Chris Cresswell - Composer/Sound Artist

A composer, songwriter, educator, guitarist, and sound artist, Chris Cresswell is a curious musician whose work betrays his affection for sonic wanderlust. With an ear that incorporates all sorts of sounds, from field recordings to a singer/songwriter at an open mic night, Cresswell’s music “… blurs the boundaries between industrial and organic, soothing and suspenseful, and introspective and anxious” (International Clarinet Association). His works have been performed throughout the world and are noted for their organic combination of acoustic and electro-acoustic instruments.. His vocals works (with and without electronics) have been performed by such notable groups and performers as Jon English, Jill Morgan Brenner, Rachel Blaustein, Byrne:Kozar:Duo, and others at the Hot Air Music Festival (San Francisco), The Firehouse (Brooklyn), DiMenna Center (Manhattan), and throughout the United States.

Having graduated from Syracuse University and the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, he is currently a lecturer at Onondaga Community College, where he teaches a course on Composing with Music Technology and maintains a private composition studio. As an educator he has used recording technology to make songwriting, composing, and creativity accessible to students in a wide variety of settings from summer camps to classrooms to after school settings.

Daniel Fields - Tenor

A versatile performer Daniel Fields has performed extensively as an interpereter of classical and contemporary works, with interests ranging from classical music to traditional jazz to rock and R & B. Highlights of his operatic performance career include playing Abel in Charles Fussell’s The Astronaut’s Tale, Henry Snibblesworth in Steven Stucky’s The Classical Style, the Student in Michael Torke’s Strawberry Fields, Alfred in Johann Strauss II’s Die Fledermaus, Tezcatlipoca in Judith Sainte Croix’s How Music Came to the Earth. More recently, he has performed with USC Opera as Lysander in Britten’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and as Pelléas in Pelléas et Mélisande.

As a recitalist he has performed in chamber works ranging from Bach’s Coffee Cantata to Alex Burtzo’s Many Worlds. Fields is a frequent performer with the Silver Arrow Band, and writes original music for his band KindredSpirit.

While completing his BM in Vocal Performance from Syracuse University and a Masters in Vocal Arts and Opera from the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music, Fields conducted research focusing on the intersectionality of mindfulness, yoga, dance, and singing worlds. He has since co-designed a series of workshops to bring his findings to singers and singing teachers. Fields is passionate about teaching voice and making his broad knowledge of vocal science accessible to all.