About the Artists

Jonas Tarm, composer

Estonian-American Jonas Tarm (b. 1994) has drawn widespread recognition for his musical compositions. That’s included a National YoungArts Foundation award, a first place in the Music Teachers National Association’s 50-state composition contest and multiple other awards.

Jonas’s works have been performed at venues around the world, such as Miami’s New World Center, Beijing Forbidden City Concert Hall in China, Merkin Concert Hall in New York, Altenhof Kuhhaus in Germany, Pärnu Music Festival in Estonia and many more. His music has been commissioned by, among others, the Tallinn Philharmonic Society, New York Virtuoso Singers, Chicago Beethoven Festival and the Estonian Composer’s Union. He is currently studying at the New England Conservatory in Boston with Stratis Minakakis and Anthony Coleman. Jonas’s music has also been frequently heard on Chicago’s 98.7 WFMT classical radio station and Estonia’s ERR Classical Radio.

Jonas started studying music in Estonia, where he was born. At age 7, he started violin studies at Tallinn’s Vanalinna Hariduskolleegium, and also sang in one of the school’s boys choirs. At 10, his family moved to Chicago, where his musical education kicked into high gear, including violin studies with Portuguese violinist Gerardo Ribeiro and composition with Matthew Hagle at the Music Institute of Chicago’s Academy. Jonas began collecting scores at age 12, with an early fondness for Mahler and Beethoven. At 14, he completed his first composition for solo piano.

Jonas’s music is represented by Estonian Author’s Society and American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.

Gemma New, conductor

Gemma New, in her second season as Principal Conductor of Camerata Notturna, was recently appointed Music Director of the Hamilton (Ontario) Philharmonic, and also currently serves as Resident Conductor of the St. Louis Symphony and Music Director of the Baltimore-based Lunar Ensemble. In the recent seasons, she has conducted the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and made her Carnegie Hall debut as part of the American Soundscapes series, conducting music of Adams, Ives, and Norman. She has been a Dudamel Fellow with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, an Ansbacher Fellow with the Vienna Philharmonic and the Kurt Masur fellow with the Leipzig Symphony. Named as a "Woman Conductor on the Rise" by WQXR Radio, she is a graduate of the conducting program at the Peabody Institute.