Meet Our Team
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Luke Rackers - Executive Director & President
Luke is passionate about new music and helping composers connect with performers, students & listeners. With a Masters of Fine Arts in music composition, Luke uses his education, experience in music as a performer, composer and educator, and expertise in a variety music business endeavors to help composers successfully present their artistic voice to the world. Luke has over a decade of experience in the music industry and loves learning about new ways to help promote and produce new musical works of art. Luke performs in a variety of ensembles including his new music ensemble, Musica Verto Novo, which performs many of the works in the Abundant Silence catalog. He composes primarily for solo piano and small ensemble. Finally, Luke spends much of his time as a recording and audio engineer, helping musicians, film producers and others capture high quality audio for their projects. He lives in Montpelier, VT and loves traveling to perform Abundant Silence works and sharing his vision for the organization. |
Meet our Board of Directors & Program Directors
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Kimberly Gresham - Vice President
Tonya Rackers - Secretary James Gresham - Treasurer Arthur Houle - Board Member, Festival Artistic Director Evelyn Billberg - Board Member, Festival Program Director |
Meet Our Advisory Board Members
Kevin Olson
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Kevin Olson is an active pianist, composer, and member of the piano faculty at Utah State University, where he teaches piano literature, pedagogy, and accompanying courses. In addition to his collegiate teaching responsibilities, Kevin directs the Utah State University Youth Conservatory, which provides weekly group and private piano instruction to more than 200 pre-college community students. The National Association of Schools of Music has recently recognized the Conservatory as a model for pre-college piano instruction programs. Before teaching at Utah State, he was on the faculty at Elmhurst College near Chicago and Humboldt State University in northern California.
A native of Utah, Kevin began composing at age five. When he was twelve, his composition, An American Trainride, received the Overall First Prize at the 1983 National PTA Convention at Albuquerque, New Mexico. Since then he has been a Composer in Residence at the National Conference on Keyboard Pedagogy, and has written music commissioned and performed by groups such as the American Piano Quartet, Chicago a cappella, the Rich Matteson Jazz Festival, Music Teachers National Association, and several piano teacher associations around the country. |
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Pianist / Composer / Bandleader / Educator
Based in Denver since 1980, pianist and composer Eric Gunnison has led a distinguished career during which he has not only established himself as one of the mainstays of the Mile High City’s vibrant jazz scene as an instrumentalist, bandleader and educator, but has also attracted a global following performing, touring and recording with internationally renowned jazz artists, particularly jazz vocalists. Read full bio on Eric's website... |
Eric Gunnison
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Our board of directors, staff, program directors, artistic directors and advisory board members bring in expertise from a variety of musical and organizational backgrounds. If you are interested in volunteering for Abundant Silence or joining our team, please contact us today.
