Join award-winning composer Andrea Daly '06 and her panel for the second series that connects Kenyon students with professionals in music and the arts. The panel will respond directly to student questions, offering context and lived experience from working artists.
Andrea Daly
Andrea Daly is a Brooklyn-based composer, writer, vocalist, and educator who thinks deeply about community and connection. Her work in musical theatre explores the intersection between theatre and other genres, including pop music and art music. After completing a Ph.D. in Music Composition in 2014 (Stony Brook University), Andrea used her dissertation to co-write an original musical about online gaming (Legendale, with Jeff Bienstock) that received its World Premiere in Denmark in 2017, followed by an American Premiere the same year. Subsequently, she was commissioned to create NEXT, an original musical about love in the near future. Both stories challenge the way humanity engages with technology. The songs from NEXT (co-written with Grammy-winning music producer Dominic Fallacaro) share a contemporary pop sound, and were performed by Broadway stars in a sold out Joe's Pub concert in Nov 2024 that is now on YouTube. In 2022, the American Theatre Wing named Andrea a Jonathan Larson Grant Finalist, and the Broadway Women’s Fund has listed her as a Woman to Watch on Broadway. As a pop vocalist/songwriter, Andrea has also performed herself on storied New York City venues for a decade, independently releasing four EPs and signing a publishing deal with Warner/Chappell Music before joining the Concord Music family in 2017. Andrea has designed and taught graduate courses in Composition at Temple University in Philadelphia, and the Musical Creators' Institute in New York, and has been honored by Stony Brook University with The President's Award in Teaching for her work with undergraduate students.
Annemarie Rosano
Annemarie Rosano is a New York City-based actor/singer/dancer working in theatre, commercials, voiceovers, and on cabaret stages. Between performing on the CATS National Tour and in Hairspray on Royal Caribbean, Annemarie has built a 15-year career in national TV commercials, and has spent 12 years performing nationally and internationally with all-female vintage entertainment trios, keeping the mid-20th-century vocal music of the Great American Songbook alive. She has been a featured soloist with the Birdland Big Band and the UK's The Jive Aces. Additional regional theatre roles include Cinderella in Into the Woods, Esmeralda in Disney's The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, and Brooke in Other Desert Cities. Annemarie received her Bachelor of Music from NYU Steinhardt, and is an active participating member of Actor's Equity Association.
Justin Goldner
Justin Goldner is a session musician, music producer, composer, and orchestrator, who has traveled the world and been fortunate to make music with Sting, Ricky Martin, Macy Gray, the New York Philharmonic under maestro Gustavo Dudamel, Shawn Mendes, Tori Kelly, Cynthia Erivo, Donald Glover, Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, Natasha Bedingfield, Jennifer Hudson, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ariana DeBose, Stephen Sondheim, Jin (BTS), Aloe Blacc, Lizzy McAlpine, J.C. & Lance from *NSYNC, Alan Menken, Max Martin, Ben Platt, Steve Martin, Chris Thile, and Twyla Tharp, among others. He’s contributed to Grammy, Tony and Golden Globe-winning projects, including Dear Evan Hansen and The Greatest Showman, and performed onstage Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden (60th annual Grammy Awards), and Turkmenistan’s Mukamlar Palace. A restless traveler and “language junkie”, music has taken Justin to 74 countries where he has performed and engaged with local cultures, conducted workshops in 3 languages and exchanged experiences and music with others from across the globe. He’s currently working on a project of contemporary Yiddish music in dialogue with other minoritized languages and cultures.
whatever mike
whatever mike is a Los Angeles-based recording artist, singer, songwriter, performer, spiritual practitioner, and song leader. Their unique sound — which they call Hope Pop — has earned them 25M+ streams across platforms and appearances at festivals such as Lollapalooza, Governer's Ball, and Bonnaroo, San Diego Pride, São Paulo Trans Pride, and Los Angeles Pride. Mike has toured nationally and internationally, most recently with acclaimed trans artist and activist Alok Vaid-Menon. Their work blends elements of R&B, soul, pop, and folk, with introspective songwriting that explores queer consciousness, devotional practice, and mysticism. Their new EP, Everything to Gain, is an exploration of queer spirituality through sound — a meditation on healing, devotion, and self-discovery. With buttery layered vocals and hypnotic production, its sonic landscape may remind listeners of genre-blurring artists such as James Blake, Frank Ocean, Sam Smith, and Bon Iver. Conceptually, it holds space for nuance, paradox, and the big questions of life, embracing both light and shadow, movement and stillness. Mike's music doesn't seek easy answers; instead, they invite you to find peace in the unknown.