The All Sing: Whale-Road (HWAEL-RĀD)The All Sing: Whale-Road (HWAEL-RĀD)

Jens Ibsen, composer/tenor, is a multidisciplinary artist whose vocal talents have led him to performances from Dubai to Shanghai as a principal soloist and the first African-born member of the world-renowned Vienna Boys Choir. His music is equally globe-trotting, with performances from The Polish Hearth in London to the San Francisco Symphony. Ibsen’s music seeks to liberate the definition of metal music from the confines of the metal band. He natively composes music in this style for traditional classical ensembles while infusing the musical knowledge of his multicultural upbringing including Western classical and avant-garde music, Arab and Turkish music, and African diasporic music. He uses polystylism as a language through which to pursue questions of queerness, ancestry, and structural power. Ibsen was the 2022 winner of the San Francisco Conservatory's Emerging Black Composers Project, which culminated in the premiere of his piece Drowned in Light for the San Francisco Symphony in November 2023. A passionate composer of opera, Ibsen has collaborated with librettist Cecelia Raker on two pieces including Bubbie and the Demon for the Washington National Opera’s American Opera Initiative, and Rumpelstiltskin and the Unlovable Children for the Glimmerglass Opera Festival. Ibsen was a finalist in BMP’s Next Gen competition.

Julian T. Brolaski (it / xe / they) is a poet and country musician, the author of OfMongrelitude(Wave Books 2017), Advice for Lovers (City Lights 2012), and gowanusatropolis (Ugly Duckling Presse 2011). Julian plays with the band Juan & the Pines, and their first full-length solo album It’s Okay Honey came out in 2023. Julian was the 2023–2024 Bagley Wright lecturer, a 2021 Pew Foundation Fellow, and the recipient of the 2020 Cy Twombly Award for Poetry. Its poems were recently included in Queer Nature (2022), When the Light of the World was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through: A Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry (2020) and We Want It All: An Anthology of Radical Trans Poetics (Nightboat 2020). Julian is the co-editor of The Glittering Field: A Gathering of New Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer Poetry with Crisosto Apache, forthcoming from Litmus Press in 2026.

Edwin Outwater is redefining the concert experience as a groundbreaking conductor, curator, and producer, known for his dynamic approach and genre-blending collaborations. Working with a wide range of artists from Metallica to Wynton Marsalis, Renée Fleming, and Yo-Yo Ma, Outwater’s creative vision and ability to seamlessly navigate between musical worlds has made him one of the most sought-after conductors, with the legendary Michael Tilson Thomas aptly describing him as “one of the most innovative conductors on the scene today.”

Outwater currently serves as Music Director of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he leads their ensembles and oversees the institution’s bold artistic initiatives. From September 2024, he takes on an additional role as Principal Guest Conductor and Curator of the BBC Concert Orchestra, working closely with the orchestra’s director to deliver an exciting range of concerts, community and education work over the next three seasons. His legacy as Music Director Laureate of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, where he served from 2007-2017, remains influential, marked by global recognition through international tours, collaborations, and the critically acclaimed recording From Here On Out.

Outwater’s recent high-profile engagements include appearances at major orchestras including the New York Philharmonic, The Cleveland Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, and Royal Philharmonic, where he headlined a multi-concert series at the grand opening of Steinmetz Hall in Florida. His collaborations extend to stars such as Diana Ross, Beck, Trey Anastasio, Leslie Odom Jr., and Lang Lang.