins and at Towson University. He joined the faculty at the Walden School in the summer of 2024, teaching Composition, Musicianship, and a course on Rock music. David spent 4 years as a Graduate Assistant in Music Theory at Peabody, assisting Dr. Joel Puckett and Dr. Jessica Hunt in teaching the entire undergraduate core theory curriculum while completing his master’s degree and doctoral coursework. David is now part of the first wave of professors teaching a new Music Theory core curriculum designed to achieve new levels of inclusivity. Before attending Peabody, David co-designed and taught the music curriculum for the Middle Years Program at the International School of Texas, and taught thousands of private lessons in the Austin metropolitan area.

From complex modernist mayhem to gentle electric noise, from interdisciplinary dreamlands to intense composed theater, from games and graphically redacted grooves to microtonal madness, David lives in sound, and he’s not afraid to try something wild.