Meet the Founders

Voice of Iris was founded by Cailin Smith and Sé Brown. We met at the Longy School of Music and graduated in 2023 with our Master of Music degrees.

 

Through the course of our friendship, we have had many discussions about the inequity found in the music industry, especially classical vocal music. For both of us, singing in Longy’s production of Antigone by James Kallembach in 2022 was a defining artistic moment. Joining the Lilith Vocal Ensemble post-graduation further intensified our energy when surrounded by other treble voices, working on music with a social justice core. We felt more at home.

 

In the summer of 2023, Cailin approached Sé and asked if they wanted to start a company together.

 

They said yes, and Voice of Iris started taking shape.

 

In the past year of discussing, dreaming, writing (and lots of re-writing), we saw a vision taking shape. In an industry where lower voices are often prized and sought-out and treble voices are left in stiff competition, we seek to create a space for recent graduates with big dreams to thrive. 

 

In our inaugural season, we are proud to be commissioning a larger scale new work for a 2026 premiere, as well as programming previously composed music. As a central tenet of Voice of Iris, each performance will be staged. 

 

We are excited to see where Voice of Iris will go from here. We have big dreams and plans, and we're excited to expand our collective, empower musicians, and make music.