American Composers Forum

Music in Action: International Voices
2021-03-17 10:00 - 12:00, 2021-03-18 09:50 - 10:45, 2021-03-18 12:00 - 13:00, 2021-03-19 08:30 - 09:15, 2021-03-20 13:00 - 14:30 (America/Chicago)
Following COVID-19 protocols for testing, masking ,and social distancing, Taconic Music has partnered with local schools to bring live music safely to students and teachers through “Music in Action!,” which will take place from Monday, March 15 through Friday, March 19.
Taconic Chamber Players:Joana Genova and Heather Braun, violins; Ariel Rudiakov, viola; Tom Landschoot, cello
String quartets by Jessie Montgomery (African-American), Sato Matsui (Japanese-American), Anjna Swaminathan (Indian-American), Gabriela Lena Frank (Peruvian-American) and Chen Yi (Chinese American, a BQ and CQ composer).

Monday, March 15, 2021 at 11am – 3pm CT | 12–4pm ET: Long Trail School- workshop and rehearsal with student composers
Tuesday, March 16, 2021 at

9:30am – 12:15am CT | 10:30–11:15am ET: Red Fox Community School
11am – 12:15pm CT | 12–1:15pm ET: Burr and Burton Academy band and ACCESS program

Wednesday, March 17 at10am – 12pm CT | 11am–1pm ET: Long Trail School
Thursday, March 18, 2021 at

9:50am – 10:45am CT | 10:50–11:45am ET: Burr and Burton Academy chorus
12pm – 1pm CT | 1-2pm ET: Performance at SVMC’s Vaccine Clinic in Bennington

Friday, March 19, 2021 at8:30am – 9:15am CT | 9:30–10:15am ET: The Mountain School at Winhall

Saturday, March 20, 2021 at 1pm – 2:30pm CT | 2–3:30pm ET: Livestream from Southern Vermont Arts Center, Yester House
PROGRAM:
Gabriela Lena Frank
Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout
VI. Coqueteos
Sato Matsui
Free and So Thankful
Chen Yi
At the Kansas City Chinese New Year Concert
II. Making the Hand-Pulled Noodles
Anjna Swaminathan
Duplicity
Jessie Montgomery
Strum
Visit website here.

SHE Festival of Women in Music
2021-03-18 15:30 - 16:30, 2021-03-18 19:00 - 20:00, 2021-03-22 18:00 - 19:00 (America/Chicago)
The SHE Festival returns for its third year in an all virtual format. SHE is presented by the Department of Music in partnership with the University of Arkansas Community Music School.
The festival begins and ends with vignette performances by the Department of Music faculty and students. These mini concerts are featured on the Department of Music YouTube Channel – youtube.com/c/uarkmusic and announced via social media and listed below.
In addition to the vignettes, the festival welcomes five amazing guest artists. These women bring their experience as active performers, composers, and researchers to the 2021 SHE Festival for our audiences to grow and learn. Each event will be hosted on Zoom (click on the times in red below) and archived on the Department of Music’s YouTube Channel.
Date & Time:

Thursday, March 18, 2021 – Phyllis Lewis-Hale

at 3:30pm CDT – Voice Masterclass on Negro Spirituals
at 7pm CDT – Lecture Presentation: Afro-Creole Folk Music of Louisiana and the Caribbean

Monday, March 22, 2021 – Lara Downes

at 6pm CDT – A Conversation with Lara Downes, Hosted by Lia Uribe

Vignette Concert Series

Sakura Rieck (violin) with Miho Oda Sakon (piano) – “The Puppet Show” by Josephine Trott
Catalina Ortega (flute) – “Memory” for solo flute by Chen Yi (a BQ and CQ composer)
Eric Troiano (baritone saxophone) – “Black Mary” by Shelley Washington
Lorilee Erdman (oboe) – “Rainbow” by Alyssa Morris
Katelyn Barry (oboe) – “Whirlwind” by Thea Musgrave
Michael Lindsey (oboe) – “Niobe” by Thea Musgrave
Sophia Lopez (piano) – “Piano Sonata” by Marianna von Martinez & “Honeysuckle at Dusk” by Florence Price
Timothy Scott (flute) with Dorinda Scott (piano) – “Nocturne” by Lili Boulanger
Sungkun Jung (piano) – Nocturne in G minor by Fanny Mendelssohn
Helen Becqué (piano) – Piano Prelue by Julia Perry
Moon-Sook Park (soprano) – “Kashiri 2020” by Moon-Sook Park
Asher Armstrong (piano) – Sarabande by Dace Aperāne
University Symphony Orchestra – “Pie Jesu” by Lili Boulanger
David Nystrom (piano) – Romance No. 1, Op. 21 by Clara Schumann
DJ Talbot (piano) – Imrovisation No. 4 by Amy Beach

Learn more by visiting their website here.

2021-03-19 18:30 - 19:30 (America/Chicago)
A virtual junior recital of original compositions by Michael Gaspari (a NextNotes creator), TIMARA, assisted by Hamish Robb, electric guitar and Tempest Baum, amplified mandolin, streamed live from Stull Recital Hall.
Date & Time: Friday, March 19, 2021 at 6:30pm CDT | 7:30pm EDT
Program: “Noise & Buttons 2”
Presentation on “Music for Children”

Michael Gaspari, speaker

Noise & Buttons Improvisation

Michael Gaspari, moog & “Music for Children” button box
Hamish Robb, electric guitar
Tempest Baum, amplified mandolin

Watch the webcast – streamed live at concert time.

Sarah Cahill's The Future is Female Concert presented by Community School of Music & Arts
2021-03-20 21:30 - 23:30 (America/Chicago)
On Saturday, March 20, 2021 at 9:30pm CST | 7:30pm PST, to mark the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, Sarah Cahill presents her third concert at Community School of Music & Arts in Mountain View, CA. The performance features classical works from Cahill’s latest project, The Future is Female, including music by Margaret Bonds, Clara Schumann, Amy Beach, Theresa Carreño, and more.

Visit the website here to learn more.

Bang on a Can Marathon Live Online – MaerzMusik Edition presented by Berliner Festspiele
2021-03-21 14:00 - 18:00 (America/Chicago)
The Bang on a Can Marathon Live Online – MaerzMusik Edition presented by Berliner Festspiele – features four hours of live performances from both sides of the Atlantic, reflecting the diversity and breadth of the Bang on a Can community. Featured artists include Tomeka Reid, Bill Frisell, Mazz Swift, Arnold Dreyblatt, Steve Reich, and more.
This special edition live Marathon will be hosted by Michael Gordon, David Lang, and Julia Wolfe, and in part by MaerzMusik Artistic Director Berno Odo Polzer. The Bang on a Can Marathon is one of many events taking place during the MaerzMusik Festival 2021, running March 19-28.
Date & Time: Sunday, March 21, 2021 2-6 pm CT | 3-7pm ET | 8p-12m CET
Learn more & get tickets here.
Hourly Schedule (Set times are approximate and subject to change.)
3PM NEW YORK | 8PM BERLIN
Daniel Bernard Roumain Why Did They Kill Sandra Bland? performed by Arlen Hlusko
Arnold Dreyblatt
Mazz Swift
Rohan Chander △ or THE TRAGEDY OF HIKKOMORI LOVELESS from FINAL//FANTASY performed by Vicky Chow
4PM NEW YORK | 9PM BERLIN
Kristina Wolfe Listening to the Wind performed by Molly Barth
Miya Masaoka
Aeryn Santillan disconnect. performed by Ken Thomson
Adam Cuthbert
5PM NEW YORK | 10PM BERLIN
Ken Thomson Birds and Ambulances performed by Robert Black
Tomeka Reid Lamenting G.F., A.A., B.T., T.M. performed by Vicky Chow
Steve Reich Vermont Counterpoint performed by Claire Chase
Christina Wheeler
Molly Joyce Purity performed by David Cossin
6PM NEW YORK | 11PM BERLIN
Tyshawn Sorey
Jeffrey Brooks Santuario performed by Mark Stewart
Moor Mother
Bill Frisell

COINCIDENT: Episode 2 Premiere + Virtual Reception
2021-03-21 16:00 - 17:00 (America/Chicago)
Join for the premiere of COINCIDENT Episode 2 (approximately 10 minutes), followed by a virtual reception (bring your own refreshments!) with Scott Miller (a past McKnight Fellow), Carole Kim, and members of Zeitgeist.
COINCIDENT is a telematic, multi-episode, audiovisual collaboration between Zeitgeist, composer Scott L. Miller, visual artist Carole Kim, and an evolving list of artists. Each artist performs from their home studio, and they connect to each other through specialized software that facilitates real-time performance with greatly reduced latency issues (lag in time due to internet connection). Because latency is reduced, but not gone, the music embraces a certain amount of asynchronicity; individual events can occur at different times without compromising the musical idea. The music is paired with a projection world created by Carole Kim that is derived from micro-installations (located under her kitchen table) and projections performed in real-time with the music.
If you missed the first episode, watch here!

Date & Time: Sunday, March 21 at 4 p.m. CDT
Free, donations accepted
Online via Zoom: click here to join!
Details at zeitgeistnewmusic.org/coincident.
Meeting ID: 845 6106 0322
Passcode: ZEITGEIST
Click to join

FIFTH HOUSE ENSEMBLE IN RESIDENCE
2021-03-22 16:30 - 18:00 (America/Chicago)
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

Her Story: American Women In Chamber Music
2021-03-22 19:30 - 20:45 (America/Chicago)
This Women’s History Month marks the 100th year since the landmark victory of the women’s suffrage movement. To celebrate this milestone, Chamber Music on the Fox has invited a quartet of women from the Lyric Opera Orchestra to perform a program featuring all female, all American composers, from the classical to the Romantic to the contemporary! Hear the music and learn the stories of these remarkable trailblazing women.
Performing the concert is Amy Hess on viola, Kate Carter and Ann Palen on violin and Mara McClain on cello.
The program will run about an hour and 15 minutes and features five different pieces written during the 20th century. It will begin with Chen Yi’s (a BQ and CQ composer) 1994 work “Shuo,” followed by Gabriela Lena Frank’s “Kanto Kechua No. 2,” which premiered in 2019, and Amy Beach’s “Quartet for Strings Op. 89,” written in 1929. The second half of the concert opens with the 2012 work “Valencia” by Caroline Shaw and concludes with 1935′s “String Quartet No. 2” by Florence Price.
Date & Time: Monday, March 22, 2021 at 7:30pm CDT
Register here to watch this event online.

Identity, Diaspora, and the Contemporary
2021-03-24 13:00 - 14:00 (America/Chicago)
A discussion on the identity and future of contemporary music

A diverse panel of scholars, curators, and artists respond to the Ensemble Modern’s concert, “Afro-Modernism in Contemporary Music,” with reference to recent cultural issues around classical and contemporary music’s understanding of its identity and future.

The protracted silence within avantgarde music that surrounds composers of the African diaspora provides the starting point for this concert project curated by the American musician, composer and academic George Lewis. With works by Alvin Singleton (a BQ composer) , Tania León (a BQ composer), Daniel Kidane, Andile Khumalo, Hannah Kendall and Jessie Cox the musicians of the Ensemble Modern under conductor Vimbayi Kaziboni open up a panorama of music from the African diaspora that is more significant than ever in light of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Date & Time: Wednesday, March 24, 2021 at 1pm CST
Learn more here.

Professional Development Panel: Equity in Orchestras
2021-03-24 14:00 - 15:15 (America/Chicago)
Why is diversity, equity, and inclusion crucial to the future of orchestral music? How can organizations and artists integrate it into their work? ACO’s Director of Emerging Composers and Diversity, Aiden Feltkamp, leads a panel of experts in this professional development webinar. A Q&A with the audience will follow.
Date & Time: Wednesday, March 24, 2021 at 2pm CDT | 3pm EDT
The following ProfessionalDevelopment Webinar is co-presented by the American Composers Orchestra (ACO) and the American Composers Forum (ACF).
Aiden Feltkamp will be the moderator.
Nebal Maysaud, composer and consultant
Daniel Bernard Roumain, composer, violinist, educator
Pratichi Shah, President and CEO, Flourish Talent Management Solutions
Get tickets and learn more here.
If you require an interpreter, closed-captioning, or any other accommodations to fully engage, please contact ACF’s Laura Krider within 48 hours of the webinar (lkrider@composersforum.org or 612.314.9228).

So, You Want To Be A College/University Music Professor?
2021-03-25 13:00 - 14:30 (America/Chicago)
In this webinar, Elliott Miles McKinley will share his experience and the things he has learned in the world of academia. Topics will include the job search, interview process, contract negotiation, how to read a job description, what to ask for, different levels of jobs, workload, expectations, the tenure process, and more.
Open to those at any stage of seeking a career as a college/university professor. This is free and open to anyone, focused mainly for those who are either thinking of graduate study or in a graduate music program with a goal of becoming a college/university professor, on the job market (ABD or post-doctoral), currently full/part-time adjuncting, or even those who are on the pre-tenure divide.
The Zoom registration will allow up to 25 direct participants. I will, however, livestream this event on Facebook and over on YouTube if you wish to watch and not directly participate.
Date & Time: Thursday, March 25, 2021 at 1pm CDT | 2pm EDT

ACF Study Group: Beyonce's Homecoming
2021-03-25 16:00 - 17:00 (America/Chicago)
TRILLOQUY co-host and ACF board member facilitates a discussion about Beyoncé’s groundbreaking performance piece Homecoming and her unique compositional style with insight from special guest and soloing member of Beyoncé K Lady Jess.
Register here in advance for this meeting. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
Date & Time: Thursday, March 25, 2021 at 4pm CST
Closed captioning and ASL interpretation services will be provided at this event. If you require any other accommodations to fully engage, please contact Laura Krider (lkrider@composersforum, 612.314.9228) at least 48 hours before the event.

Performance as Process with Conrad Tao
2021-03-25 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.

Illumination
2021-03-25 19:30 - 20:30 (America/Chicago)
C4 presents our seventh #C4GoesRemote livestream concert: Illumination. Join us on Thursday, March 25, 2021 at 7:30pm CT | 8:30pm ET!
Our program will include the following pieces:
Nocturne by Adolphus Hailstork
Thirst Trap by Perry Townsend – world premiere
Grateful by Jamie Klenetsky Fay – world premiere
Lux Aeterna by Stephanie K. Andrews – world premiere
Berkeley Denies by Charles Turner
We’re honored to sing with our C4 Network friends from Inversion Ensemble and C3LA for this concert!
Illumination is free to attend, but virtual tips are welcomed. Virtual tips are accepted through C4’s Venmo account: @c4ensmble. Donations can also be made via credit card through our website, as well as through PayPal at info@c4ensemble.org. Thank you for supporting the creation of new choral music during this time!
Learn more here.

String Noise: Triple Album Release Happy Hour
2021-03-26 15:00 - 17:00 (America/Chicago)
Virtual Online Event: Livestream (Running time: 2 hours)
Date & Time: Friday, March 26, 2021 from 3-5pm CDT | 4-6PM EDT
About this Event:
LISTENING PARTY starts at 4PM with:
Kurt Gottschalk, Master of Ceremonies (NYC Jazz, Stereophile, the Wire, WFMU)
String Noise: Conrad Harris and Pauline Kim Harris, Violins
Composers: Caleb Burhans, Jessie Cox, Jonathan Finlayson, Eric Lyon, Anaïs Maviel, Charles Overton, Greg Saunier and Lester St. Louis
VIEWING PARTY starts at 5:30PM with:
Special pre-recorded EXTRACTIONS by members of International Contemporary Ensemble: Isabel Lepanto Gleicher, piccolo, Rebekah Heller, bassoon, Dan Lippel, classical guitar, Josh Modney, violin, Nuiko Wadden, harp
DOCU-video PREMIERE: Giga Concerto
Edited by Chandler Clamp
EVENT PRODUCER, Nicholas Zork
SPECIAL CRAFTED COCKTAIL RECIPES by Kat’s Dogs Art & YoYo Comics:
The Rose
Doves & Pigeons
Area 75
Register & get tickets here.

Great Falls Symphony's 62nd Live Concert Series - 2020-2021 Season
2021-03-28 15:00 - 16:00 (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”

National Association for Music Education Student Composition Winners with the Akropolis Reed Quintet
2021-03-29 18:00 - 19:00 (America/Chicago)
To round out MIOSM, the free Young Composers Concert will take place, and feature winning compositions from the 2020 NAfME Student Composers Competition. The Akropolis Reed Quintet will be performing, and you and your students do not want to miss this event!
Date & Time: Monday, March 29, 2021 at 6pm CST | 7pm EST
Register here.
Learn more here.

Composer-to-Composer Talks: Meredith Monk and Missy Mazzoli Presented by American Composers Orchestra
2021-03-31 16:00 - 17:00 (America/Chicago)
The Composer to Composer series features major American composers in conversation with each other about their work and leading a creative life. The intergenerational discussions, moderated by ACO Artistic Director Derek Bermel, begin by exploring a single work with one composer interviewing the other. Attendees will gain insight to each work’s genesis, sound, influence on the American orchestral canon, and be invited to ask questions of the artists. Events will be live-streamed and available for on-demand viewing for seven days following the live event.
On Wednesday, March 31, 2021 at 4pm CDT | 5pm EDT, Missy Mazzoli talks with Meredith Monk about her work WEAVE, from 2010, of which Monk writes, “I conceived of WEAVE for Two Voices, Chamber Orchestra and Chorus as a continuous, seamless form in which layers that are at first part of a texture are gradually revealed, take on their own life and then are modified by the next layer that appears. Each passage evolves from the preceding one . . . There is an organic build of momentum in each passage of WEAVE leading naturally to the next, as indicated by the marked tempi. The ebb and flow of the piece depend on the relationship of tempi from one passage to another and the balance between the solo voices, instruments and chorus.”
Learn more and get tickets here.

Cantus One Giant Leap
2021-03-31 19:30 (America/Chicago)
In One Giant Leap, Cantus celebrates the allure of outward exploration, the triumph of the human spirit, and the striving for excellence through innovation and technology.
Cantus looked to the night sky to shape One Giant Leap, which the acclaimed men’s chorus toured in 2019–20 in conjunction with the fiftieth anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission put two men on the moon. But One Giant Leap looks beyond that triumph to consider elements of why we sought to go to the moon: humankind’s capacity for wonder, our innate desire to discover, and, in doing so, to better understand our own place in the universe.
This recording of the program’s highlights includes:
Stars by Ériks Ešenvalds
“La Route” from Dans la Montagne by Jean Cras
Flucht by Franz Schubert
Follow the Drinking Gourd, a traditional work arranged by Vicente Chavarria
Starry Messenger by Z. Randall Stroope
Discoveries by Grace Brigham
Silver Deity of Secret Night by Catherine Dalton
Beyond by Chris Foss
Date & Time: Wednesday, March 31, 2021 at 6:30pm CT | 7:30pm ET
Learn more and access the virtual event here.

Native American Musical Culture: Jerod Tate
2021-04-01
Explore the intersection between classical music and Native American musical cultures.
Curated by composer Jerod Impichchaachaaha’ Tate (a ChoralQuest composer), with SF Symphony musicians.
Tickets are $15.
Date: Thursday, April 1, 2021
Learn more here.

Innova Bay Area Pilot: Info Session
2021-04-01 16:00 - 17:00 (America/Chicago) | Virtual, United States
This info session for Innova’s Bay Area Pilot program is for anyone who may be curious about this program and its mission, applying to the program, Innova’s curatorial process, and even the process of recording and releasing music in general.
Date & Time: Thursday, April 1, 2021 at 4pm CDT
To register for the zoom event, click here.
The Innova’s Bay Area Pilot program seeks to foster an artist centric cooperative model where both label and artist work closely to achieve the artist’s goals. This pilot program is open to Bay Area artists.
Applications will be accepted March 16 through April 16. There is no cost to apply.
You can find more information about the pilot program and apply here.

Lara Downes' new digital recording: Rising Sun Music
2021-04-02
Inspired by her own mixed-race heritage and career-long engagement with diverse musical traditions, pianist Lara Downes creates and curates a new digital recording venture, Rising Sun Music, that sheds a bright light on the music and stories of Black composers over the past 200 years. Featuring a wide range of leading instrumentalists and vocalists (including Ms. Downes) whose work defines the creative energy of this generation and the next, the series presents a new EP of music-each exploring a different theme -to be released the first Friday of every month starting February 5.
Rising Sun Music is distributed digitally worldwide by [PIAS] and available on all major streaming and download platforms including Apple, Spotify, Amazon, Primephonic, and Idagio.
Friday, February 5, 2021: Remember Me to Harlem
BENNY GOLSON: Classical Dreams – Lara Downes, piano
Eubie Blake: Love Will Find A Way – Lara Downes, piano
William Grant STILL: Song for the Lonely – Lara Downes, piano & Titus Underwood, oboe
Margaret Bonds/Langston Hughes: When the Dove Enters In – Lara Downes, piano & Davóne Tines, bass-baritone
Friday, March 5, 2021: Phenomenal Women
Hazel Scott: Peace of Mind – Lara Downes, piano
Margaret Bonds: What Lips My Lips Have Kissed – Lara Downes, piano & Nicole Cabell, soprano
NORA HOLT: Negro Dance – Lara Downes, piano
Florence Price: Andante con Espressione – Lara Downes, piano & Rachel Barton Pine, violin
Friday, April 2, 2021: Spring Fever
BETTY JACKSON KING: Spring Intermezzo – Lara Downes, piano
NKEIRU OKOYE: When Young Spring Comes – Lara Downes, piano
H. Leslie Adams: L’extase d’amour – Lara Downes, piano & Jordan Bak, viola
ALVIN SINGLETON (a BandQuest composer): Changing Faces – Lara Downes, piano

First Fridays with Robert Black (Bang on a Can All-Star Bassist)
2021-04-02 11:30 - 12:00 (America/Chicago)
April’s First Fridays with Robert Black brings you large music from small countries. Experience pieces from Iceland’s Maria Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir, Lithuania’s Žibuokle Martinaitytė, and Latvia’s Krists Auznieks. Deep oceans – expansive skies – dazzling lights – music that shares a fascination with ethereal sounds and earthly sonics. Chill with the aural aurora, celebrate at the harmonics happening, immerse in the overtone orgy.
Date & Time: Friday, April 2, 2021 at 11am CDT | 12pm EDT
PROGRAM:
Maria Huld Markan Sigfúsdóttir – Pending
Žibuokle Martinaityte – Abyssal Zone
Krists Auznieks – Arise
First Fridays with Robert Black is a monthly series of virtual mini-concerts featuring new music for solo double bass, streaming from his home studio in Hartford, Connecticut, at 12pm ET. The performance is designed to fit any time and place – whether it’s with morning coffee in Los Angeles, lunch in New York, happy hour in Paris, or a late supper in Tashkent.
Previous editions of First Fridays are available to watch on-demand on Bang on a Can’s YouTube channel.
Note: This is a free concert! But please consider purchasing a ticket just the same. Doing so will help Bang on a Can to do more performances, pay more players, commission more composers, and share more music worldwide.
Learn more and get tickets here.

Lisa Bielawa's online world premiere of Broadcast at the Crossroads, presented in collaboration with DePauw University
2021-04-02 18:30 - 20:00 (America/Chicago)
Composer and producer Lisa Bielawa, in collaboration with the DePauw University School of Music, presents the online world premiere of Broadcast at the Crossroads on Friday, April 2, 2021 at 6:30pm CDT | 7:30pm ET.
The video will remain online to watch after its initial premiere, available at www.lisabielawa.net/broadcast-at-the-crossroads and on DePauw University School of Music’s YouTube channel. This new work is the culmination of Bielawa’s Composer-in-Residence appointment at DePauw’s annual Music of the 21st Century festival, organized by School of Music professor Dr. Eliza Brown. Though the residency was originally scheduled pre-pandemic to be in-person, Bielawa and Brown pivoted their work together as a way to build community in the challenging lockdown conditions.
The virtual performance will also include a performance of Bielawa’s work Vireo Canons and Chorale by pianist and professor May Phang, a performance of a selection of my work The Great Plasto-Dio Dada Drama by percussion student Landen Wood, a discussion about Broadcast at the Crossroads with Dr. Brown and participating students, and a live Q&A session. Following the premiere, the video will remain online at the same link and on DePauw University School of Music’s YouTube channel, accessible to the public for free.
Of Broadcast at the Crossroads, Bielawa explains, “Indiana’s state motto is ‘The Crossroads of America,’ but furthermore, the piece also considers the unique predicament of this generation whose studies have been dramatically affected by Covid and its impact on educational institutions, at the crossroads of their lives. In our planning process, I came to know of the existence of field recordings that Dr. Brown’s Practicum students captured in the lively campus buildings (dining hall, student union) on March 10 and 11, 2020, the final days before all students, faculty and non-essential staff were told to evacuate the campus. Eerily frozen in time, these ‘Sounds of DePauw’ videos bear witness to the last moments of lively campus life. With the kind permission of these students and alums, these field recordings have become part of the sonic landscape of Broadcast at the Crossroads.”
Additional material for Broadcast at the Crossroads was generated during Bielawa’s online residency in March 2021 through a series of lively Zoom discussions. The compiled and selected texts, drawn from students’ answers to questions such as “What is your useless superpower?,” “What is something you learned this week?,” and “What have you learned this year?” form a collective dramatic monologue of the Student during the time of Covid: acceptance, grief, steely self-determination, wisdom beyond their years.
Building on the methods and techniques Bielawa has developed during the pandemic to create broadly participatory works in a highly collaborative, asynchronous process, Broadcast at the Crossroads weaves together musical materials recorded independently and soloistically by all of the individual members of the orchestra, band, choir, and opera programs.
Learn more here.
