Robb Commission
Jessi "George" Harvey
2026 Commissions
Jessi Harvey, also known as George, is a Montana-born, Puget Sound-based freelance composer and teacher; gardener and reader; thinker and walker. Works are rooted in a passion for bringing together scientific and musical audiences while integrating social curiosity, humor, and a love of knowledge. Performed across North and South America as well as Europe, Jessi's music has been described by Seattle Magazine as “full of surprises and consistently attention holding” and by commissioner Julia Lougheed as “diving into the absurd corners of the human condition-the moments where you have to laugh so you don’t cry”.
Jessi’s work, by the nature of our conversation, won first place at the 2020 Darkwater Womxn in Music Festival and proposal, fish dance, was an honorable mention for the 2020 Splinter Tongue Call for Proposals. Jessi has worked with Opera Elect, the Art Song Collaborative Project, Strange Interlude, the Onomatopoeia Trio, Karin Steven’s Dance, Julia Lougheed, Olivia Valenza, the Live Music Project and others. One of their favorite projects was the organization of THINGS THAT BREAK, a collaboration with three other women artists, all creating works based on the theme of breaking, awarded the 4Culture Tech Specific Grant. They have had work featured at the Music by Women Festival (2021, 2019), Darkwater Womxn in Music Festival (2021), and New Music Gathering (2020, 2021). Jessi was a selected composer at Unheard//of Ensemble’s Collaborative Composition Initiative (2021), Laboratoire de musique contemporaine de Montréal (2019), and the Waterloo Contemporary Music Sessions (2018). They were an artist-in-residence at the Rensing Center (2021), Open AIR (2022), and the Denver Botanic Garden's Landline Residency (2022).
Recent projects have dived deeper into merging the scientific and musical worlds and brought to life through visuals illuminating the research behind the sounds. Jessi is the composer-in-residence for the Bainbridge Symphony Orchestra for the 2024-2025 season, writing a piece about the fossils found in Washington State. Since 2022, Jessi has been part of the Emlen Artist Co-Lab, a collaboration with choreographer, Julynn Wildman, Open AIR, the Missoula Butterfly House and Insectarium, the University of Montana's Music Department, as well as the Emlen Evolutionary Biology Lab. The project, supported by the Prop Foundation, the Harnisch Foundation, Open AIR, the University of Montana, and individual donors, brings to life the Emlen Lab's research into the curious and mysterious mating songs and dances of the Japanese Rhinoceros Beetle through the realms of music, dance, costume, and culminating in a final documentary in spring of 2025.
Jessi Harvey, also known as George, is a Montana-born, Puget Sound-based freelance composer and teacher; gardener and reader; thinker and walker. Works are rooted in a passion for bringing together scientific and musical audiences while integrating social curiosity, humor, and a love of knowledge. Performed across North and South America as well as Europe, Jessi's music has been described by Seattle Magazine as “full of surprises and consistently attention holding” and by commissioner Julia Lougheed as “diving into the absurd corners of the human condition-the moments where you have to laugh so you don’t cry”.
Jessi’s work, by the nature of our conversation, won first place at the 2020 Darkwater Womxn in Music Festival and proposal, fish dance, was an honorable mention for the 2020 Splinter Tongue Call for Proposals. Jessi has worked with Opera Elect, the Art Song Collaborative Project, Strange Interlude, the Onomatopoeia Trio, Karin Steven’s Dance, Julia Lougheed, Olivia Valenza, the Live Music Project and others. One of their favorite projects was the organization of THINGS THAT BREAK, a collaboration with three other women artists, all creating works based on the theme of breaking, awarded the 4Culture Tech Specific Grant. They have had work featured at the Music by Women Festival (2021, 2019), Darkwater Womxn in Music Festival (2021), and New Music Gathering (2020, 2021). Jessi was a selected composer at Unheard//of Ensemble’s Collaborative Composition Initiative (2021), Laboratoire de musique contemporaine de Montréal (2019), and the Waterloo Contemporary Music Sessions (2018). They were an artist-in-residence at the Rensing Center (2021), Open AIR (2022), and the Denver Botanic Garden's Landline Residency (2022).
Recent projects have dived deeper into merging the scientific and musical worlds and brought to life through visuals illuminating the research behind the sounds. Jessi is the composer-in-residence for the Bainbridge Symphony Orchestra for the 2024-2025 season, writing a piece about the fossils found in Washington State. Since 2022, Jessi has been part of the Emlen Artist Co-Lab, a collaboration with choreographer, Julynn Wildman, Open AIR, the Missoula Butterfly House and Insectarium, the University of Montana's Music Department, as well as the Emlen Evolutionary Biology Lab. The project, supported by the Prop Foundation, the Harnisch Foundation, Open AIR, the University of Montana, and individual donors, brings to life the Emlen Lab's research into the curious and mysterious mating songs and dances of the Japanese Rhinoceros Beetle through the realms of music, dance, costume, and culminating in a final documentary in spring of 2025.
Emanuele Arciuli
World Premiere
The premiere of Jessi's new work will feature acclaimed Italian pianist Emanuele Arciuli October 2025 at UNM's Keller Hall. Stay tuned for details.
Artistic Example
Below is a recent performance of Jessi Harvey's 196 Flavors, the fourth movement of Shades of Colorado, a string quartet written for the 2022 Denver Botanic Garden's Landline Residency. The Montezuma Orchard Restoration Project is dedicated to the preservation and continuation of Colorado’s Heritage Apples. Of the over 500 varietals available in 1922, 196, less than 50 percent, remain in the state. This movement celebrates, and lists, those 196 varietals. Performed by The Playground Ensemble String Quartet Recorded by Mighty Fine Productions.
The premiere of Jessi's new work will feature acclaimed Italian pianist Emanuele Arciuli October 2025 at UNM's Keller Hall. Stay tuned for details.
Artistic Example
Below is a recent performance of Jessi Harvey's 196 Flavors, the fourth movement of Shades of Colorado, a string quartet written for the 2022 Denver Botanic Garden's Landline Residency. The Montezuma Orchard Restoration Project is dedicated to the preservation and continuation of Colorado’s Heritage Apples. Of the over 500 varietals available in 1922, 196, less than 50 percent, remain in the state. This movement celebrates, and lists, those 196 varietals. Performed by The Playground Ensemble String Quartet Recorded by Mighty Fine Productions.
Dr. Jonah Elrod
Jonah Elrod is a composer whose works are inspired by and engage with issues surrounding our environment and human perception of the natural world. He often utilizes data collected from cycles and signals from the earth and incorporates them into his music.
He is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Music at Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana, where he teaches courses in music composition, music theory, musicianship, music history, and is the director of the new music ensemble. From 2020–2023 he served as a Visiting Professor (Lecturer) at UNC Charlotte, in 2019–2020 he worked as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Music at Luther College in Decorah, IA, and in 2016–2017 he worked as an Associate Lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. He currently serves as the Chair of the Iowa Composers Forum, and is a member of the International Alliance for Women in Music, Society of Composers, Inc., SEAMUS, The Society of Music Theory, and the College Music Society. He earned his Ph.D. in music composition from the University of Iowa in 2018, where he also served as an associate director of the electronic music studios.
Jonah's music has been performed around the United States and internationally in the UK and Germany. His music has been featured at many new music festivals including the CAMPGround23 International New Music Festival, the Ball State University New Music Festival, the Texas New Music Festival, the Society of Composers Inc. National Conference, the John Donald Robb Composers Symposium, the ABME International Conference, the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival (NYCEMF), the Earth Day Art Model hosted by IUPUI, the New Music on the Bayou Festival, the New Music Gathering, the Hot Air Music Festival, the TUTTI Festival, Click Fest at Ohio University, the Central Washington University New Music Festival, and the New Gallery Series in Cambridge, MA.
Jonah has studied composition privately with Christopher Shultis, Richard Hermann, Karola Obermüller, Peter Gilbert, José Luis Hurtado, Lawrence Fritts, David Gompper, and Josh Levine. He has also had one-time private lessons with David Lang, Augusta Read Tomas, Michael Harrison, Caroline Shaw, Marilyn Shrude, Elainie Lillios, Michael Fiday, Dan Welcher, Ketty Nez, and David Maslanka. He has presented his music at masterclasses with Konrad Boehmer, Julio Estrada, Barbara Rettagliati, George Tsontakis, Steven Stucky, Chinary Ung, Christopher Rouse, Ken Ueno, George Lewis, Carter Pann, and Jerod Impichchaachaahá Tate.
World Premiere
The premiere of Jonah's new work will feature acclaimed Italian pianist Emanuele Arciuli October 2025 at UNM's Keller Hall. Stay tuned for details.
Artistic Example
Here is Lilliputian Arctic Deviation (2018) by Dr. Jonah Elrod, performance by The Center for New Music, University of Iowa, conducted by Dr. David Gompper (https://cnm.uiowa.edu). Lilliputian Arctic Deviation is a work for sinfonietta inspired by average snow and ice extent in the Northern Hemisphere. The Rutgers University Global Snow Lab records weekly snow extent averages for the Northern Hemisphere from 1967 until the present day. This work focuses on the summer months and uses musical materials to reflect two characteristics of the data collection: a significant decline in average snow extent from 1967 to 2015, and a transition from drastic yearly differences in the late 1960s through the early 1990s, to more consistent and predictable values in the late 1990s to 2015. Similar yearly average data values are reflected through shared musical materials. Data regions are grouped into eight regions, and data points falling within the same region share motivic, melodic, harmonic, and timbral materials.
He is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor of Music at Valparaiso University in Valparaiso, Indiana, where he teaches courses in music composition, music theory, musicianship, music history, and is the director of the new music ensemble. From 2020–2023 he served as a Visiting Professor (Lecturer) at UNC Charlotte, in 2019–2020 he worked as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Music at Luther College in Decorah, IA, and in 2016–2017 he worked as an Associate Lecturer at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. He currently serves as the Chair of the Iowa Composers Forum, and is a member of the International Alliance for Women in Music, Society of Composers, Inc., SEAMUS, The Society of Music Theory, and the College Music Society. He earned his Ph.D. in music composition from the University of Iowa in 2018, where he also served as an associate director of the electronic music studios.
Jonah's music has been performed around the United States and internationally in the UK and Germany. His music has been featured at many new music festivals including the CAMPGround23 International New Music Festival, the Ball State University New Music Festival, the Texas New Music Festival, the Society of Composers Inc. National Conference, the John Donald Robb Composers Symposium, the ABME International Conference, the New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival (NYCEMF), the Earth Day Art Model hosted by IUPUI, the New Music on the Bayou Festival, the New Music Gathering, the Hot Air Music Festival, the TUTTI Festival, Click Fest at Ohio University, the Central Washington University New Music Festival, and the New Gallery Series in Cambridge, MA.
Jonah has studied composition privately with Christopher Shultis, Richard Hermann, Karola Obermüller, Peter Gilbert, José Luis Hurtado, Lawrence Fritts, David Gompper, and Josh Levine. He has also had one-time private lessons with David Lang, Augusta Read Tomas, Michael Harrison, Caroline Shaw, Marilyn Shrude, Elainie Lillios, Michael Fiday, Dan Welcher, Ketty Nez, and David Maslanka. He has presented his music at masterclasses with Konrad Boehmer, Julio Estrada, Barbara Rettagliati, George Tsontakis, Steven Stucky, Chinary Ung, Christopher Rouse, Ken Ueno, George Lewis, Carter Pann, and Jerod Impichchaachaahá Tate.
World Premiere
The premiere of Jonah's new work will feature acclaimed Italian pianist Emanuele Arciuli October 2025 at UNM's Keller Hall. Stay tuned for details.
Artistic Example
Here is Lilliputian Arctic Deviation (2018) by Dr. Jonah Elrod, performance by The Center for New Music, University of Iowa, conducted by Dr. David Gompper (https://cnm.uiowa.edu). Lilliputian Arctic Deviation is a work for sinfonietta inspired by average snow and ice extent in the Northern Hemisphere. The Rutgers University Global Snow Lab records weekly snow extent averages for the Northern Hemisphere from 1967 until the present day. This work focuses on the summer months and uses musical materials to reflect two characteristics of the data collection: a significant decline in average snow extent from 1967 to 2015, and a transition from drastic yearly differences in the late 1960s through the early 1990s, to more consistent and predictable values in the late 1990s to 2015. Similar yearly average data values are reflected through shared musical materials. Data regions are grouped into eight regions, and data points falling within the same region share motivic, melodic, harmonic, and timbral materials.
About
In 2004, the Robb Trust began an ongoing sponsorship of the creation of newly composed chamber works in honor of John Donald Robb that utilize music from Robb's unique collection of folk music recordings housed in the UNM Libraries' Center for Southwest Research and Special Collections. Previously called the John Donald Robb Composers' Competition, from 2004 to 2014 works were solicited that utilized music from the archive and prize winners were selected. Since 2016, the Trust has moved to commissioning works based upon music from the archive. The Trust is proud of the growing legacy of remarkable new works connected with Dean Robb’s historically significant folk music collection.
Composers
* 2016 is the first year the competition was awarded as a commission by the UNM Robb Trust.
In 2004, the Robb Trust began an ongoing sponsorship of the creation of newly composed chamber works in honor of John Donald Robb that utilize music from Robb's unique collection of folk music recordings housed in the UNM Libraries' Center for Southwest Research and Special Collections. Previously called the John Donald Robb Composers' Competition, from 2004 to 2014 works were solicited that utilized music from the archive and prize winners were selected. Since 2016, the Trust has moved to commissioning works based upon music from the archive. The Trust is proud of the growing legacy of remarkable new works connected with Dean Robb’s historically significant folk music collection.
Composers
- 2026 Jessi Harvey
- 2026 Jonah Elrod
- 2024 Monica Demarco ~ Map Songs (mezzo-soprano, flute, cello, piano)
- 2024 Juantio Becenti ~ The Empty (mezzo-soprano, flute, cello, piano)
- 2022 Patricia Alessandrini ~ Hear (vocal sextet, trombone)
- 2020 postponed due to COVID
- 2018 Kyong Mee Choi ~ Adiós a lo conocido (violin, clarinet, saxophone, bassoon, piano, percussion)
- 2016 Marta Gentilucci ~ Dance (flute, clarinet, violin, viola, cello, piano, percussion)
- 2014 Luke Dahn ~ Buffalo Dance (alto saxophone, piano)
- 2012 Paul Clift ~ 1950c (restrung classical guitar)
- 2010 Colin Holter ~ The Recording You Will Now Hear (piccolo, contrabass clarinet, clarinet, piano, vibraphone, violin, cello)
- 2008 Gary Smart ~ Song of the Holy Ground (piano, string quartet)
- 2006 no commission awarded
- 2004 Carl Donsbach ~ Palomita: Canción (violin, cello, piano)
* 2016 is the first year the competition was awarded as a commission by the UNM Robb Trust.