Meet the Team
Kate Kilbane
owner, writing specialist
Kate Kilbane (she/her) is an educator with twenty years’ experience teaching writing, music and theater. In her ten years with composed, she has worked with close to seven hundred students on their college application essays.
Before composed, Kate spent ten years teaching and working as a writing tutor for students ages 5 – 18.
In addition to her work as an educator, Kate is a playwright and composer — her work has been produced in theaters across the United States.
Kate received a full academic scholarship to the University of Virginia and graduated magna cum laude with a BA in English. She also holds a Masters of Arts in Performance Studies from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.
Contact: kate@essayscomposed.com
ari Brenner
Writing specialist
Ari Brenner (they/he) is a playwright, educator and dramaturg. As a writer, Ari studied under Tony Award-winning playwrights Lynn Nottage and David Henry Hwang. This is their second year with composed. They have been teaching writing for six years as a private tutor in New York City.
Ari’s passion for storytelling and education began early through a mentorship of their great-aunt, who was a first grade teacher at P.S. 215 in Brooklyn for 43 years and taught thousands of children, including Ari, how to fall in love with reading, writing, and storytelling. Ari is honored to continue her legacy and hopes to encourage and empower students to tell their stories, unlock their own unique narrative voice, and discover the joy in writing.
Ari graduated summa cum laude with a BA in English and Theater from Cornell University. They received an MFA in playwriting from Columbia University.
Contact: coming soon!
Maddie Rostami
writing specialist
Maddie Rostami (she/they) is an educator, writer, and dramaturg with a passion for storytelling. This will be her fifth season with composed; Maddie has helped over 100 composed students tell their own stories in imaginative, personal ways through the college essay process. She also spent nine years as a private tutor for students of all ages.
Beyond composed, Maddie is the Senior Program Manager for NYC’s CO/LAB Theater Group and the Education Lead for 3Views on Theater, a theater criticism publication. As a dramaturg for new plays, she has collaborated with theaters around the Bay and Chicago as well as the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
Maddie graduated with honors from Northwestern University, where she studied theatre and cognitive science.
Contact: maddie@essayscomposed.com
Christine Trychin
writing specialist
Christine Trychin (she/her) is an educator with 14 years' experience teaching writing, literature, and art history. This will be her fourth season with composed. Before composed, Christine taught undergraduate courses at UC Berkeley on the fundamentals of composition and academic writing. She has worked in the education department at SFMOMA and directed summer camps aimed at honing writing skills for college-bound students. Outside the classroom, Christine has taught whitewater kayaking, rock climbing, and windsurfing.
Christine graduated magna cum laude from the College of William and Mary with a BA in Comparative Literature. She received an MA from UC Berkeley in Slavic Languages and Literatures and a PhD from UC Berkeley in Art History.
Contact: christine@essayscomposed.com