Joshua Penman enjoys simultaneous fledgling careers as a concert composer, film composer, ambient artist, record producer, consciousness researcher, and teacher. He takes great inspiration from world performance traditions, ambient music, and the Burning Man festival - and from religious trance and mystical practices of all forms. He has worked with the American Composers Orchestra, Gamelan Galak-Tika, SONYC, and the Cedar Rapids Symphony, as well as trance star Kenji Williams and kirtan artist Govindas; he has received commissions from the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, the Prism Saxophone Quartet, Arraymusic, the Foundation for Universal Sacred Music, and the New York Youth Symphony. His wind ensemble music is published by E. B. Marks. With ethnomusicologist Judith Becker, he is currently studying the physiological traces of trance consciousness and its relationship to music. Recent projects include the score for the art film Caravan of Light, an ambient remix for santur virtuoso Alan Kushan, and a commission for the early-music vocal ensemble Lionheart. Joshua Penman's teachers include Louis Andriessen, William Bolcom, Betsy Jolas, Bright Sheng, and Michael Daugherty. He is finishing a DMA in composition at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. His website is www.joshuapenman.com.