Ben Sollee

Over the last two decades, Kentuckian Ben Sollee has distinguished himself as multi-faceted creative, blurring the lines between music, tech, and experiential design. As a cellist, songwriter, and storyteller he has toured the globe, sometimes by bicycle, performing his original music. As
a composer, he has created music for stage, screen, and virtual reality apps earning an Emmy Award for his 2018 score for Base Ballet. As a producer, he has curated hundreds of live events including experiences for the Speed Art Museum and Lincoln Center. Throughout it all, he has
advocated for people and the land by creating and curating experiences that grow a greater sense of togetherness.

“The throughline for all my various projects is togetherness”, says Sollee of his music and creative work. “Whether I’m producing a live experience or developing a virtual reality app, my purpose is the same: to include rather than exclude and help humans grow their affection for
each other and the environment.” Sollee’s body of work bears this out.

Sollee is known for his outside-of-the-box cello playing and his curiosity has led him to new, innovative media spaces. In 2016, Sollee teamed up with designer Pat King of Woodpenny games to create The Vanishing Point, the first-ever interactive, virtual reality music app for mobile devices. The project was crowd-funded on Indie Go Go with the support of over 160 backers. Continuing his work in interactive media, Sollee collaborated with contemporary dance icons Keoni & Mari in 2018 to create the music for RUTH, the first-ever, interactive “dancebook.” Mr. Sollee is also known for his social and environmental advocacy. Growing up in Kentucky, he developed a deep affection for the land and its people. This affection has manifested in many collaborations and projects with Appalachian Voices, The Nature Conservancy, and Oxfam America to name a few. In 2009, Sollee began touring partly by bicycle. Over the following five years, he racked up over 5,000 miles of pedaling around the nation with his cello Kay on what he affectionately called his “Ditch the Van” tour. Currently, Sollee also works as Media and Production lead for Canopy Ky, a non-profit helping businesses incorporate, measure, and grow their social and environmental good.

Mr. Sollee lives in Louisville, KY with his wife and three children

Brent Arnold

Cellist and composer Brent Arnold creates music that moves fluidly between composition and improvisation, and between acoustic and electronic sound worlds. The New York Times has praised his “mastery across string instruments.” Working in contemporary classical, rock, opera, and interdisciplinary performance, his music is marked by a balance of experimentalism and emotional directness. His musical approach was shaped through studies with cellist Walter Gray of the Kronos Quartet and legendary spiritual jazz violinist Michael White, known for his work with Pharoah Sanders, John Handy, Alice Coltrane, and Sun Ra. Arnold’s latest album More Light, produced by Randall Dunn, will be released in 2026. It interweaves chamber music compositions with dark electronic textures, featuring Gelsey Bell, Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe, Eyvind Kang, Josh Modney, Jessica Pavone, Alaina Ferris, and Mark Dover. In 2024, Arnold collaborated with Grey Filastine, Walid Ben Selim, Ricard Soler, and Ali Abdi Omar to create the opera Ali, which premiered at La Monnaie in Brussels, Belgium. His latest project is the Night Heron Quintet, an ensemble bringing together distinctive voices from contemporary classical, jazz, and non-Western traditions in richly structured compositions with improvisational freedom. The quintet is Arun Ramamurthy (violin), Zosha Warpeha (Hardanger d’amore), Brent Arnold (cello), John Murchison (bass), and Alaina Ferris (harp). He is also a founding member of Ghost Quartet with Dave Malloy, Gelsey Bell, and Brittain Ashford, and has worked with artists including Zola Jesus, Jessika Kenney, Ashwini Ramaswamy, Drew McDowall, Steve Von Till, SQÜRL (Jim Jarmusch & Carter Logan), Wayne Horvitz, Reggie Watts, Lia Ouyang Rusli, DJ /rupture, The Antlers, and many more.

Naseem Alatrash

Naseem Alatrash is a Palestinian cellist and composer- his performances include a mix of improvisation and traditional melodies, with a focus on traditional Arabic music with jazz and contemporary classical music influences.

Naseem has appeared at numerous international festivals including the Newport Jazz Festival, the Dominican Republic Jazz Festival, Abu Dhabi Music Festival, Lebanon’s Zouk Mikael International Festival, Lebanon’s Beit Aldeen Festival, Aix-en-Provence Festival, and Jerash Festival. He has performed at such notable venues as the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, the Lincoln Theater, Wigmore Hall, Koerner Hall, University of Michigan Ann Arbor Music Series, NYU Abu Dhabi Arts Center, the Royal Opera of Oman, The Royal Albert Hall, and Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw. He has performed alongside world-renowned musicians including Ron Carter, Roger Waters, Terri Lyne Carrington, Eugene Friesen, Kenny Aronoff, Rami Jaffee, Luis Conte, Javier Limon, Jorge Drexler, Alejandro Sanz, Scott Page of Pink Floyd, Carmine Rojas of David Bowie, Mike Garson of David Bowie, and many others.

Alatrash has been awarded String Player of the Year twice from The National Music Competition of Palestine. In addition to his solo career, Alatrash performs with the Turtle Island String Quartet, the Global Messengers ensemble with pianist Danilo Pérez and with Amir ElSaffar’s Rivers of Sound ensemble in addition to teaching at the Berklee College of Music, Tufts University and the Longy School of Music.

Shannon Hayden

Innovative performer Shannon Hayden has carved a distinctive niche in the music world, touring globally for over a decade with her unique setup: a 19th-century cello coupled with pickups and electronic modifications. Trained by legends like Starker and Parisot, Hayden’s musicality has been equally shaped by a lifelong passion for experimental, electronically manipulated soundscapes. A “one-woman orchestra” (New York Music Daily) who defies musical convention, Hayden has spent the last decade quietly revolutionizing what’s possible with her instrument while reshaping the intersection of tradition and technology.

Night by Dark Water I – Shannon Hayden