When Memory Fails, Music Remains

Laura Kaminsky
Possessing “an ear for the new and interesting” (The New York Times), Laura Kaminsky frequently addresses social and political issues in her work with a distinct musical language that is “full of fire as well as ice, contrasting dissonance and violence with tonal beauty and meditative reflection” (American Record Guide). As One (co-librettists Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed) is the most produced contemporary opera since its 2014 premiere, with 60+ productions to date internationally. Other operas: Some Light Emerges, Today It Rains, Hometown to the World, Finding Wright, and February. Upcoming: a chamber opera in poems, The Post Office, for Queen City Opera and Time To Act for a consortium led by Pittsburgh Opera. Awarded the Polish Gold Cross of Merit (Zloty Krzyż Zasługi RP) by the President of Poland for exemplary public service/humanitarian work, Kaminsky has been recognized by the NEA, Koussevitzky Music Foundation, Opera America, Chamber Music America, and USArtists International, among others. Kaminsky is on the faculty of Purchase College Conservatory of Music and is currently a mentor for Seattle Opera's Creation Lab.

Dr. Rui Costa
Dr. Rui Costa has more than two decades of experience in bioscience and is a renowned expert in the brain circuitry that underlies movement. His studies focus on the circuits underlying diverse, spontaneous movements, and the organization and refinement of movements during learning. Unraveling these mechanisms could help researchers find better ways of treating disorders of movement, such as Parkinson’s disease, and psychiatric disorders, such as OCD.

Dr. Costa received his D.V.M. from the University of Lisbon in 1996. He carried out his Ph.D. research with Dr. Alcino Silva at UCLA from 1998 to 2002, followed by postdoctoral work with Dr. Miguel Nicolelis at Duke University and research as a section chief at the National Institutes of Health. In 2009, Dr. Costa became an Investigator in the Champalimaud Neuroscience Program, and a Professor at Columbia University in 2016. He served as director of Champalimaud Research from 2014 to 2017. In 2017, Costa was named CEO of the Mortimer B. Zuckerman Mind Brain Behavior Institute at Columbia University in New York. Dr. Costa is also an elected member of the European Molecular Biology Organization, as well as the National Academy of Medicine.