Joelle Zigman [https://joellezigman.com] is a composer, educator, and musicjournalist from Jersey City, NJ, currently pursuing a Master’s degree in musiccomposition at the University of Texas at Austin. She recently graduated fromThe Shepherd School of Music at Rice University (Houston, TX). Joelle began as asinger/songwriter playing on an out-of-tune piano and recording in her makeshiftbasement studio with friends, inspired primarily by riot grrrl and 1990s femalesinger/songwriters. Curiosity and frustration with the repetitive, limited scopeof singer/songwriting led her to studying composition, piano, and musictheory. As a print and broadcast journalist, Joelle has worked with and writtenfor The Rice Thresher; The Rice Standard; the web magazine of the American MusicCenter, NewMusicBox; masculine-of-center fashion blog DapperQ; Houston publicradio station Classical 91.7FM; KVRX, the radio station of UT Austin; and KTRU,the radio station of Rice. She also runs a personal music blog, Nuts and BoltsMusic [https://nutsandboltsmusic.wordpress.com].