Chris Lastovicka writes music dealing primarily with psychological and metaphysical subjects.
"There is no denying Lastovicka's skill and potential .... there is a real sense of power and refined craft." -Fanfare Magazine
Chris Lastovicka's music has been performed at the Boston Early Music Festival, Merce Cunningham Studio, and in Spoleto,
Italy. Her electronic work Spring was commissioned by Robin Becker Dance for the company's 15-year anniversary. Her choral work The Shift was commissioned by the Dale Warland Singers. Her Laska
for oboe d'amore and harpsichord will be released on Classic Concert Records (Austria) in 2008.
Lastovicka is the recipient of a Presser Award, a Hatz Award, and a NYSCA Decentralization grant. At age 14, she became the youngest winner in the history of Chicago's Gruenstein
Memorial National Organ Competition. At 15, she won the Otto B. Schoepfle National Organ Competition. She attended the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music on full scholarship and graduated summa cum laude. She was born in Houston, Texas and raised in South Carolina.
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E.M. Lauricella (librettist) began writing poetry in 1985 in response to a life filled with strange dreams by night, technicolor wonders by day, and a generalized sense that something must be said about it all. She received a BA from the University of Iowa in 1983 and a MA in Creative Writing from the University of Cincinnati in 1993. Her poems have been published in Mudfish and American Poetry Review, among other publications. Ellen Marie lives in Yellow Springs, OH with her partner Naomi and son Sam. In 1996, Ellen Marie and Naomi met their teacher Garchen Rinpoche, and began to practice Tibetan Buddhism. In 2002, they founded the Gar Drolma Buddhist Center in Dayton, OH.