Our Team 2023
The members of our faculty are professional composers and performers working in many genres and lead highly hyphenated creative lives. During Composers Institute, they each offer:
- theory & repertoire sessions employ music theories and practices in all genres
- one-on-one tutorial lessons support and inspire composers
- perform & record composers' music
- advocate & advise individual composers' development and projects
Jacob Beranek, Guest Composer
Jacob Beranek (he) is a proud alum of the Composers Institute (2012–15), a Wisconsin-born, New York-based composer of classical music rooted in melody, craft, and rhythmic vitality. His compositions are often infused with his love of historical traditions—musical, religious, or even his Czech heritage. Jacob served as the inaugural Composer-in-Residence of the Midsummer’s Music Festival (Door County, WI) from 2017–20. His works have been championed by the ALIAS Chamber Ensemble, Blair Brass Quintet, Blair String Quartet, Dolce Suono Ensemble, Gesualdo Six, Milwaukee Musaik, Oxford University, Wisconsin Philharmonic, as well as choreographers Sidra Bell and Kannen Glanz. Mikel Toms and the Brno Philharmonic (Brno, Czechia) recorded his Pilgrimatic Overture as part of ABLAZE Records’ ninth “Orchestral Masters” album, released in May 2023. He was the first composer at Juilliard to have music featured in the Juilliard New Dances series while still a student and was one of the winners of Juilliard’s 2022–23 Orchestra Composition Competition, receiving a premiere in Alice Tully Hall in March 2023. After receiving his Bachelor of Music in Composition from Vanderbilt University’s Blair School of Music in 2021, Jacob was accepted to The Juilliard School as a student of John Corigliano, earning a Master of Music in 2023 and now pursuing his Doctor of Musical Arts degree as a member of Juilliard’s C.V. Starr Doctoral Fellow program. A dedicated scholar of Czech music, Jacob was honored by the American ambassador to Czechia in 2018 during a performance of his music in Prague Castle for the country’s centenary celebration.
|
Dr. Sarah Miller, in-person
CRAZY IDEAS INSTITUTE DIRECTOR, JUNIOR COMPOSERS INSTITUTE, PIANO, COMPOSER 
Dr. Sarah Miller (she), NCTM, has been teaching composition, theory and piano at MacPhail Center for Music since 1997 after receiving her Ph.D. in music composition from Michigan State University. She has been teaching at Junior Composers Institute since 2011. Find more information about Sarah. here. Email her here.
Casey Palbicki, in-person
FILM/GAMING MUSIC STUDIO MUSICIAN-COMPOSER, PRODUCER, RECORDIST, MUSIC TECH 
Dr. Casey Palbicki (he) joins our faculty for the first time this year but we are looking forward to working with him for years to come. He serves on the faculty of the University of Wisconsin-River Falls where he is building a film and commercial music program, teaches theory-composition, as well as online instruction at Baker University in Michigan. Find more information about Casey here.
Becca Baker, in-person
FILM/GAMING MUSIC STUDIO COUNSELOR COMPOSER, LATE-NIGHT LOUNGE HOST & PRODUCER 
Rebecca Baker (she) is originally from Colorado Springs and currently attends Utah State University as a Bachelor of the Arts (BA) Major with an Emphasis in Composition. She is studying composition with Dr. Kevin Olson, and piano with Dr. Cahill Smith. Becca is also pursuing two minors in Piano Pedagogy and Entrepreneurship to supplement her degree. Email her here.
Randall Davidson, in-person/online
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR CELLO, COMPOSER, PRODUCER 
One of the earliest faculty members for Composers Institute, he serves as Executive Director. Randall is active as cellist, composer, producer, teacher and publishes his own music. His influential teachers have been Alf Houkom, Olivier Messiaen, Paul Fetler, Eric Stokes and Dominick Argento. Find more information about him here. Email him here. Phone: 612.741.8671
|
Kim D. Sherman, in-person
JUNIOR COMPOSERS INSTITUTE, PIANO, COMPOSER 
Kim D. Sherman (she) composes for the theater, opera, the concert stage, and film. She embraces lyricism and dissonance as equal partners in conveying drama, stories and landscapes.
Her book of piano solos, UNFATHOMABLE THINGS was published (Plumber’s Daughter Music) in 2021. A PRAIRIE DIARY for voice, cello and piano is featured on The ARK Trio’s derbut recording “Ark Resounding,” which was released in February 2023 on the Navona label. In 2019, THE CLARA CYCLE, for Soprano, Violin and Piano premiered at Steinway Hall in NYC. SUMMER, 1976 a song cycle for lyric baritone and string quartet was premiered at The Opera Center in NYC in 2016. SONG OF SONGS, for strings, harp and soprano was premiered in 2004 by San José Chamber Orchestra with soprano Allison Charney. GRAVESIDE, her a cappella choral work, was recorded by Musica Sacra and has been performed throughout the US and Europe. Ms. Sherman studied piano and composition at Lawrence University (WI), and composition and orchestration with composer Thea Musgrave. Her career started in Minneapolis, where she was awarded two Kudos Awards for her work in theatre. She has enjoyed residencies at The MacDowell Colony and The Banff Centre. A New Yorker since 1983, she is a regular volunteer composer and mentor for The 52nd Street Project, as well as composer-in-residence with Still Waters In A Storm. www.kdsherman.com Mary Kate Hines, in-person
JUNIOR COMPOSERS INSTITUTE PRODUCER COMPOSER, INSTRUMENTAL DIRECTOR 
Junior Composers Alumna Mary Kate Hines (she) graduated from Wartburg College in the spring of 2019 with a Bachelor of Music Education (BME) degree. Since graduation, Mary Kate has successfully completed her first year of teaching 5th- through 12th-grade band at Newman Catholic Schools in Mason City, Iowa. Her experiences as a composer forms the foundation for her teaching philosophy, as Mary Kate actively seeks to bring out the musical creativity in each of her students. Email her here.
|
Lucas Sanner, in-person
JUNIOR COMPOSERS INSTITUTE COUNSELOR COMPOSER, LATE-NIGHT LOUNGE HOST & PRODUCER
JUNIOR COMPOSERS INSTITUTE COUNSELOR COMPOSER, LATE-NIGHT LOUNGE HOST & PRODUCER
Lucas Sanner (they) is/are a Junior Composers alum, native Minnesotan composer, pianist, and violist. They are pursuing a Bachelor of Music (BM) in composition at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. Lucas studies composition with Dr. Justin Merrit and viola with Dr. Charles Gray. They are a proud member of the viola section in the St. Olaf Orchestra. While their compositional style is still developing, they draw influence from genres like jazz, classical, pop, indie rock, and EDM, incorporating a spoonful of each into all their works.