About

NYsoundCircuit is a multimedia event series showcasing various arts disciplines and bringing their audiences together in an engaging environment for a full evening of works by contemporary artists.

NYsoundCircuit brings you a continuous musical and visual experience of alternating live instrumentalists, singers, electronic music artists, visual artists, and more that are propulsive, engaging, and experimental. By providing a relaxed and sonically charged atmosphere, NYsoundCircuit gives you the new and daring on your own terms for a completely unfiltered experience.

The mission of NYsoundCircuit is to create new communities of artistic exchange by providing an event series that brings together disparate genres, media, artists, and audiences into one integrated whole.

NYsoundCircuit believes in the integrated experience of art in the 21st century. Through NYsoundCircuit, new collaborations, new communities, and new artistic explorations are experienced by both the artist and the audience. These encounters enrich the artist’s livelihood, the audience’s diet of experience, and the greater community as a whole.

The Directors & Administrative Team

GILBERT GALINDO, Executive & Curatorial Director

Gilbert Galindo is a composer, music engraver, concert producer, DJ, and co-founder of NYsoundCircuit who also has experience in music administration and teaching in NYC public schools. Ever since high school, Gilbert has produced concerts in some form or another, always looking to create opportunities for musicians to showcase their music to new audiences. Gilbert believes strongly in the value contemporary concert music provides society, and as a curator and event producer, he feels right at home with NYsoundCircuit. For more information about Gilbert, visit www.gilbertgalindo.com.

ALEX WEN, MUSIC DIRECTOR & CURATOR

Alex Wen most recently served as assistant conductor of the Massapequa Philharmonic and the Park Avenue Chamber Symphony under the mentorship of Maestro David Bernard, and concluded five seasons as Principal Conductor of the Golden Rose Opera. An avid opera conductor, Wen has led performances of La Bohème, Carmen, Suor Angelica, Cavalleria Rusticana, and Madama Butterfly with the Golden Rose Opera, and led the New York premiere of Huang Ruo’s Bound with Fresh Squeezed Opera in 2019. He has conducted performances with Rhymes With Opera, the Queens College Orchestra, Queens College Opera, Litha Symphony Orchestra, the New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra, and has been cover conductor for the Queer Urban Orchestra, Yonkers Philharmonic, and the Sound Symphony. A graduate of the Masters program in Orchestral Conducting at the Aaron Copland School of Music, Wen studied with Maurice Peress and managed the Queens College Conductors Workshop collaborating with composers David Amram, Bruce Saylor, and George Tsontakis. He was selected as a participant in the 2019 Conductors Workshop of the Cabrillo Festival for Contemporary Music where he worked with Cristian Măcelaru and Octavio Más-Arocas. Wen holds a Bachelor of Music in viola performance from Azusa Pacific University (APU) where he served as an assistant conductor to the APU Chamber Singers, responsible for preparing the orchestra for the National Collegiate Choral Organization’s national conference.

Ryan macgavin, Director of event sponsorships & CURATOR

Ryan MacGavin has been producing concerts and multimedia events in New York City for ten years. He has worked for American Composers Orchestra and Orchestra of St. Luke’s. Ryan has been dedicating to fostering the work of young professional composers through his organization NYsoundCircuit and has provided pro bono services to the United Nations for diplomatic events. As a composer, Ryan’s works for solo and chamber ensembles have been performed in New York, Boston, Chicago, Las Angeles, and internationally in China and Japan. Ryan is a lapsed trumpeter and attended the University of Montana (Missoula, MT) and Northwestern University (Chicago, IL) where he was a student of Augusta Read Thomas, Jay Alan Yim, and Jason Eckhart.

NANA YAA SERWAAH AKUOKU, Visual & performance art Curator

Nana YaaSerwaah Akuoku is a NYC based WearableArt Designer and visual-Artist of Ghanaian heritage and American nationality. Akuoku, a two time Alumna of the Fashion Institute of Technology; is acknowledged for her conceptual wearables that obscure boundaries between “traditional” art, fashion and technology. The uniqueness of Akuoku's practice is in conceptualizing innovative methodologies of approaching fashion design by removing preconceived notions of what objects and their uses are and in doing so, reshaping their context to express narratives related to identity, introspection and culture. She often refers to concepts in science, technology and contemporary art within her fashion-based practice. Akuoku is recipient of the Wassaic Project's Winter 2019 Teaching Fellowship. Most recently, Her works have been on view at NORDSTORM NYC as part of the Fashion film installation presented by artist Diane Smith as well as her solo exhibition at the Flux Factory in Queens, NY . Past installations include Afrochella festival, the Ghana Tech Summit and The Black Gala at the Accra Science and Technology Museum. Her designers have been highlighted by publications such as Allure, Essence, and New York Times Style. Recently, Her work "Rapunzel" was worn by the opening performer of the prestigious “Wearable-Art-Gala”; Headed by philanthropist and Beyoncé’s mother; Ms.Tina Knowles-Lawson.

Linus Ip, Associate Conductor & Associate Curator

Linus Ip is the Associate Conductor & Associate Curator of NYsoundCircuit. Linus has been recognized for his musicality and sensitivity as a conductor and composer. He has numerous worldwide experiences with ensembles and orchestras including the Grammy award nominated National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic, the European Union Orchestra, the Belgrade Chamber Orchestra, the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra, the Hong Kong Community Philharmonic Orchestra, the Olomouc Philharmonic Orchestra, and composer ensembles at the Mannes School of Music. Most recently, he was selected as one of the conducting fellows at the National Orchestral Institute in 2022 with Maestra Marin Alsop, who described him as conducting “with strong musicality”. Aside from the classical repertoire, he has also premiered the music of living composers at Mannes while premiering works ranging from chamber ensembles to new opera productions, including his own compositions. As a composer, Linus Ip’s music has been premiered by many contemporary ensembles including JACK Quartet, MACE, and others. His recent composition “Healing Temple” for 14 musicians was premiered by Resonant Refractions under the direction of Ian Shafer on a 2021 NYsoundCircuit show. In composition he has studied with Ilari Kaila, Bright Sheng, and Ruo Huang, and in conducting he has studied with Michael Charry, Marin Alsop, Mark Shapiro, Uros Lajovic, Martin Akerwell, Peter Ettrup Larsen, Alim Shak, and Yanhui Chang through his training at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Mannes School of Music, and worldwide masterclasses and festivals.

Andrew Ennis, DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATE

Andrew is a Trombone and Euphonium performer and instructor originally from Buffalo, New York. With performance degrees from the Interlochen Arts Academy, Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and Mannes School of Music, he has studied extensively with industry leaders from the Metropolitan Opera, New York Philharmonic, New York City Ballet, and Las Vegas Philharmonic, among others. Over the span of his career thus far, Andrew has been welcomed to perform at notable venues across the country including Chicago’s Symphony Center, Cleveland’s Severance Hall, New York City’s Alice Tully Hall, and the Brooklyn Museum of Art; once alongside the Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble for the headline performance of the 2017 Bang on a Can All-Star’s Marathon, and a second time for a preview performance of The Metropolitan Opera’s 2019 production of Phillip Glass’s Akhnaten. Andrew is a champion of new music and has premiered works by notable composers such as Vijay Iyer, Gordon Jacob, and Su Lian Tan. Currently, Andrew lives in New York City, where he maintains an active freelancing and teaching career. With a passion for arts administration as well, he has held a variety of positions at Aspen Music Festival and School, Oberlin Conservatory of Music, Mannes School of Music, and The New York Pops Orchestra. In his spare time, Andrew loves to cook and is often found in the kitchen preparing an elaborate meal.

Advisory Board

BARBARA PODGURSKI, chief advisor

Armando Castellano


Kathleen Supové