Blair Ackiss, Co-Author

Blair's love for writing started in kindergarten with her first piece, "Lipstick and Other Found Treasures" - an instant playground hit. She is very thankful that her lifelong friend, Kelly, encouraged her writing by including her on this adventure known as Coda's Journey. When Blair is not writing, reading or running, she manages a small real estate brokerage which only fuels her passion for telling people what to do. Blair identifies as a muppet and wholly embraces her goofiness.

Matt Browne, Composer

New York-based composer Matt Browne (b. 1988) strives to create music that meets Sergei Diaghilev’s famous challenge to Jean Cocteau: “Astonish me!”, through incorporating such eclectic influences as the timbral imagination and playfulness of György Ligeti, the shocking and humorous polystylism of Alfred Schnittke, and the relentless rhythmic energy of Igor Stravinsky.  His music has been praised for its “unbridled humor” (New Music Box) and described as “witty” (The Strad) and “beautifully crafted and considered” (What’s On London).

Matt has had the privilege to collaborate with such ensembles as the Minnesota Orchestra, Alarm Will Sound, PRISM Quartet, Albany Symphony, Milwaukee Symphony, Eastman Wind Ensemble, PUBLIQuartet, New York Virtuoso Singers, New Jersey Symphony, New England Philharmonic, and the Villiers Quartet. Recent projects include his Symphony no. 1 ‘The Course of Empire’ commissioned the Santa Rosa and Eugene Symphonies, States of Mind for percussion quartet, and a collaboration with Opera Omaha’s Poetry and Music.

Recently, Matthew’s music has received honors such as winner of the ASCAP Foundation Rudolf Nissim Prize (2017), first prize in the 2020 New Classics International Competition of the Moscow Conservatory (out of 2,000 submissions in 84 countries), a BMI Student Composer award (2015), a residency at the Mizzou International Composers Festival, fellow at CULTIVATE Copland House (2017), winner of the New England Philharmonic Call for Scores (2014), a residency at the Minnesota Orchestra Composers Institute (2016), winner of the American Viola Society’s Maurice Gardner Composition award (2014), and a residency at the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra’s First Annual Composers Institute (2013). Matthew holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts in Music Composition from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Previous teachers include Michael Daugherty, Kristin Kuster, Carter Pann, and Daniel Kellogg. www.mattbrownecomposer.com.

Kelly Johnston, Co-Author

Kelly Johnston has been working on Coda’s Journey for a long time now with his oldest friend in the world, Blair Ackiss; a fact, of which, he is extraordinarily proud. When not trying to write things, Kelly is the Associate Artistic Director at Stage Door Theatre, a co-founder of Reign Or Shine Productions, LLC, the showrunner of the podcast, The Cruelest Month, and a huge nerd. He is a proud member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers and is extraordinarily fond of pie.

Nora Segura-Barpal, Creative Producer

Nora Segura-Barpal graduated with a Bachelor of Music - Performance from the University of Colorado Boulder (CU) in 2018. As much as she loved performing, she found her place in the industry when she began taking music entrepreneurship classes during her time at CU. She moved to NYC in the fall to pursue her Masters in Performing Arts Administration at New York University. During this time she worked at the NYC Department of Education in the Arts & Special Projects Office and Concord Theatricals. Segura-Barpal graduated from NYU with her M.A. in May 2020. After graduating, she co-founded the Music Inclusion Coalition (MIC) in order to address inequities in collegiate music programs. In May 2021 she moved to San Francisco where she is currently Director of Individual Giving for New Conservatory Theatre Center.