Meet Our Composers
Brock Chart (b.1991) is a composer and piano studio owner residing in Lawrence, Kansas. Brock composes in a variety of genres and mediums including jazz, pop, contemporary choral music, educational piano literature, and film music. He is a proud alumni of the University of Kansas and was recently named the Composer of the Year by the Kansas Federation of Music Clubs - 2022.
Brock has been awarded two Student Music Awards in DownBeat magazine for composition in jazz writing categories in both large ensemble writing, and small group writing. He was recently named an honorable mention in the 2017 New York Youth Symphony First Music Commissions for his piece, “Down to the Wire.”, and was also named 2nd Place in the Kansas Choral Composition Prize for his SATB piece from Christina Rossetti’s poem, “Echo.”
Recently Brock composed original music for the Museum of Modern Art’s short film series, “How To See” which was listed in the British Film Institute’s list of the Best Video Essays of 2019. His music was also used in Brandon Daley’s short film “Savasana” which was premiered at the 2016 Slamdance film festival in Utah, “Chicken Tuesdays”, and “Technology Lake” which was one of twelve films selected to compete at the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival in South Korea and the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival.
Over the past two years, Brock composed and published six books in his educational Five-Finger piano series through his company, My-Melodies Publishing: Five-Finger Jazz! Book 1 and Book 2, Five-Finger Pop! Book 1 and Book 2, and Five-Finger Rock! Book 1 and Book 2. The books have received great reviews from pedagogues and leaders in the educational community in publications like American Music Teacher Magazine and Clavier’s Piano Magazine as well as popular music educator blogs, websites and podcasts like Vibrant Music Teaching, and All Keyed Up.
Brock spends his free time cooking, eating tacos, and spending time with his girlfriend, Dominique, and their mini-sheltie, Winnebago.
Kai Ono is a composer/pianist/educator living in New York City. He likes the color grey, cute animals (subjective), and games of most kind.
As a composer and pianist, Kai commands a wide gamut of genres. He was a recipient of Downbeat Magazine’s Undergraduate College outstanding Composition for Big Band and the ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composers Award for his piece “Everybody is with Everybody Else”, which premiered at the Jazz at the Lincoln Center in New York City. His concert piece, “Two Novellas for Clarinet and Piano” was a winner of the National Federation of Music Clubs Emil and Ruth Beyer Composition Award. Outside of jazz and classical, Kai is a high-demand pianist and keyboardist for rock, hip-hop, neo-soul, and R&B groups around New York; he also enjoys collaborating with various artists on songwriting projects.
Kai’s pedagogical ethos primarily revolves around the idea that a musical education is a valuable investment into one’s culture and emotional intelligence. Heavily using rote learning and ear training on top of the usual skills such as reading sheet music, Kai’s students forge a deeper relationship with music through the development of associations between musical elements and emotional affect. Besides piano, Kai teaches composition, arrangement, theory, music appreciation, or whatever else interests his students. He may even be prepared for a couple of animal facts for some curious students.
Kai graduated from the University of Kansas with a BM in Piano Performance and Composition with distinction, and as a Presser Scholar. He is eternally grateful for his amazing mentors he’s studied under so far - piano with Dr. Scott McBride Smith and Chizuko Asada, composition with James Barnes, Dr. Forrest Pierce, Dr. Kip Haaheim, and Dan Gailey, and jazz piano with TJ Martley.