​Minnesota-based solo/chamber artist and composer Julie Sweet holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees in Piano Performance from Minnesota State University Mankato. During her graduate years, she studied composition with David Dickau and developed close ties with guest artist/American composer, Jeffrey Brooks, who has believed in her writing-style since day one. Julie is the founder, flight director and pianist of Sound Field (formerly, Skeleton Crew), an organization committed to celebrating music by contemporary classicists and minimalists. In addition, Julie is a former seasonal pianist of the widely acclaimed new music ensemble Zeitgeist and has been an avid freelance educator since 1998. She enjoys finding hidden time to explore different roads, towns/cities and hiking trails with her trusty camera (Pentax K-01). 

Julie is one of three winners of Zeitgeist's 2021 Eric Stokes Song Contest. Named in memory of late composer Eric Stokes, the contest is designed to encourage and celebrate amateur composers throughout the Twin Cities. Julie's winning composition, entitled Are you there?, will be featured on Zeitgeist's annual Playing it Close to Home concert, Sept. 10-11 at Studio Z. 

Are you there? (2020) was written for piano and soundtrack (or vibraphone, piano and soundtrack) with optional videography by the composer to accompany the music. Julie writes: 

"I began composing Are you there? during a pandemic lock-down. The sidewalks and hiking trails were eerily quiet then. It was on my solo walks, I did most of my composing. I'm interested in writing a multi-movement work that has an indie-like film quality about it. Slowly but surely my soundtrack for solo, mixed-chamber and pre-recorded sounds evolves. The videography for Are you there? was captured outside a bar/diner in Uptown Minneapolis on an unusually warm November day last year; the same day election results were announced. This explains all the activity you see through the glass. Uptown came back to life, momentarily. I took the video with the intent of pairing it with Are you there? They ended up being a good fit." 

Meet Eric Stokes Song Contest winner Ellie Gold. Ellie graduated from Minneapolis Southwest High School last spring and is now beginning her studies at McGill University's Schulich School of Music in music composition. 

Ellie began playing piano at age six and percussion at age nine. She had always made up melodies in her head as a kid, but it wasn't until high school that she started writing them down. She explains her path to becoming a composer as being influenced by family, friends, and supportive teachers. 

"Each year in my high school band we would be assigned into quartets and trios for small ensemble projects. It was around this time that my sister showed me the online composing program "flat", and I began writing my own marimba and mallet quartets. I found the structure of four single lined voices easy to work with.

Eventually I started bringing in my own music to school for my friends to play for our small ensemble projects. My music was largely influenced by the three other girls I played with in my mallet quartet, because I would write each part to their skill levels and musical interests. 

My high school band teacher was extremely encouraging and supportive of me and allowed me to perform one of my marimba quartets at our school's annual winter recital at the Basilica St. Mary, by far our largest concert of the year." 

Ellie is the youth winner of Zeitgeist's 2021 Eric Stokes Song Contest. Named in memory of late composer Eric Stokes, the contest is designed to encourage and celebrate amateur composers throughout the Twin Cities. Ellie's winning composition, Beach Quartet, will be featured on Zeitgeist's annual Playing it Close to Home concert, Sept. 10-11 at Studio Z. 

Ellie writes about Beach Quartet: 

"I wrote Beach Quartet almost three years ago in one four hour sitting. I had no idea what to call the piece so it was titled "yeah" for a while. I brought it into school with the hopes of playing it with my mallet quartet that I mentioned earlier, but we never got around to it. It wasn't until this past year when I was putting together samples for my music school application that I happened upon the piece again and began reworking it."