Jozefius aka Joseph Martin Waters,
PhD – Artistic and Executive Director

Joseph Martin Waters (born 1952) is an American classical composer known for writing experimental chamber ensemble and orchestral music in which electronic sounds are integrated with traditional musical instruments.

His style of composition is based in both the European classical as well as African (beat-based) musical traditions. He also mounts experimental electronic music festivals designed to bridge the gap between contemporary popular genres and the avant-garde western classical tradition.

https://josephwaters.com/

Dr. Jae Eun Jung – Assistant Director, 
Social Media, NWEAMO Festival Adjudicator

Jae Eun Jung is a composer whose work is mainly rooted in both the United States and Korea. Jung has been recognized internationally, including being named a finalist in the BNMIC Competition and the Renée B. Fisher Composer Awards, and receiving the 2011 IAWM PazyLu Prize. She has served as a resident fellow at the Yun Isang Haus in Berlin, and has been invited to various venues across the United States, Korea, the United Kingdom, Germany, Romania, Lithuania, Hong Kong, and elsewhere. She has been supported by institutions such as the Korea Creative Content Agency, the Korea Chamber Music Composition Festival, and the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture.

Rather than creating music with overly abstract or esoteric gestures, Jung pursues clear and sincere expression that conveys emotion and subject matter with honesty. Regardless of instrumentation or scale, she places particular emphasis on the overall musical texture and its layered structural design.

Through collaborations with media art and AI in her two solo composition concerts in 2022 and 2024, she expanded her musical scope and continue exploring interdisciplinary creation and experimentation.

Jung earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Music Theory from Ewha Womans University, a Master’s degree in Composition from San Diego State University, and a Doctorate in Composition from the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign.

She has previously taught at Point Loma Nazarene University, and currently serves as the Music Director of the Cardinal Kim Sou-Hwan Memorial Concert, and the Assistant Director of the NWEAMO Festival (New West Evolving Art and Music Organization), and teaches at the Catholic University of Korea, the University of Seoul, Sungshin Women’s University, and Ewha Womans University.

Jae Eun Jung

John Young – Webmaster,
NWEAMO Festival Adjudicator

John Young worked for 34 years at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center. Most of his work was designing projection special effects for the many planetarium shows that were presented to schools and the public in the dome theater. Along with multiple full length astronomy presentations he created visuals and audio for the short form shows that accompanied the IMAX films in the dome. He also recorded and engineered music and voice overs for advertisements, traveling exhibits, web series and more.

He designed the system for captioning the IMAX films for the hearing impaired and transmitting alternate languages and descriptive programming. Upgrading equipment as technology changed, he eventually converted the old analog technologies used in the planetarium to fully digital systems, starting with slide projectors and ended with digital video.

Along the way he has presented laser shows, live concerts, lectures and corporate events. He designed, installed and programmed the audio component for the Sci-Tours motion ride, an immersive experience that included a sound and light show built into 2 elevators. He was factory trained as a technician for the motion ride, as well as various digital video and audio systems.

In 2012 he worked with vendors to replace the dome structure and install the Fulldome video presentation system with 4 of the worlds largest video projectors, and afterwards held seminars and trained artists and video producers to create material specifically for the dome.
In 2014 he hosted one evening of NWEAMO on the new fulldome system and created live imagery for several audio presentations that did not have a visual component. 
Audio for his piece featured reading from the Gnostic Scrolls set to music.

In the 2018 NWEAMO fesgtival his physical instruments featured Chaos Vs. Order

He converted the large library of old analog soundtracks from 35 MM audio tape and led the team that synchronized the new Pro-Tools digital audio system to the original IMAX projector from 1973.

Since retiring in 2016 he has been technical director at the Borrego Springs Performing Arts Center, and is studying paleontology, specializing in photographing fossils and converting them into 3D models. He is an avid keyboard player and has released several self produced albums and singles.
He is on the board of the Borrego Springs Music Festival and teachs keyboard and recording technology.

AKA: BOMBASTICUS

Dr. Elena Yarritu – Flutist (NWEAMO Ensemble),
Ensemble Coordinator/Manager, Social Media, NWEAMO Festival Adjudicator

Flutist Elena Yarritu enjoys an active career as a soloist, chamber musician, conductor, and teacher. She holds an MM from Yale University School of Music and a DMA from Stony Brook University. She has studied with many distinguished flutists and musicians in the U.S. and abroad in Europe.

Elena has performed at prestigious venues including Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall and Merkin Hall in New York, and internationally in Paris, the Netherlands, Moldova, and Estonia. Her debut CD, Scree (MSR Classics), with pianist Gabriel Sanchez, received acclaim as “fearsome and adventurous” (Fanfare Magazine) and “wholesome and jubilantly virtuosic” (American Record Guide). Her second CD, Emigrantes (2015), features arrangements of Astor Piazzolla’s music and original works by Argentine composer Exequiel Mantega.

Elena maintains an active flute studio in North County, San Diego. She has taught masterclasses throughout the United States and internationally, including her hometown, San Jose, San Diego, Denton, Texas (Texas Flute Society), Prague (Czech Republic), and Seoul, South Korea. Her students are top-prize winners in competitions, including the Music Teachers’ Association of California, the National Youth Orchestra, San Diego Musical Merit, the National Flute Association High School Soloist Competition, and NPR’s From the Top.

Elena is on the artist roster for the BelCanto Performance Foundation and serves as Artistic Director of the Carmel Valley Library Family Music Concert Series. She performs with Trio Aquarelle (flute, cello, piano), as part of DUO ELENA with harpist Elena Mashkovtseva, and is a frequent collaborator with pianist Dr. Cho-Hyun Park.

https://nweamo.org/elena-yarritu/

Christian Gonzales – Violinist (NWEAMO Ensemble)
NWEAMO Festival Adjudicator

Christian Gonzales is establishing himself as one of San Diego’s finest young violinists and violin teachers. A graduate of Juilliard and UCLA, Gonzales has performed throughout the United States internationally in Mexico, Canada, and Spain. He is also the owner of the Christian Gonzales Violin Studio LLC.

Named the winner of the 2022 Atwater Kent Concerto Competition, Gonzales was briefly loaned the 1732 Duke of Alcantara Stradivarius. He was also a finalist in the 2025 Agustín Aponte International Music Competition and prizewinner of several other competitions.

Gonzales has appeared as a soloist with several orchestras including the Cabrillo Chamber Orchestra, Cuyamaca Chamber Orchestra, and the UCLA Symphony. As a recitalist, he has played for venues such as the Da Camera Society, La Jolla Music Society, Tanglewood Music Festival, Juilliard ChamberFest, Domaine Forget, Festival del Lago, and Musical Festival Tenerife. Gonzales has collaborated with renowned artists and composers and has premiered several works including his original cadenzas and arrangements in public.As an orchestral musician, Gonzales has played with numerous groups including the New World Symphony and side-by-side with the New York Philharmonic. He was a concertmaster at Tanglewood and UCLA and associate concertmaster at Juilliard.

Gonzales is also developing a reputation as a rising violin teacher in San Diego. He has given masterclasses across Southern California and is developing his Violin Technique five-volume book series.

A native of El Cajon, California, Gonzales started the violin at the age of ten. His teachers were Areta Zhulla, Movses Pogossian, Varty Manouelian, Alexander Palamidis, Travis Maril, and Shirley Stafford.Outside of music, Gonzales is a retired competitive wushu practitioner, having been a member of the USA Traditional Wushu Team and assistant coach of UCLA Wushu.

https://nweamo.org/christian_gonzales/

Cho Hyun Park – Pianist (NWEAMO Ensemble)
NWEAMO Festival Adjudicator

Dr. Cho-Hyun Park is an internationally acclaimed pianist whose musical journey began in Korea. She pursued her studies at Seoul National University, working with several distinguished professors. Among them, her artistic direction was most profoundly shaped by HaeSun Paik, a celebrated pianist who studied in the United States from her youth and won both the Queen Elizabeth and Tchaikovsky Competitions. Paik’s mentorship inspired Dr. Park to pursue advanced studies abroad, leading to her acceptance at the University of Texas at Austin, where she earned both her Master’s and Doctoral degrees under the guidance of Gregory Allen, supported by multiple presidential scholarships.

During her time at UT Austin, Dr. Park cultivated a versatile career as both a soloist and collaborative pianist. She performed in numerous recitals, worked extensively with the undergraduate opera program, served as pianist for the UT Symphony and Wind Ensemble, collaborated with Ballet Austin as an improvisational pianist, and participated in the Austrian American Mozart Academy Summer Workshops. Her doctoral research, which combined Asian musical traditions with an analytical study of George Crumb’s piano works, received special recognition from the composition faculty Dr. Edward Pearsall.

After settling in San Diego, Dr. Park continued her artistic refinement with the renowned pianist George Katz, who profoundly shaped her interpretation, technique, and repertoire. Under his mentorship, she achieved significant competition success, including her victory at the Bartók–Kabalevsky–Prokofiev International Piano Competition, which led to her acclaimed Carnegie Hall debut in 2015. Her performances have been praised for their sensitivity, intelligence, and expressive depth. She has also received the Most Distinguished Award at the IBLA Grand Prize Music Competition in Italy and the William Modica and Concetta Giordanella Modica Memorial Award from the IBLA Foundation.

Based in San Diego, Dr. Park maintains an active performance schedule as a soloist, collaborative artist, chamber musician as a founding member of Trio Aquarelle, and is frequently invited to adjudicate music competitions. She teaches at her private studio in Poway, mentoring students who consistently achieve success in competitions, and serves as an instructor and accompanist in the Continuing Education program at Mesa College.

https://nweamo.org/cho-hyun-park-2/