who
Organ Colossal was founded by Sophia Subbayya Vastek and Sam Torres.
Our events and projects feature an ever-expanding group of artists and collaborators. They are the heart of what we do.
Folks we’ve worked with ↓ (click images to learn more about them)
Philip Allen, vocalist
Julia Alsarraf, vocalist/multi-instrumentalist
Taína Asili, musician/activist
Jessica Bowen, violinist
Patrick Burke, composer
Max Caplan, pianist
Devesh Chandra, tabla player
Veena Chandra, sitarist
Louna Dekker-Vargas, flutist
Ledah Finck, violist/violinist/vocalist
Girl Blue, singer/songwriter/guitarist
Jake Heggelke, guitarist
Cathryn Jones, oboist
Aaron Moore, actor
Adam O’Farrill’s Stranger Days
Charles O’more, singer/songwriter
Emily Pinkerton, multi-instrumentalist
Kyle Rapps, rapper/slam poet
Belle-Skinner, singer-songwriter
Zan Strumfeld, vocalist/guitarist
Super 400
Raquel Velho, cellist
Mitsuko Suzuki, violinist
Warp Trio
Nicholas Tariello, percussionist
The Westerlies
The Early Mays
board of directors
Sophia Subbayya Vastek, president
Based in Troy, NY, musician Sophia Subbayya Vastek (she/her) defies easy categorization. Moving between musical worlds, she has been described as “a wonder” and “audacious” (Inactuelles), and as performing with "passion and profound tenderness” (Second Inversion) and “serene strokes and lyrical beauty” (Brooklyn Rail). With the piano as her foundation, Sophia’s music-making and composing draws on her classical training to create what she calls “music for softies". Her first full-length album Histories was released on innova Recordings in 2017, produced by multiple Grammy-winning engineer Adam Abeshouse. She has since released the EP Lili, as well as several recordings spanning genres in collaboration with her partner Sam Torres. Sophia has performed internationally across three continents, as well as extensively in the northeastern United States. She is a co-founder of Organ Colossal.
Learn more at www.sophiavastek.com.
Elizabeth Gray, treasurer
Elizabeth Quinn Gray (she/her) is a resident of Troy, NY where she is currently completing a PhD in Philosophy. Elizabeth's career has been dedicated to building educational programs, initiatives, and institutions, having served as the Provost's Director of Strategic Initiatives at the University at Albany; the founding Assistant Dean of UAlbany's College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity; and the founding Assistant Director of the Global Institute for Health and Human Rights. She also co-founded Castle Island Bilingual Montessori School in Albany, NY, and was the Founder and Director of The Wishi Project, which established a primary school in an indigenous community in the Amazon Rainforest. She plays surdo in a Brazilian percussion group, and is an enthusiastic supporter of local arts and music.
Julia Alsarraf, secretary
Born in Houston, TX, Julia Alsarraf (she/her) relocated to Troy, NY in 2009 to study Electronic Arts at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Since then, she has performed with a variety of musical groups and released a solo EP, Mixed Feelings. She was highlighted by Saratoga Living for her “powerful, soulful vocals, which seamlessly cross genre lines.” In addition to playing and writing music, Julia also enjoys drawing, programming, and building community. Stop by and say hello at www.juliaalsarraf.com.
Sabrina Sadique
Born and raised in Dhaka, Bangladesh and a current resident of Concord, MA, Sabrina Sadique (she/her) teaches English at Concord Academy. Winner of the Francis Bergen Memorial Prize for Fiction awarded by the Yale Literary Magazine and the Elmore A. Willetts Prize for Fiction awarded by the Department of English, Sabrina Sadique received her BA in English from Yale College in 2004, and MA in English from Harvard in 2006. Sadique’s doctoral research at Harvard compared perceptions and literary formulations of gender and Islam between the postcolonial and post-9/11 narrative modes with an emphasis on the ethics, politics, and economics of globalization and Muslim diaspora. Vocal installations of her texts have been featured at Arts, Letters, and Numbers, where she served as a Literary Fellow. Recordings of her poems were released in works by musicians Sophia Vastek and Sam Torres. Sadique is now working on her collection of Sufi poetry and meditations titled After Grace.
Kala Pierson
Kala Pierson's (she/her) music is vivid, full-throated, and rooted in the joy and urgency of communication. Whether writing boundary-pushing music for The Crossing and American Opera Projects, installing audio in an abandoned fortress, or performing endurance art at the Guggenheim Museum, she works from her own meditative and sensory/sensual experience, producing deeply embodied music that challenges while luxuriating in the performers' best qualities. Kala's music has been performed in 35 countries on six continents, widely awarded and commissioned, and published by Universal Edition. A Yaddo, MacDowell, and Britten-Pears Foundation fellow, she studied at Eastman School of Music and lives in Philadelphia with her spouses and son. Connect with her at kalapierson.com.
Sam Torres
Sam Torres (he/him) is a musician and audio engineer based in Troy, NY. He grew up in the Bronx listening to and playing salsa, jazz, and Bach, and then received degrees in jazz performance and computer music composition. All of these musical interests continue to live and evolve through his own work, which is itself striving to be as honest and simple as possible. His debut full length album of music for saxophone and live electronics will be released sometime in the next several years. Learn more at samtorresmusic.com.