Co-Chair
Dr. Jiayue Cecilia Wu (AKA 武小慈), a scholar, composer, and audio engineer, specializes in harnessing music technology for healing. With a B.Sc. in Design and Engineering, she spent a decade as a music producer, publisher, and consultant with EMI Records, Universal Music Group, and Shazam. Her academic journey led her to earn a Master’s of Art in Music, Science, and Technology from Stanford University and Ph.D. in Media Arts and Technology from the University of California Santa Barbara. Her music has been performed in Asia, the United States, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Brazil, and Europe. Her intellectual contributions include 30 peer-reviewed journal articles, three book chapters, two book publications, and 100+ multimedia compositions, exhibitions, and installations showcased globally. Currently, Dr. Wu is an Assistant Professor and the Graduate Program Director at the University of Colorado’s College of Arts and Media. She actively participates in her academic community, serving as a peer reviewer for high-impact research journals, chairing the Diversity and Inclusion Committee at the Audio Engineering Society (AES), and holding board leadership roles in the International Computer Music Association (ICMA) and AES. Dr. Wu’s expertise extends worldwide, with guest lectures and workshops in Embodied Sonic Meditation at prominent R1 research institutions and international events.
Contact: cecilia.wu@ucdenver.uedu
Papers Chair
Dr. Zeynep Özcan is an experimental and electronic music composer, sound artist and performer. She explores biologically inspired musical creativity, interactive and immersive environments, and generative systems. Her works have been performed and presented throughout the world in concerts, exhibitions, and conferences, such as AES, ICAD, ICMC, ISEA, NIME, NYCEMF, WAC and ZKM. She is an Assistant Professor and a faculty director of Girls in Music and Technology (GiMaT), Summer Institute at the Department of Performing Arts Technology at the University of Michigan, School of Music, Theatre & Dance. She specializes in the implementation of software systems for music-making, audio programming, sonification, sensors and microcontrollers, novel interfaces for musical expression, and large-scale interactive installations. Her research interests are exploring bio-inspired creativity, artistic sonification, playfulness and failure in performance, and sonic cyberfeminisms. She is passionate about community building and creating multicultural and collaborative learning experiences for students through technology-driven creativity.
Learn more: http://zeynepozcan.net
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ozeyna/
Volunteers Chair
Mike Espar is a composer, music producer and educator. Writing as “M.G. Espar”, his music has been featured in films screened at Lincoln Center and the Sundance Film Festival, and in theaters and concert halls around the country. Notable projects include The Man Who Would Be Polka King (truTV), Mamachas del Ring (Buenos Aires Independent Film Festival), Altamont Now (Winner, Best Narrative, Arizona Underground Film Festival), and Sex Crimes Unit (HBO). He has also composed commercial music for high-profile clients including Heineken, Levis, Fruit of the Loom and Ford Models. Mike holds a B.A. in Film Studies from Yale University and an M.A. in Music Composition from NYU’s Steinhardt School. He resides in San Diego where he is Vice-Chair of the AES San Diego Section and an Associate Professor of Music at San Diego City College.
Contact: mespar@sdccd.edu
Sponsorships Chair
Steve Barsotti is an educator, audio post engineer and audio artist. He has been teaching college for over 30 years, along with giving artists lectures and workshops in various approaches to electronic music, sound art, and production techniques. He covers everything from the commercial to the unconventional. He currently teaches in the San Diego Community College District at Miramar College.
He is the owner/operator of Ragmatic Audio, where he has recorded, mixed and mastered audio for client projects including podcasts, films, music, multimedia art, documentaries, and commercial projects.
Steve is currently the chair of the San Diego Section of AES.
Contact: sbarsotti@sdccd.edu
Co-Chair
Dr. Mary Mazurek is currently an Assistant Professor of Digital Audio Arts at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada and a GRAMMY-nominated recording engineer. The Recording Academy awarded her nomination at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards in the category of Best Engineered Album, Classical for the album Liquid Melancholy Clarinet Music of James Stephenson. Her audio work is also regularly featured on WFMT Radio and WFMT.com. Additionally, she is the author of Aesthetic Noise: The philosophy of intentional listening on Routledge. She is also a sought-after speaker and educator who enjoys contributing in the classroom and on panels and committees within her industry and beyond. She serves as a role model and advocates for women in the recording industry, which is currently less than 5% female. Furthermore, she serves as a governor and the Diversity Equity and Inclusion Chairperson for the Audio Engineering Society.
Contact: mary.mazurek@uleth.ca
Facilities Chair
Professor Channing Booth has led the Audio Production and Engineering program at San Diego Miramar College for 26 years. Holding both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in music from Berklee College of Music in Boston, he is an accomplished composer and Latin-Jazz/Salsa pianist with extensive touring and international performances. His audio expertise spans live sound and studio recordings, and he has collaborated with celebrated Salsa and Latin Jazz artists worldwide.
Contact: cbooth@sdccd.edu
Workshops Co-Chair
Joey Stuckey is the Official Music Ambassador of his hometown of Macon, Georgia.Joey spends every moment living life to the fullest and sharing his story and inspirational spirit through his musical performances and speaking engagements. Asa toddler, Joey was diagnosed with a brain tumor and underwent surgery with little hope of survival. Though the tumor left Joey blind and with other health challenges, today, he continues olive a successful life of intention in his chosen field of music. Joey has served as professor of music technology at Mercer University, music technology consultant for Middle Georgia State University, and an official music mentor for the Recording, Radio and Film Connection in Los Angeles as well as an active voting member of the GRAMMY sand he serves as a Governor on the GRAMMY Board Atlanta Chapter. He also has leadership roles in RAMP’d, Georgia Chamber of Commerce,and the Audio Engineering Society. He is the owner, senior engineer and producer at Shadow Sound Studio which is a destination recording facility with state-of-the-art analog and digital technology. He has spoken and performed all over the world including at the University College of London, ISMIR in Milan (keynote speaker),the Georgia Music Hallof Fame, and the Audio Engineering Society in New York City, just to name a few. In his roles as producer, engineer, session musician, recording artist and journalist, he has worked with many musical legends including Trisha Yearwood, Clarence Carter, James Brown, Alan Parsons, Gene Simmons (KISS), Al Chez (Tower of Power), Jimmy Hall (Wet Willie), Danny Seraphin (Chicago), Kevin Kenney (Drivin’ and Cryin’), and many, many more.
For more information visit:
Facebook:
Twitter: @jstuckeymusic
Instagram: @jstuckeymusi
Treasurer
Brian (Bt) “Gibbs” is co-owner & principal at Skyline Entertainment & Publishing (Tool Shed Studios) in Silicon Valley. With 30+ record credits in 2023, Gibbs uses his B.M. from Berklee College of Music (Jazz Composition) as a record producer, mixing engineer & immersive mixing engineer. He has worked on many records for Bay Area artists including Los Tigres del Norte’s “Realidades” (2015 GRAMMY Award for Best Regional Mexican Album, including Tejano).
Gibbs is also a 10yr+ Recording Academy voting member, currently on the Board of Governors for the San Francisco chapter, previously serving as the Chair for the SF Chapter Producers & Engineers Wing, and Advocacy Chair. In helping to develop the next generation of creators, Gibbs regularly serves as a Grammy U mentor, as well as, alumni mentor for his alma mater Berklee College of Music.
For the Audio Engineering Society, Gibbs serves as 2024 San Francisco Section Chair, AES Diversity & Inclusion Mentorship & Scholarship Task Force and is a served as Recording Technologies & Practices area chair for the 2024 AES Convention in New York.
In addition to presenting at multiple AES conferences on immersive mixing techniques, he has also presented multiple times at Music Expo (SF & Boston) Berklee College of Music, Cal State University campuses, Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Webster University and other audio engineering educational institutions. He is also a current SMPTE member in the San Francisco section.
One of Gibbs’ primary focus is on diversity & inclusion across all disciplines and genres of music creation, both behind the microphone and behind the record.
