American Composers Forum

FIFTH HOUSE ENSEMBLE IN RESIDENCE
2021-02-02 11:30 - 12:30, 2021-01-29 10:40 - 11:30 (America/Chicago) | MN
AUGSBURG UNIVERSITY MUSIC in collaboration with MACPHAIL CENTER FOR MUSIC invites you to share virtually with the FIFTH HOUSE ENSEMBLE IN RESIDENCE

Deep Listening: 5 consecutive 15-minute sessions; guided meditations, daily rituals, improvised text scores, and movement exercises; Deep Listening provides multiple tools for mindfulness, creativity, and communal music making.
Friday, January 29, 2021 at 10:40AM CST
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2021 at 11:30AM CST
Thursday, February 4th, 2021 at 11:30AM CST
Friday, February 5th, 2021 at 10:40AM CST
NO REGISTRATION REQUIRED. Join on Zoom.

WE ARE GOOD: 5 consecutive 90-minute sessions; Deep Listening and story gathering rooted in collective decision making through creative acts. Fosters authentic inquiry among participants of varied social and political back-
grounds, uses Deep Listening to bring strangers together through communal music-making. Each session culminates in a creative act, including the development of new text scores, graphic scores, or other work products.
Mondays, February 8, 22, March 8, 22, April 5, 2021 all sessions 4:30—6:00 p.m. CST
REGISTER AT THIS LINK by February 3rd, 2021.

DEEP LISTENING JAM SESSION: The residency culminates in a Deep Listening Jam, which includes the creative work and dialogue captured throughout the 5 WE ARE GOOD sessions.
Monday, April 12, 2021 at 4:30—6:00 p.m. CST
REGISTER AT THIS LINK by April 7th, 2021.
ADDITIONAL ONE-TIME WORKSHOPS will be offered in chamber music, entrepreneurship, and music composition between February 15 and May 5. If you are interested in these workshops, please email musicdept@augsburg.edu to be added to the reservation list. You will receive advance information with dates, times, and the Zoom link. Additional information about the Deep Listening and We Are Good experiences is available on the Fifth House

Quiet Art: Bach’s Goldberg Variations
2021-02-02, 2021-02-01, 2021-01-31, 2021-01-30, 2021-01-29, 2021-01-28, 2021-01-27
About

Kinetic is back at MATCH with Quiet Art, our first concert of 2021, live-streamed from Matchbox 4. Opening with Jennifer Higdon’s Quiet Art for string quartet, a work reflecting on the solitude in which artists create their work, this program draws us into a deeply introspective and intimate musical space. The centerpiece of the program is J.S. Bach’s monumental keyboard work, Goldberg Variations, which Kinetic will perform in a new string ensemble arrangement. Quiet Art offers an intimate, yet invigorating musical musing that speaks to the solitary state of our current times.
This concert will be presented as a virtual live stream performance on Sunday January 24, at 7:30 PM CT.
After the live stream concludes, the concert recording will be available On Demand until Sunday, February 7, 2021.
Learn more here.

Program

Jennifer Higdon (a BandQuest and ChoralQuest composer): Quiet Art for string quartet
J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations, arr. by Giancarlo Latta

Performers

Natalie Lin Douglas, violin
Samuel Park, violin
Mary Grace Johnson, violin
Jacob Schafer, violin
Natalie Lee, violin
Sergein Yap, viola
Tonya Burton, viola
Sebastian Stefanovic, viola
David Olson, cello
Bree Ahern, cello
John Belk, cello
Mas Podgorny, bass

Outpost: Words & Music
2021-02-01 19:30 - 20:30 (America/Chicago)
A performance series created in 2018 by Twin Cities musicians Sam Bergman and Carrie Henneman Shaw, Outpost comes out of hibernation with a brand-new winter show commissioned by The Great Northern Festival. Outpost is a curated mix of live chamber music by living composers and spoken word performances by some of Minnesota’s finest writers, comics, poets and theater artists.
Broadcast in HD video with stereo sound — from one of the best live music rooms in the Twin Cities.
This livestream event features world premieres by Dameun Strange (a MECA and ACF | create award winner) and Daijana Wallace, new music by Du Yun and Marcus Norris, words by Safy Hallan Farah, Maggie Koerth, and Brandi Brown — as well as performances by members of the Minnesota Orchestra.
The dizzying array of talent on display in this livestream performance includes:

Safy Hallan Farah, journalist and essayist, founder of Somali culture magazine 1991

Maggie Koerth, senior science writer for FiveThirtyEight

Brandi Brown, stand-up comic

Musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra: violinists Sarah Grimes, Hanna Landrum and
Emily Switzer; violist Sam Bergman; and cellist Silver Ainomäe

Pianist Susan Billmeyer

Soprano Carrie Henneman Shaw

World premiere of a new work for soprano and electronics by Dameun Strange (a MECA and ACF | create award winner)

World premiere duet for soprano and viola by exciting young composer Daijana Wallace

Readings from Pulitzer Prize-winner Du Yun’s Tattooed in Snow

Selections from Chicago-based composer Marcus Norris’ I Tried So Hard For You (Dance Suite)

Date & Time: Monday, February 1, 2021 at 7:30 pm CST
Tickets are $15.
Facebook RSVP
BUY TICKETS HERE

ALONE TOGETHER
2021-01-31 19:30 - 20:30, 2021-01-30 19:30 - 20:30, 2021-01-29 19:30 - 20:30 (America/Chicago)
On January 29-31, 2021 at 7:30pm CST, Cantus’ newly reimagined program Alone Together draws inspiration from their American Public Media special of the same name as well as their hugely popular ‘COVID-19 Sessions’—an online series with nearly two million views released in the early days of the pandemic.
What does it mean to ‘stay connected’ in our digital age and how can we build and maintain healthy community and relationships within the context of social media and social-distance? Cantus seeks to meditate on this unique moment in history and offer music and reflections that allow us to laugh, cry, and imagine a brighter future for ourselves, our communities, and our world.
Cantus shows off their trademark stylistic range with an impressive breadth of repertoire from Libby Larsen (ACF’s co-founder) and David Lang all the way to Ingrid Michaelson and Simon & Garfunkel. This program is not to be missed.
Learn more in their website and get tickets here.

Music That Celebrates Home, Chamber Series
2021-01-31 13:00 - 14:00 (America/Chicago)
A blend of local and international composers expressing the strength of home articulate the power of where you are, the acceptance and importance of now, and the value of nature as part of daily life. In particular, Caroline Shaw’s Plan and Elevation: The Grounds of Dumbarton Oaks asks the audience to gather in celebration of the treasured DC gardens and consider the landscapes that bring beauty to their own lives. With Metamorphosis II, Philip Glass reminds us that home is always inside us and is a place of safety we should always feel welcome. As Buckeroo Banzai would say, “No matter where you go, there you are.”
Date & Time: Sunday, January 31, 2021 at 1pm CST | 2 pm EST
Laura Colgate, violin,
Regino Madrid, violin,
Bill Neri, viola,
Lori Barnet, cello,
Elizabeth Hill, piano,
Alexandra Gardner, Coyote Turns

openings
filigree
intensities
ecstatic
tumble

Philip Glass, Metamorphosis II arranged by Michael Riesman for violin and piano
Adolphus Hailstork (a BQ composer), String Quartet No. 1 – II. Adagio
Caroline Shaw, Plan & Elevation: The Grounds of Dumbarton Oaks

The Ellipse
The Cutting Garden
The Herbaceous Border
The Orangery
The Beech Tree

Cécile Chaminade, Sérénade Espagnole, Op. 150 arranged by Fritz Kreisler for cello and piano
Harold Arlen, Somewhere over the Rainbow arranged for violin and piano
Visit their website here.

Music in the Vineyards: Winter *Virtual* Festival
2021-01-30 21:30 - 22:30, 2021-01-30 12:00 - 13:00, 2021-01-29 21:30 - 22:30 (America/Chicago)
Mark your calendars for a free weekend of concerts featuring four of Music in the Vineyards‘ most beloved string quartets, plus our 2020 Apprentice String Quartet. You don’t have to wait for the summer to enjoy these concerts – escape your winter chills and enjoy some musical warmth, all introduced by artistic directors Michael and Daria Adams from their home in Minnesota.
Stream the concert on YouTube.
Learn more on their website here.
The lineup:
Friday, January 29 at 9:30pm CST | 7:30 pm PST
The Pacifica Quartet
Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel: String Quartet in E flat
Jennifer Higdon (a BandQuest and ChoralQuest composer), Voices String Quartet, “Grace”
The Escher Quartet
Beethoven: String Quartet in E flat, Op. 74 (“Harp”)

Saturday, January 30 at 12pm CST | 10am PST
The Solideo Quartet (MITV’s 2020 Apprentice Quartet)
Family Concert (Ages 4–12): An Introduction to the String Quartet

Saturday, January 30 at 9:30pm CST | 7:30 pm PST
The Maxwell Quartet
Franz Joseph Haydn: String Quartet from Op. 74, No. 1 in C major (1793)
Scottish Folk Tunes
Miró Quartet
Beethoven: String Quartet No. 9 in C, Op. 59, No. 3 (“Razumovsky”)

Sphinx Competition - Junior and Senior Division Finals
2021-01-30 18:00 - 19:00 (America/Chicago)
Join Sphinx on Saturday, January 30th at 6pm CST | 7pm ET to hear the Junior Division (ages 17 and under) and Senior Division (ages 18 to 30) finalists perform for a panel of internationally renowned judges. Learn more about this year’s semifinalists.
The 2021 Competition Concert includes:

Performance by the Sphinx Symphony Orchestra, the unique all Black and Latinx ensemble
The nation’s finest young musicians competing for the first place $50,000 Robert Frederick Smith prize (Senior Division)
Real-time voting for $5,000 Audience Choice Award winner, sponsored by Mercedes-Benz Financial Services (Senior Division)

Learn more by visiting their website.

SphinxConnect Unity 21
2021-01-30 16:00 - 20:30, 2021-01-29 16:00 - 20:30, 2021-01-28 16:00 - 20:30 (America/Chicago)
Due to the ongoing impact of the global pandemic, SphinxConnect 2021: UNITY will offer a dynamic, engaging virtual experience.
Register now for the fifth annual epicenter for artists and leaders in diversity. The online convening will celebrate and empower leadership as we welcome hundreds of musicians, industry leaders, educators, funders, diversity advocates, and administrators for this transformative experience!
Date & Time: Thursday – Saturday, January 28-30, 2021 4pm – 8:30pm CST | 5pm – 9:30pm EST
Registration options:

General Admission: $150
Full Pass: allows access to all activities throughout the virtual convening.
Pay What You Are Able: $0-$150
Full Pass: allows access to all activities throughout the virtual convening. Sphinx hopes this cost flexibility reduces a barrier to attendance.

Learn more on their website.

Register here now!

Yousif Sheronick: Writing For World Percussion
2021-01-30 10:00 - 12:00 (America/Chicago)
A Focus On Middle Eastern Percussion And Frame Drums

An interactive session from Yousif’s studio where he will answer questions about, and demonstrate, various world percussion instruments.

What The Workshop Will Include

The guidelines when writing for world percussion.
Playing techniques on Dumbek, Tar and Riq.
Middle Eastern Rhythms – how they are played and embellished.
Iqa’at (traditional Middle Eastern Rhythms)
See excerpts from works written for the duoJalal.
See written examples of compositions written for Yousif.
Hear Yousif demonstrate one of his own compositions.

Key Questions/Topics Addressed During Workshop:

Which instruments work well together?
Notation: What notation works best for most players?
How little, or how much, should I write for world percussion?
How many different sounds should I write for?
Which instruments sound culturally specific and which are more general?
What should I avoid when writing for these instruments?

Date & Time: Saturday, January 30, 2021 at 10 am CST
Register here.

Great Falls Symphony's 62nd Live Concert Series - 2020-2021 Season
2021-01-29 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Denver)
Great Falls Symphony announces their 100% FREE concert season this year until May 2021. “All of us at the Great Falls Symphony are fully committed to fulfilling our mission to infuse cultural vibrancy into the Great Falls community through transformative music events and education programs.”
All live performances will be FREE of charge, but need to be picked up in advance at the Mansfield Center for the Performing Arts box office. Two performances are offered during each GFSA concert in order to accommodate two smaller, socially distanced live audience. Venue location will vary – detailed information can be found at gfsymphony.org.
All performances will be recorded and broadcast later on the KRTV app so patrons can enjoy a virtual concert experience.
Virtual concerts will be broadcast to the general public one week after each live performance date. See schedule here.
See the upcoming schedule:
Fri OCT 9, 7:00pm “Native Views” Cascade Quartet
Sat NOV 7, 3:00pm “Vistas” *PREVIEW Thu NOV 5
Sat NOV 7, 7:30pm EVOCATIVE MUSIC OF OPEN SPACES
Fri NOV13, 7:00pm “Innovators” Chinook Winds
Sun NOV 22, 3:00pm FallConcert Youth Orchestra AND Sinfonia
Sun DEC 6, 3:00pm “Christmas” *PREVIEW Thu DEC 3
Sun DEC 6, 7:30pm HOLIDAY MUSIC FAVORITES
Sat JAN16, 3:00pm “Virtuoso” *PREVIEW Thu JAN 14
Sat JAN16, 7:30pm FEATURING Dorian Antipa, BASSOON
Fri JAN 29, 7:00pm “ViolaPower” Cascade Quartet
Sat FEB 13, 3:00pm “Heart Strings” *PREVIEW Thu FEB 11
Sat FEB 13, 7:30pm FEATURING Luis Angel Salazar, VIOLIN & Alyssa Roggow, VIOLA
Fri FEB 19, 7:00pm “Greatest Hits” Chinook Winds
Fri MAR 12, 7:00pm “Voices” Cascade Quartet
Sun MAR 28, 3:00pm SpringConcert Youth Orchestra AND Sinfonia
Sat APR 24, 3:00pm “Testament” *PREVIEW Thu, APR 22
Sat APR 24, 7:30pm FEATURING Supaman
Fri MAY14, 7:00pm “Together Again”

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra's Front Row: The PSO Virtual Experience.
2021-01-29 18:30 - 19:30 (America/Chicago)
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s free event: Front Row: The PSO Virtual Experience.
Episode 2: Originators and Disrupters (Part 2) Friday, November 27, 2020 at 6:30pm CST / 7:30pm ET
Part 2 brings together the musicians with modern American composers (Libby Larsen, Gary Schocker and Charles Rochester Young) and a Beethoven orchestration by Music Director Manfred Honeck in a salute to a bouquet of Pittsburgh path breakers who defied their times and boundaries: Rachel Carson (environmentalist and writer), Martha Graham (choreographer), Thaddeus Mosley (sculptor), Fred Rogers (television creator) and Andy Warhol (multi-media artist).
Episode 3: Finding Your Song Friday, December 4, 2020 at 6:30pm CST / 7:30pm ET
With the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s new Principal Pops Conductor Byron Stripling as a featured artist and conductor, Finding Your Song explores the journeys of artists and how they come to find their voice, song, inspiration and connection to the world. Finding Your Song travels from Heinz Hall to Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild to The Andy Warhol Museum, and includes the Pittsburgh Symphony debuts of composer Gabriela Lena Frank and composer Hannah Ishizaki.
Episode 4: Tapestry of Light: A Holiday Celebration. Friday, December 18, 2020 at 6:30pm CST / 7:30pm ET
Enjoy the magic and excitement of the holiday season with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra AND Principal Pops Conductor/Soloist Byron Stripling! Perfect for all ages
Episode 5: For the People (Part 1). Friday, January 22, 2021 at 6:30pm CST / 7:30pm ET. (Part 2). Friday, January 29, 2021 at 6:30pm CST / 7:30pm ET
A constellation of five female composers (Jennifer Higdon, a BandQuest and ChoralQuest composer, Libby Larsen, ACF’s co-found and BandQuest composer, Jessie Montgomery, Florence Price and Joan Tower).
More information can be found on their website.

World Premiere of Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s CATAMORPHOSIS Performed by the Berlin Philharmonic, conducted by Kirill Petrenko
2021-01-29 13:00 - 15:00 (America/Chicago)
Live in the Digital Concert Hall – On Friday, January 29, 2021, at 1pm CST | 11am PT | 2pm ET | 8pm CET, the Berlin Philharmonic will perform the world premiere of Anna Thorvaldsdottir’s highly anticipated new orchestral work, CATAMORPHOSIS, conducted by Kirill Petrenko. A further testament to Thorvaldsdottir’s “confident and distinctive handling of the orchestra” (Gramophone) and the often “cosmic scale” (The New York Times) of her music, CATAMORPHOSIS is an imposing meditation on the fragile relationship we have to our planet. The title, in the composer’s own words, “refers both to the fact that if things do not change it is going to be too late, risking utter destruction – catastrophe – and to the way the core of the work is driven by the shift and pull between various polar forces – power and fragility, hope and despair, preservation and destruction.”
Full Program
Anna Thorvaldsdóttir: CATAMORPHOSIS (world premiere) – commissioned jointly by the Berliner Philharmoniker together with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, the New York Philharmonic and the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra – supported by the Friends of the Berliner Philharmoniker e. V.
Sergei Prokofiev: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 1 in D-flat Major, Op. 40 (featuring Daniil Trifonov, piano)
Josef Suk: Pohádka léta (A Summer’s Tale), Symphonic Poem, Op. 29
For more information about the performance, visit website.
Click here for more information about Anna Thorvaldsdottir.

Performance as Process with Conrad Tao
2021-01-28 18:00 - 19:00 (America/Chicago)
A series of eight FREE monthly digital Performance As Process events on Thursday evenings from September through April will invite audiences to Conrad Tao’s, 2020-21 Kaufman Music Center Artist-in-Residence, creative practice as he develops programming for his May 6 Ecstatic Music concert in Merkin Hall. Streamed from his home in Manhattan, these events will give the audience a deeper look into his work in piano, electronics, composition and improvisation as the program for his Merkin Hall debut comes into focus.
Performance as Process events will be streamed on Kaufman Music Center’s Facebook page at 6pm CDT / 7pm EST on September 24, October 29, November 19, December 17, January 28, February 25, March 25 and April 29.

Online premiere of Astronautica: Voices of Women in Space
2021-01-27 18:00 - 19:00 (America/Chicago)
Voices of Ascension, and the launch of their new series of vocal chamber works was delayed last spring due to COVID. This first piece in the Voices of The New series, Astronautica: Voices of Women in Space, has been re-envisioned for an online premiere beginning Wednesday, January 27, 2021 at 6pm CST | 7pm EST. It will also be available for On Demand viewing.
The nine composers of Astronautica include Hai-Ting Chinn, Renée Favand-See, Jennifer Jolley, Elaine Lachica, Gilda Lyons, Rashonda Reeves, Kamala Sankaram, Jane Sheldon, and Bora Yoon.
They’ve included a special $5 ticket offer for the I Care If You Listen community. On the ticket order form, click on Enter a password or discount code and then enter 2021NEW.
Learn more and get your tickets here.

ACF & ACO co-presents professional development workshops: Composer to Composer Talk with William Bolcom, Gabriela Lena Frank, John Corigliano & Mason Bates
2021-01-27 16:00 - 17:00 (America/Chicago)
The following Professional Development Webinars are co-presented by the American Composers Orchestra (ACO) and the American Composers Forum (ACF), and feature panel discussions by esteemed professionals in the industry about topics including Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; Entrepreneurship and Creating an Ensemble; Film Composition; Fundraising via Supportive Individuals; Programming and Digital Curation; Publishing, Self-Publishing, and Management; Recording Law and Practice; Project Production and Recording; and more.
Tune in to gain insight into the genesis, sound, and influence on the American orchestral canon of the featured work, and have the opportunity to ask questions of the artists.
Composer to Composer Talks are live-streamed on ACO’s Facebook and YouTube channels. If you register, you will receive the featured recordings in advance as well as the direct links to join the event.
On Wednesday, January 13, 2021 at 4pm CST | 5pm ET, Gabriela Lena Frank talks with William Bolcom about his Symphony No. 9, from 2012, of which Bolcom writes, “Today our greatest enemy is our inability to listen to each other, which seems to worsen with time. All we hear now is shouting, and nobody is listening because the din is so great. Yet there is a ‘still, small voice’ that refuses to disappear…I pin my hope on that voice. I search for it daily in life and in music – and possibly the ‘Ninth Symphony’ is a search for that soft sound.”
On Wednesday, January 27, 2021 at 4pm CST | 5pm ET, Mason Bates talks with John Corigliano about Corigliano’s work Circus Maximus (Symphony No. 3 for Large Wind Ensemble) from 2004. Corigliano writes of the piece, “The Circus Maximus of ancient Rome was the largest arena in the world. 300,000 spectators were entertained by chariot races, hunts, and battles. The Roman need for grander and wilder amusement grew as its empire declined. The parallels between the high decadence of Rome and our present time are obvious. Entertainment dominates our reality, and ever-more-extreme ‘reality’ shows dominate our entertainment.”
Register to these events via the links above in correspondence to the event date.
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

OPERA America: New Works Forum
2021-01-27 14:00 - 16:00, 2021-01-27 10:00 - 12:00 (America/Chicago)
VIRTUAL WINTER MEETING:
Tuesday, January 26, 2021 at 10am, 2pm CST | 11am, 3pm EST and
Wednesday, January 27, 2021 at 10am, 2pm CST | 11am, 3pm EST
Register now for the New Works Forum, the pre-eminent national convening dedicated to improving the quality and quantity of new American opera. Producers, creative artists, publishers, and other stakeholders working to develop, support, and promote new work are all invited to attend.
This 2021 New Works Forum is designed to advance the field’s commitment to racial justice in and through new work development, and it will be guided by four priorities: equity, inclusion, diversity, and power-sharing.
This year’s forum will be held online over the course of four meetings, the first taking place on Tuesday and Wednesday, January 26 and 27 (see schedule below).
REGISTER NOW
REGISTRATION DETAILS
The winter meeting of the New Works Forum is open to OPERA America members and non-members with registration.

OPERA America Member (Org. Staff and Individuals) — $25
OPERA America Artist Member — $10
Non-Member — $40
Artist Non-Member — $15
Student — $5

To access member pricing, log in to the New Works Forum page. If you are currently facing financial hardship that will impact your ability to pay the registration fee and attend the forum, contact us at Artistic@operaamerica.org or 646.699.5240.
