American Composers Forum

WHAT THE HEART DESIRES
2021-07-03 16:00 - 17:00 (America/Chicago)
Celebrating diversity in song, this recital co-curated by mezzo-soprano Ronnita Miller (Merola ‘05) and tenor Nicholas Phan will explore the many things our hearts desire. Featuring compositions by women and people of color, the program will include selections about romantic desire, physical desire, and the longing for home, for rest, for peace, and for a better world performed by select 2021 Merola young artists.
A trio of works follow: mezzo Gabrielle Beteag will sing Perry’s “Alien,” Graves will perform “Bright Moonlight” by Chinese-American violinist and composer Chen Yi, (a BandQuest and ChoralQuest composer) and baritone and composer Laureano Quant will perform his composition “Ahora hablo de gaitas.” All three artists will be accompanied by Guo.
Date & Time: Saturday, July 3, 2021 at 4 PM CT | 2 PM PT
Learn more here.
Artists:
Bryan Banowetz, piano
Gabrielle Barkidjija, mezzo-soprano
Gabrielle Beteag, mezzo-soprano
Edward Graves, tenor
Erica Xiaoyan Guo, piano
Celeste Morales, soprano
Laureano Quant, baritone
Anna Smigelskaya, piano
Shiyu Tan, piano
Marika Yasuda, piano
Tianchi Zhang, tenor

San Francisco Symphony
2021-07-02 21:00 - 2021-07-05 22:00 (America/Chicago)
The San Francisco Symphony returns for its annual summer performance at Stern Grove Festival, with Edwin Outwater conducting a special Fourth of July concert featuring pianist Aaron Diehl.
Date & Time:

Friday, July 2, 2021 at 9 PM CT | 7 PM PT
Sunday, July 4, 2021 at 4 PM CT | 2 PM PT

Program:
John Williams – Olympic Fanfare and Theme
Gould – Pavanne from American Symphonette No. 2
Jennifer Higdon (a BandQuest and ChoralQuest composer) – Cathedrals from All Things Majestic
Copland – Saturday Night Waltz and Hoedown from Rodeo
Quinn Mason (a NextNotes creator) – Reflections on a Memorial
Carlos Simon – The Block
Gershwin – Rhapsody in Blue
Sousa – Stars and Stripes Forever
Learn more and get tickets here.

LACO RETURNS AT THE HUNTINGTON ON JULY 1
2021-07-01 21:00 - 22:00 (America/Chicago)
LACO travels to The Huntington in San Marino, to give the first live performance in Rothenberg Hall since it, too, was temporarily shut down due to the pandemic. The centerpiece of the program is the original 1915 version of de Falla’s extraordinary sung ballet El amor brujo conducted by Martín and featuring celebrated mezzo soprano, LA’s own Suzanna Guzmán. Martín also leads Debussy’s iconic Prélude à “L’après-midi d’un faune” and the world premiere of Kimani Bridges’ (a NextNotes creator) The Flower.
The program will be recorded for the second season of SummerFest, LACO’s highly regarded digital chamber music series, which will stream weekly beginning in July at no cost on LACO’s YouTube channel.
This event is invitation only. Learn more here.
Date & Time: Thursday, July 1, 2021 at 9 PM CT | 7 PM PT

LACO RETURNS LIVE AT THE HUNTINGTON: LACO SUMMERFEST
2021-07-01 21:00 - 22:00 (America/Chicago)
On Thursday, July 1, 2021 at 9 PM CT | 7 PM PT, LACO travels to The Huntington in San Marino, to give the first live performance in Rothenberg Hall since it, too, was temporarily shut down due to the pandemic. The centerpiece of the program is the original 1915 version of de Falla’s extraordinary sung ballet El amor brujo conducted by Martín and featuring celebrated mezzo soprano, LA’s own Suzanna Guzmán. Martín also leads Debussy’s iconic Prélude à “L’après-midi d’un faune” and the world premiere of Kimani Bridges’ (a NextNotes creator) The Flower.
THIS IN-PERSON EVENT IS INVITATION ONLY. PARTICIPANTS MUST BE FULLY VACCINATED.
Learn more here.

Civic Orchestra of Minneapolis Woodwind Concert
2021-07-01 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago)
Carol Barnett BA, 1972; MA, 1976 (a charter member of ACF) has spent her storied career contributing new compositions to the local music scene while living in the Twin Cities community. This summer, a local quintet featuring Civic Orchestra of Minneapolis musicians, including School of Music alumna and Student Services Specialist Rachel Hest (BM, flute performance, 1984) will perform Barnett’s piece “Shaker Suite: Canterbury” outdoors at the Milwaukee Avenue Historic District Park on Thursday, July 1, 2021 at 7 PM CT.
Learn more about the performance and Barnett’s career here.

Sprig of That w/ Anthony Ihrig at Icehouse
2021-06-30 19:30 - 20:30 (America/Chicago)
Sprig of That performs with Anthony Ihrig at Icehouse in Minneapolis tonight.
Date & Time: Wednesday, June 30, 2021 at 7:30 PM CT
Get tickets here.

TUES@7: Being & Becoming – Emanations
2021-06-29 18:00 - 18:45 (America/Chicago)
Being & Becoming was formed in 2017 by composer and trumpet player Peter Evans. The name of the band, drawn from the writing of Sufi writer and musician Inyat Khan, reflects the group’s commitment to the challenge of spontaneous creativity. Evans’ compositions for the band draw from a wide variety of sources, traditional and experimental, with a grounding in improvisational idioms, notated concert music and an array of experimental approaches.
Date & Time: Tuesday, June 29, 2021 at 6 PM CT | 7 PM ET
Register here.

Sarah Cahill
2021-06-26 20:00 - 21:00 (America/Chicago)
Nationally acclaimed new music pianist, Sarah Cahill (an ACF Champions of New Music), returns to the Sri Moonshine Music Series.
Performing compositions by Terry Riley on his own Kingsbury upright piano and work by Elisabeth Jacquet de la Guerra, Margaret Bonds, Emahoy Tsegue-Maryam Guebrou, and Meredith Monk in a concert at the Camptonville Community Center.
Date & Time: Saturday, June 26, 2021 at 8 PM CT | 6 PM PT
Get tickets here.

2021 Sunflower Music Festival: Chamber Orchestra & Panel Discussion on Women's Rights
2021-06-26 19:30 - 20:30, 2021-06-26 18:30 - 19:30 (America/Chicago)
The 2021 Sunflower Music Festival will honor women in music. This expanded project pays homage to females in music and the arts through showcasing both past and contemporary female composers, current female performers and soloists, important female figures in music and women’s rights, and art of the Suffrage Movement. Our project has won multiple endorsements and grants from the National Endowment of the Arts.
Browse our programming below to see all Sunflower will offer celebrating women in music:

Performance of FANFARE FOR THE UNCOMMON WOMAN by Joan Tower (written in 1987 and revised in 1997)
The one-woman Music/Theatre production, WOMAN ON A LEDGE, with internationally acclaimed harpist, Rita Costanzi
A Jazz Night performance featuring vocalist Deborah Brown
An exhibition at the Mulvane Art Museum of works by women during the Suffrage era
A panel discussion on Women’s Rights with several notable female leaders, composer Libby Larsen (ACF’s co-founder and a BandQuest composer), conductor JoAnn Falletta and Washburn University President Jerry Farley
A premiere of Libby Larsen’s chamber orchestra composition, THE SUPREME FOUR, using the words of the four women Supreme Court Justices and narrated by Kansas Governor, Laura Kelly

Date & Time: Saturday, June 26, 2021

The Panel Discussion is at 6:30 PM CT
The Chamber Orchestra at 7:30 PM CT

Vicky Chow/Craig Taborn
2021-06-26 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago)
New music star pianist Vicky Chow and inimitable pianist/composer Craig Taborn join forces for a first time collaboration juxtaposing works by contemporary female composers with original compositions by Craig Taborn. The program includes Caroline Shaw’s Gustave Le Gray, Tomeka Reid’s Lamenting G.F., A.A., B.T., T.M, Tania Leon’s Rituál and Craig Taborn’s 3 Set Ups and a Double Cross.
This concert will be followed by a reception.
Date & Time: Saturday, June 26, 2021 at 7 PM CT | 8 PM ET
Get tickets here.

Oregon Bach Festival “Bach Listening Room” featuring Matt Haimovitz and the Primavera Project
2021-06-25 14:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago)
This performance features brand new solo cello works written for Matt Haimovitz commissioned by THE PRIMAVERA PROJECT. This new initiative asks composers to write in response to Sandro Botticelli’s enigmatic painting, Primavera, and the prophetic large-scale triptych, Primavera 2020, by contemporary artist Charline von Heyl. Haimovitz releases the first of three albums (featuring 14 out of the 81 total pieces) on June 11, 2021. More information about the project, composers, and pieces is available at THE PRIMAVERA PROJECT’s online hub, www.primaveraproject.com.
Date & Time: Friday, June 25, 2021 at 2 PM CT | 12 PM PT
Learn more here.
Program:
Bach Suite II Prelude,
Roberto Sierra Chloris and Zephyrus,
David Sanford Suolo,
David T. Little The Crocus Palimpsest,
Lisa Bielawa Missa Primavera,
Bach Suite III (complete)

Meet a Musician/ACCENT with Osmo Vanska and Erin Keefe
2021-06-24 20:00 - 21:30 (America/Chicago)
A virtual event with Minnesota Orchestra Music Director Osmo Vanska and Principal Violinist Erin Keefe joining host Melissa Ousley. These musicians will share two world premieres, just for us: Libby Larsen‘s (ACF’s co-founder) Tarantella for Our Times and David Ludwig‘s Seven Circles. Additionally, we’ll hear two transcriptions of Mozart opera arias by Osmo.
AND Libby Larsen will joins virtually to introduce her piece.
90 minutes of fantastic and unique music and conversation.
Come with questions for the Q&A and please invite others who might be interested (worldwide).
Date & Time: Thursday, June 24, 2021 at 8 PM CT
Get tickets here.

ACF Roundtable On the Asian American Experience mod. Vivian Fung
2021-06-24 15:00 - 16:00 (America/Chicago)
There is a full vibrant spectrum of diversity that makes up the Asian American experience. In light of ongoing events around anti-Asian hate, ACF would like to create a safe space to share stories and experiences, as well as highlight and celebrate what it means to be an Asian American today. Artist and ACF board member Vivian Fung will moderate a conversation with artists Nina Shekhar, Sugar Vendil, and Pearl Bergad. Topics of discussion include reactions to recent events, whether those events have affected their art, and what the future might hold.
Date & Time: Thursday, June 24, 2021 at 3 PM CT
Register in advance for this event here.
ADA language: If you require an interpreter, closed-captioning, or any other accommodations to fully engage, please contact Laura Krider (lkrider@composersforum, 612.314.9228) at least 48 hours before the event.

Beethoven X George Walker
2021-06-19 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago)
In celebration of Juneteenth, EXTENSITY presents: Beethoven X Walker: Piano Sonatas. EXTENSITY Concert Series Benefit.
This special benefit concert pairs the monumental, late piano sonatas No. 30 Op. 109 and No. 31 Op. 110 by L. van Beethoven, with the masterful, yet rarely heard piano sonatas No. 2 and No. 4 by pioneering 20th century Black American composer George Walker. Co-founders Francesca Khalifa and Chelsea Randall will perform.
Date & Time: Saturday, June 19, 2021 at 7 PM CT | 8 PM ET
Learn more and get tickets here.

Anaïs Maviel & The Rhythm Method: listen to the rain
2021-06-19 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago)
Composer and vocalist Anaïs Maviel returns with composer-performer ensemble The Rhythm Method to present the world premiere of listen to the rain. Approaching listening as performative and performance as meditative, listen to the rain’s instrumentation weaves Afrocentric with Eurocentric music traditions, written and oral. Grounded in the study of the Asian theories of the five elements—rather, dynamic agents—and of the bagua, the music explores their generative cycles in the body in interdependency with the earth and cosmos, as a structural base. The piece invites our focus on what is transforming our environment, whether we call it nature—rainforests turning water into oxygen—or culture—a virus taking over an entire species, yet all revealing the stakes of in and outward Relation.
listen to the rain is an invitation to recognize water as both one and plural, both inside and outside of ourselves, taking many forms and emanating different temporalities. Listening to the rain means letting our sense of hearing tell us about the multi-dimensionality of water, how hearing is a topography, and how connected the sense of hearing is with the other senses. In Chinese energetics–which inspire the methodology of this work–the five elements are dynamic agents connected to the human senses, and the sense of hearing corresponds to water.— Anaïs Maviel, I Care If You Listen
Anaïs Maviel – composition, n’goni, voice (supported by an ACF Create award)
Leah Asher – violin, voice
Marina Kifferstein – violin, voice
Carrie Frey – viola, voice
Meaghan Burke – cello, voice
Date & Time: Saturday, June 19, 2021 at 7 PM CT | 8 PM ET
Get tickets here.
listen to the rain by Anaïs Maviel was made possible by a grant from the American Composers Forum with funds provided by the Jerome Foundation.

June Jubilation
2021-06-19 18:30 - 19:30 (America/Chicago)
The Marquette Symphony Orchestra returns to the Presque Isle Park Bandshell on Saturday, June 19, 2021 at 6:30 PM CT | 7:30 PM ET with ‘June Jubilation,’ an outdoor performance.
Under the direction of principal conductor Octavio Mas-Arocas, the concert will consist of: Camille Saint-Saëns, Bacchanale from Samson et Dalila; Quinn Mason (a NextNotes creator), A Joyous Trilogy for Orchestra; Antonin Dvorak, Slavonic Dance Op. 46, No. 8 in G minor; Florence Price, Adoration; and Samuel Coleridge-Taylor: Symphonic Variations on an African Air, Op. 63.
Buy tickets online here.

Pity These Ashes: TULSA 1921-2021
2021-06-19 18:00 - 19:30 (America/Chicago)
The Harlem Chamber Players announce Pity These Ashes: Tulsa 1921-2021, an online concert program on Juneteenth in partnership with The Greene Space at WQXR and WNYC, Harlem Stage, and the Harlem School of the Arts.
The program will feature the world premiere of TULSA 1921 (Pity These Ashes, Pity This Dust) by Dr. Adolphus Hailstork (a BandQuest composer), commissioned in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa Race Massacre, with a libretto by Dr. Herbert Woodward Martin. The concert will also include performances of Starburst by Jessie Montgomery, Prema by Alice Coltrane, and The People Could Fly by Trevor Weston.
Date & Time: Saturday, June 19, 2021 at 6 PM CT | 7 PM ET
Learn more and register here.

From Renaissance to Resistance
2021-06-18 18:00 - 20:30 (America/Chicago)
Join us for a performance by our ACF | connect partner, Music of the Unsung America Concert Series. A new series featuring Black artists of history, Music of the Unsung America continues its live performance series with a concert of a classical and jazz fusion program of repertoire featuring the piece Tre by Dwight Banks, supported by the ACF | connect program.
The first part of the program will have music by Duke Ellington: Sacred Concert, Come Sunday, and a string arrangement of Billie Holiday‘s Strange Fruit.
Date & Time: Friday, June 18, 2021 6 PM CT | 7 PM ET
Register and get tickets here.
Location:
Historic Hampton House
4240 Northwest 27th Avenue
3010
Miami, FL 33142
Funder Support
Portia Dunkley‘s Music of the Unsung America is supported with a matching grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation’s 2019 Knight Arts Challenge.
About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Knight Foundation is a national foundation with strong local roots. We invest in journalism, in the arts, and in the success of cities where brothers John S. and James L. Knight once published newspapers. Our goal is to foster informed and engaged communities, which we believe are essential for a healthy democracy. For more, visit Knight Foundation.
American Composers Forum’s ACF | connect program is made possible with the outstanding generosity of the following individuals: Jane Anfinson, Thomas Arneson, Suzanne Asher, Carol Barnett, Pearl and Bob Bergad, Margee and Will Bracken, Karen Brooks, Richard Cisek and Kay Fredericks, Dee Ann and Kent Crossley, Julia W. Dayton, C. Lee Essrig, Rosemary & David Good Family Foundation, Katherine Goodale, Jeff and Hyun Mee Graves, Mike and Kay McCarthy, Carol Heen, Steve Heitzeg and Gwen Pappas, Kathleen Henschel and John Dewes, Linda and Jack Hoeschler, Leaetta Hough and Bob Muschewske, Sam Hsu and Sally Cheng, Hella Mears Hueg Estate Gift, Thelma Hunter Estate Gift, John and Ruth Huss, George Frederick Jewett Foundation East, Art and Martha Kaemmer, Jon Lewis and Lisa Merklin, Greg McNeely, Alfred and Ann Moore, Louis and Gloria Nuechterlein, John Nuechterlein and Dan Monson, John and Debbie Orenstein, I.A. O’Shaughnessy Foundation in memory of Thelma Hunter, David and Judy Ranheim, Denice Rippentrop, Vanessa Rose, Bill and Susan Sands, Gale Sharpe, Doug and Kathy Skor, Dan and Ellie Thomas, Stephen and Jayne Usery, Kathleen van Bergen, Janika Vandervelde, Jim Wafler, and Margaret and Angus Wurtele.

The Seasons: Marilyn Nonken
2021-06-17 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago)
In The Seasons, renowned pianist Marilyn Nonken explores the relationship between memory and time. Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel’s Das Jahr (1841), a monumental cycle of pieces depicting the months of the year, is juxtaposed with Liza Lim‘s The Four Seasons (After Cy Twombly) (2009), commissioned by the Ian Potter Foundation for Marilyn Nonken and inspired by Twombly’s painting Quattro Stagioni.
This concert will be followed by a reception.
Date & Time: Thursday, July 17, 2021 at 7 PM CT | 8 PM ET
Get tickets here.

Quinteto Latino
2021-06-17 18:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago)
This event was originally scheduled for March 10 and has been rescheduled.
Quinteto Latino is a San Francisco Bay Area wind quintet with a mission to build community through Latino classical music. Founded in 2004 by French horn player Armando Castellano, this ensemble aims to expand the boundaries of a classical music tradition by performing works exclusively by Latino/a composers. In addition, the quintet advocates on behalf of Latino/a composers and classical musicians through mentoring, commissioning, and being a voice regionally and nationally for issues around diversity and classical music.
In their Music of the Americas debut, the Quintet will present a program featuring a premiere by Colombian composer Felipe Nieto, alongside works by Gabriela Lena Frank and others.
Program

Felipe Nieto-Sachica, New Work for Quinteto Latino, “C U Z A – four nocturnes for wind quintet” (supported by an ACF Create award)
Gabriela Lena Frank, “Mitos: Suite Dramatica para Quinteto de Vientos (y actores)”Quinteto Latino
Gabriela Ortiz, “Puzzle-Tocas”

Quinteto Latino

Diane Grubbe, flute
Kyle Bruckmann, oboe
Leslie Tagorda, clarinet
Shawn Jones, bassoon
Armando Castellano, ensemble director and French horn

Nieto-Sachica’s “C U Z A – four nocturnes for wind quintet” was made possible by a grant from the American Composers Forum with funds provided by the Jerome Foundation.
Date & Time: Thursday, June 17, 2021 at 6 PM CT | 7 PM ET
Learn more here.

Arts in the Garden: Hearing and Healing with DBR
2021-06-16 18:00 - 19:00 (America/Chicago)
Daniel Bernard Roumain brings together musical stylings from all eras. This beautiful program features the first movement of Brahms’ Clarinet Quintet, solo Bach, Ives’ The Unanswered Question and more. DBR’s own i am a white person who _____ Black people, first premiered during the NJSO’s Virtual 20–21 season, completes a perfect evening of music in the garden.
ADRIANA ROSIN violin
JAMES TSAO violin
DAVID BLINN viola
HYEWON KIM cello
KATHLEEN NESTER flute
REVA YOUNGSEIN flute
ALEXANDRA KNOLL oboe
PASCAL ARCHER clarinet
ANDREW LAMY clarinet
MARK TIMMERMAN bassoon
MICHAEL BAKER trumpet
GREGORY LAROSA percussion
JEROD IMPICHCHAACHAAHA’ TATE (a ChoralQuest composer) narrator
DANIEL BERNARD ROUMAIN Hip Hop Studies and Etude in C-Sharp Minor
BACH Preludio from Partita No. 3 in E Major for Solo Violin
DANIEL BERNARD ROUMAIN i am a white person who _____ Black people
BRAHMS Allegro from Clarinet Quintet in B Minor
VALERIE COLEMAN Rubispheres, Movement III
IVES The Unanswered Question
JEROD IMPICHCHAACHAAHA’ TATE Dream World
Date & Time: Wednesday, June 16, 2021 at 6 PM CT | 7 PM ET
Get tickets here.

Professional Development Panel: Film Composition
2021-06-16 14:00 - 15:00 (America/Chicago)
The following Professional Development Webinar is co-presented by the American Composers Orchestra (ACO) and the American Composers Forum (ACF).
Established film composers talk about the film industry and the essentials of being a film composer. Composer Derek Bermel moderates a panel of experts. The panel will be followed by a Q&A session with the audience.
Panelists: Terence Blanchard, composer and trumpeter; Kathryn Bostic, composer; Laura Karpman composer; Rachel Portman, composer.
Date & Time: Wednesday, June 16, 2021 at 2 PM CT

Register here.

EMERGE, a Concert by EMBER (New Jersey)
2021-06-13 16:00 - 17:00 (America/Chicago)
Join EMBER for “EMERGE,” where we examine this period in our life between what was and what will be.
We learned new ways of living and working; new ways of being human with other humans. Some changes we will certainly be glad to forfeit as soon as we can! Others we may elect to retain, having learned new things that enhance life.
Together, we seek to acknowledge the sense of loss and disorder that we are left with, and to make a proactive choice to hold more lightly some parts of life that may have seemed essential in the past.
The concert will begin with “To Sit and Dream” by Rosephanye Powell (a ChoralQuest composer). The ensemble will also showcase another piece by Ola Gjeilo with “Unicornis Captivatur”. Additional selections of the concert include “And Einstein Said” by Trent Worthington, “The Spaces in Between Us” arranged by Larry Nickel, “Sound Over All Waters” by William V. Malpede, “Bridge Over Troubled Water” by Paul Simon and arranged by V Peterson, and “I Believe” by Mark Miller.
DATE & TIME : Sunday, June 13, 2021 at 4 PM CT | 5 PM ET
Get tickets here.

KRONOS FESTIVAL Kids!
2021-06-13 13:00 - 14:00 (America/Chicago)
A new program made specially for kids (30-minutes)
KRONOS FESTIVAL Kids! is a sparkling collection of short films with music, including Kronos Makes Sounds With Stuff by composer Danny Clay; 3000 Reefs, with stunning underwater cinematography by Julia Sumerling and music by Aftab Darvishi; Music of the Birds, with avian-inspired music and film by Sahba Aminikia, featuring the San Francisco Girls Chorus, young people from the Sirkhane Social Circus School, and ornithologists from the Smithsonian Institution and around the country; ‘Funtukuru,’ an exuberant song by Hawa Kassé Mady Diabaté; Chebiyat Muqam – Third Dastan, a traditional melody arranged by Wu Man and performed by young musicians from Oakland School for the Arts and Ruth Asawa San Francisco School of the Arts. Also featured: George Crumb‘s haunting ‘God-music’ from Black Angels, an excerpt from Garth Knox‘s cosmic Satellites, and Bill Steele’s environmental anthem Garbage, made famous by Pete Seeger and performed by singer Lee Knight with Kronos.
Date & Time: Sunday, June 13, 2021 at 1 PM CT | 11 AM PT
Learn more on their website here.

The Albany Symphony 2020/2021 SEASON RE-IMAGINED!
2021-06-12 19:30 - 20:30 (America/New_York)
The Albany Symphony unveiled its reimagined 2020-2021 season, which will include world premieres and concertos with brilliant soloists, as well as iconic masterworks. Curated by conductor David Alan Miller, the season brings to life an array of new and recent works by a panoply of living composers forging new ways to create art reflecting our time and place, with major masterpieces by Beethoven, Debussy, Rachmaninoff, and others, and dazzling solo performances by artists including Inon Barnatan, Melissa White, Karen Hosmer and Grace Shryock.
The newly reimagined season will be presented virtually. As restrictions are lifted, live audiences will be invited back into the concert hall. All concerts will be performed live, in real time, on Capital Region stages, by Albany Symphony musicians conducted by Music Director, David Alan Miller.
The season kicks off on Oct. 24 at 7:30pm EDT, with a program featuring Michael Daugherty’s This Land Sings: Inspired by the Life and Times of Woody Guthrie. Michael Daugherty is a BandQuest composer.
Performances run through June 2021. Find the schedule here and below.
ROMANTIC BRAHMS – Saturday, Feb. 13, 2021 at 6:30pm CST | 7:30pm EST
A socially distanced performance for digital stream with Lucy Fitz Gibbon, Narrator; SIR WILLIAM WALTON: Facade; TYSON DAVIS (a NextNotes creator): (new work) JOHANNES BRAHMS: Serenade No. 1
RACHMANINOFF’S THIRD – Saturday, March 13, 2021 at 6:30pm CST | 7:30pm EST
A socially distanced performance for digital stream with Inon Barnatan, Piano; OTTORINO RESPIGHI: Trittico Botticelliano; CARLOS BANDERA: (new work); SERGEI RACHMANINOFF: Piano Concerto No. 3 (chamber orchestra version)
HAYDN & SCHUBERT – Saturday, April 24, 2021 at 6:30pm CST | 7:30pm EST
A socially distanced performance for digital stream with Melissa White, Violin; FRANZ JOSEPH HAYDN: Symphony No. 46; GEORGE TSONTAKIS: Violin Concerto No. 2; TANNER PORTER: (new work) FRANZ SCHUBERT: Symphony No. 5
AMERICAN MUSIC FESTIVAL–TRAILBLAZE! – Saturday, June 12, 2021 at 6:30pm CST | 7:30pm EST
A socially distanced performance for digital stream with Brasil Guitar Duo; NINA SHEKHAR: (new work); CLARICE ASSAD: Folk Tales, Double Guitar Concerto; MOLLY JOYCE/CHRISTOPHER THEOFANIDIS: Songs; ALEXIS LAMB: (new work)
For more information, and to watch the concerts, subscribe and get tickets on their website: www.albanysymphony.com.

EXTENSITY Opening night- Stand the Storm: Adam Richardson and John Arida
2021-06-12 19:00 - 20:30 (America/Chicago)
EXTENSITY’s opening night concert, featuring baritone Adam Richardson and pianist John Arida, explores vocal music of 20th and 21st century Black composers. This genre-bending program features re-interpretations of traditional spirituals, bold new works, and folk adaptations, showcasing the breadth and diversity of this repertoire.
This concert will be followed by an artist talkback with Adam Richardson and John Arida, and a reception.
Date & Time: Saturday, June 12, 2021 at 7 PM CT | 8 PM ET
Learn more and get tickets here.

American Music Festival
2021-06-12 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Chicago)
Two-time GRAMMY award-winning Albany Symphony launches its annual American Music Festival celebrating cutting-edge composers and musicians, starting Thursday, June 10th through Sunday June 13th at the Palace Theatre. The four-day event will feature William Kanengiser and Scott Tennant of the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet as well as composers Clarice Assad, Molly Joyce, Christopher Theofanidis (a BandQuest composer), Alexis Lamb, Nina Shekhar, and other outstanding musicians. The Festival also includes a performance by the popular Dogs of Desire; the First Draughts reading session, which give the public a glimpse into the weeklong Composer Workshop for emerging creators; outdoor neighborhood performances and family activities.
Date & Time: Saturday, June 12, 2021 at 6:30 PM | 7:30 PM ET
DAVID ALAN MILLER, CONDUCTOR | WILLIAM KANENGISER & SCOTT TENNANT (L.A. GUITAR QUARTET)
Nina Shekhar: Above the Fray
Clarice Assad: Folk Tales, Double Guitar Concerto
Molly Joyce/Christopher Theofanidis: Songs (World Premiere)
Alexis Lamb: Serotiny
Watch the virtual concert here.

New Voice Festival - Past/Present/Future
2021-06-12 18:30 - 19:30 (America/Chicago)
BROOKLYN ART SONG SOCIETY’S inaugural New Voices Festival brings the start of an essential event for modern song. This first festival takes the tradition that created countless masterpieces and re-imagines it for the 21st century. 15 works by living composers, half of them world-premieres, reflect on the past and look toward the future
SATURDAY, APRIL 10TH, 2021 at 6:30PM CST | 7:30 PM EST
The idiosyncratic Balliett Brothers re-set Schubert’s final masterpiece Schwanengsesang in their own musical voices. After intermission, Katherine Balch‘s (a MN Orchestra Composer Institute participant) latest work takes a new look at Schumann’s masterful Dichterliebe from the female’s perspective, with newly commissioned poetry by Katie Ford. I. Katherine Balch: New Work* Brad and Doug Balliett: Swan Song * Robert Schumann: Dichterliebe Op. 48
SATURDAY, MAY 15TH, 2021 at 6:30PM CST | 7:30 PM EST
Each work in the second New Voices program takes a text from the past and gives it a new perspective, including words by Anna Akhmatova, George Eliot, Christina Rossetti, Walt Whitman, and more. II. Tom Cipullo: Rapture Daron Hagen: To a Street Person* Jennifer Higdon (a BandQuest and ChoralQuest composer): Lilacs James Kallembach: Autumn Violets* Libby Larsen (ACF’s co-founder and a BandQuest composer): New Work* James Primosch: 2 Whitman Love Songs Scott Wheeler: 3 Russian Nocturnes*
SATURDAY, JUNE 12TH, 2021 at 6:30PM CST | 7:30 PM EST
The New Voices finale looks back at BASS’s commissioned works from the last five years, celebrating its impressive past as it looks forward to its exciting future. III. Daniel Felsenfeld: For Clara James Matheson: Pessoa Songs Harold Meltzer: From a Book of Beautiful Monsters II Kurt Rohde: It Wasn’t a Dream
For ticket and more information, visit their website.

Kronos Festival 2021: Program #1
2021-06-11 21:00 - 23:00 (America/Chicago)
World premieres by Soo Yeon Lyuh, Hawa Kassé Mady Diabaté, and Mahsa Vahdat (45 minutes)
Date & Time: Friday, June 11, 2021 at 9 PM CT | 7 PM PT
KRONOS FESTIVAL opens with the world premiere of ‘Are You From Here Or Just Visiting?’, with music and film by Canadian composer Nicole Lizée. In another world premiere, Korean composer Soo Yeon Lyuh performs Tattoo, a new work with film by Danny Kim, written in response to a harrowing incident in Berkeley, California in which someone fired a gun at her car. ‘Wawani,’ the first of three pieces by Malian singer Hawa Kassé Mady Diabaté to premiere at the festival, features Diabaté’s joyous performance with daughter Rokia Kouyaté captured in a vibrant film shot in Mali. Mahsa Vahdat’s Vaya, Vaya, with music and poem by the Iranian singer, is a deep expression of longing, with film by Laurie Olinder. Also on the program: Clint Mansell’s ominous ‘Lux Aeterna,’ Jlin’s driving, insistent Little Black Book, and Pete Seeger’s antiwar lament Where Have All the Flowers Gone?, with folksingers Sam Amidon, Brian Carpenter, Lee Knight, and Aoife O’Donovan.
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