BioBRIAN KROCK (soprano saxophone) is a composer, multi-instrumentalist, and key member of the band Big Heart Machine. Krock writes music that simultaneously embraces and transcends the diverse array of genres he works within and is a fierce and probing improviser on the alto saxophone. He plays all the woodwind instruments and has had the opportunity to make creative music in New York’s classical, theater, and pop music scenes. Krock holds a master’s degree in composition from the Manhattan School of Music, where he was a student of world-renowned jazz composer Jim McNeely and acclaimed opera composer Dr. J. Mark Stambaugh. Highlights from his long list of awards and honors include the Aaron Copland Recording Grant, the Manhattan Prize in Composition for his “String Quartet No. 1,” two ASCAP Young Jazz Composer’s Awards, a composer-residency at the Bloomingdale School of Music, and commissions from the New York Youth Symphony and the Metropole Orkest with Grammy-winning R&B vocalist Lalah Hathaway.