Sonic Site Composers
Found Sound Circle is a site-responsive experimental performance ensemble creating works that activate objects, spaces, and communities through sound. Our practice and projects are rooted in deep listening, experimental practice, and community engagement.
UPCOMING
Sound Bridges
A two-hour, site-responsive community arts event centered on the Bettenbender Plaza bridge at Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts, New Brunswick, NJ. The event will invite participants into a guided exploration of the site’s sonic environment, culminating in a collaborative composition, developed and performed in real time by Found Sound Circle ensemble members and audience participants.
Fall 2026 — Stay tuned!
PAST PROJECTS
MEET THE ENSEMBLE
Stephanie Leotsakos — Stephanie Leotsakos is a Colombian-Greek-American composer, conductor, soprano, violinist, and educator whose interdisciplinary work bridges storytelling, technology, and community through multimodal approaches. Her acoustic and electroacoustic compositions span vocal and instrumental chamber music to multimedia opera, including OMG (2016) and Young Goodman Brown (2022), presented at festivals nationally and abroad. She is the recipient of the National Opera Association’s 2024 Dominick Argento Fellowship for Opera Composition and is pursuing a Ph.D. in composition at Rutgers, where her research explores immersive sonic and sensory design in staged dramatic work.
Leif Haley — Leif Haley is a composer, percussionist, and pianist currently pursuing his Ph.D. in music composition at Rutgers University with Scott Ordway. Leif’s compositions have been performed by professional ensembles on both sides of the Atlantic, and he has enjoyed cross-disciplinary collaborations in the fields of dance, literature, visual arts, animation, computer science, and academia. Leif enjoys both classical and electronic music, with a particular interest in rhythm and musical ekphrasis, and he is always looking for more things to bow, from cowbells to music stands. He has also pursued research in cognitive psychology, dreams, and literature.
Alex Staten — In lieu of accolades, how about a leading question: what was that one great wisdom of Old Qoheleth– "nothing new under the sun"? Well, spite this old philosopher's futile attempt to condemn all creativity as redundant for the ensuing millennia, Alex Staten– writer; composer; percussionist; photographer; none of the above– endeavors with great persistence to demonstrate in his work that, indeed, though a thousand identical bricks may be baking in the midday sunlight of our creative age, yet there will always need be made a thousand more. So the anachronistic, unrefined tonality of Alex's words, music, and photographs comprises his clay, baking somewhere, undoubtedly, amid the pallet's lower layers.
James Schadt — James Schadt is an undergraduate composer and pianist currently studying with Jack Frerer. He frequently collaborates with ensembles within the Mason Gross community, having been guest composer for the Rutgers University Choir last year and is currently working with the Rutgers Brass Band on a new piece set to premiere on May 4th. James is also an active performer, playing in numerous wind bands and premiering dozens of student works each year. He has a special interest in theatre and contemporary classical music, and aims to incorporate elements of both into his music.
James Madrilejo — James Madrilejo is a Filipino-American composer currently pursuing his MA at Rutgers University with Melissa Dunphy. At seventeen, James moved to London to study composition at the Royal College of Music with Deirdre Gribbin and Haris Kittos. During his time at the RCM, his works were performed at venues such as LSO St Luke’s, St Mary Le Strand, and Kew Gardens, in addition to several premieres and commissions for RCM ensembles. Recent collaborations include Cyclic, a commission for the London-based Jasmine Quartet, and an upcoming string quartet premiere in Mexico City with the Puentes Ensemble. When he’s not composing, James works as the assistant engineer at the Mason Gross recording studio and teaches production in NYC public schools.
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