MOYA SEM'YA (MY FAMILY)

Benjamin Stamper is a filmmaker who explores the nature of perception and human consciousness through slow cinema. His most personal work has been likened to a “spiritual mandala” by film critic Paul Schrader in his book Transcendental Style in Film (Second Edition).

Benjamin’s video installation commissions include Dark Burn Creative (LA), The Sorenson Center for Excellence at Utah State University, The Center for Faith and Work, New York City, and Met Live Arts at the Met Brauer, NYC.

Benjamin is a Lincoln City Fellow and has been the artist-in-residence at Center for Faith & Work and Grace Farms Foundation.  He is a longtime collaborator with director/cinematographer Andrew Michael Ellis and renowned choreographer Andrea Miller.

benstamperpictures.com

Joshua Stamper is a transdisciplinary artist and composer whose work explores hiddenness, revelation, ephemera, and archive.

He has worked as an orchestral arranger, studio conductor, and session musician for Columbia / Sony BMG and Concord Records, Lionsgate Films, Warner Bros. Pictures, and Legendary Entertainment, and for independent labels Domino, Dead Oceans, Important Records, and Smalltown Supersound.

He has received fellowships from MacDowell, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, the Speranza Foundation, the BAU Institute at the Camargo Foundation. Joshua’s work has been supported by the American Composers Forum, the NewAm Composers Lab, the Lilly Endowment, the Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia, the Eric Stokes Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

joshuastamper.com

Sean Bailey, Ph.D. enjoys an active, interdisciplinary musical life in the Philadelphia area, engaging with the field of musical creativity in ever-evolving contexts: including roles as an audio engineer, composer, educator, performer, and technologist—making music at the intersection of technology and the creative spirit.

upbeatmusician.com

Elisa Chodan is a singer, music educator, and music therapist based in Philadelphia and Lancaster, PA. Current projects include leading music therapy initiatives that join youth with elders with dementia to explore music making, relationship building, and mental health through singing. Elisa holds a BS in Music Education, MMus in Voice Performance, and an MA in Music Therapy and Counseling.

Isak Gaines is an award-winning composer, producer, audio engineer, and multi-instrumentalist. He has collaborated with artists like Michael Brook (Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan) and Donald Palma (Orpheus Chamber Orchestra), and was mentored by Grammy-winning producer and arranger Robert Sadin (Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter). He has performed at major venues around the world including Auditorio Ibirapuera in Sao Paulo, The Guggenheim Museum in NYC, and the Umbria Jazz Festival in Perugia. In 2025 he composed the original score for Lisse – a contemporary ballet which premiered in a run of five shows at the Joyce Theater in New York. His work has been recognized by organizations like the International Antonin Dvorak Composition Competition, ASCAP, Downbeat Magazine, and the Tribeca New Music Festival. Born and raised in Seattle, he moved to NYC at age 19 to study music performance and composition at The New School. After graduating, he relocated to Philadelphia, where he currently resides.

isakgaines.com

Christopher McDonald is a music creator and a capturer/manipulator of sound and light. He is a founding member of the quiet-core band Cuddle Magic and has collaborated with many artists and organizations in an effort to bring more beauty into the world. Christopher runs a recording studio and production company and serves as the Director of Worship Arts and Technology at Resurrection Philadelphia. He lives with his wife and two daughters in Germantown.

christopherandrew.net

Jeremy is a musician, recording engineer and producer. He previously co-operated Mason Jar Music in Brooklyn before moving to Philadelphia where he currently runs Black Birch Recording with his brother Christopher. He lives in West Philadelphia with his family.

Multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Beth Meyers has performed and recorded in a diverse range of genres with award-winning studio artists, smash-hit Broadway musicals, and her own critically acclaimed bands. Beth is a member of the neo-folk band, Damsel (with Monica Mugan) playing original music that features Beth on vocals, banjo, ukulele, and percussion. Damsel’s debut album Just Sit So was released in 2017 and includes “Forward” which was featured at the Michelberger PEOPLE festival in Berlin in 2018. Their sophomore album New To You was released in 2021. Beth is a member of the quirky, “folk-prog” band, ‘QQQ’ (viola, Hardanger fiddle, acoustic guitar, and drums) whose debut album Unpacking the Trailer (New Amsterdam Records 2009) was hailed “a bold statement of purpose disguised as an unpretentious lark” by Time Out New York. She was a founding member of the flute/viola/harp trio, janus whose debut album i am not (New Amsterdam Records) was called “gorgeously subtle” (NPR’s Studio 360). Through their more than 14 years of collaboration and touring, janus commissioned over one hundred new works for the trio repertoire. The group’s final album “Book of Memory” (New Focus Recordings 2016) features the music of Paul Lansky and Jason Treuting. Beth plays regularly with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra. She specializes in the music of Steve Reich and is featured on Nexus Percussion’s Drumming At 50. As a violist Beth has also played for several hit Broadway shows including Hamilton and Wicked and has recorded and performed with renowned recording artists such as Regina Spektor, The National, and Sufjan Stevens. Beth is currently an adjunct faculty member at Rider University where she teaches Music for Dance. She plays a Moes and Moes viola and a Mike Ramsey banjo.

bethmeyersmusic.com

Cellist Branson Yeast, a native of Houston, TX, is a graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music (B.M.), the Juilliard School (M.M.), and is also a protégé of cellist Wendy Warner. His performances as a chamber musician, soloist, and orchestral musician have brought him to Chicago, London, Lucerne, Hamburg, Heidelberg, St-Jean-de-Luz (broadcast on RadioFrance), and across the north-eastern United States. While at Curtis, Branson was the last student of the late David Soyer of the Guarneri Quartet, a Jacqueline du Pré Memorial Fellow, and his graduation recital aired on WHYY Television. His passions for contemporary music and cross-disciplinary projects (including a tour with Grammy-award winning ensemble “eighth blackbird”) have led him to make dozens of premieres of new works for solo cello, chamber music, and chamber opera in halls such as Alice Tully and with companies such as Philadelphia’s BalletX and Opera Philadelphia. Branson resides in Philadelphia and is Principal Cello of both Opera Philadelphia and the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia, the latter of whom he recently performed concerti of CPE Bach, Boccherini, and Vivaldi.