American Composers Forum

Songs of Sorrow, Songs of Hope
2021-05-22 20:00 - 21:00 (America/Chicago)
Inspired by sacred music, this program looks toward a brighter tomorrow after a year filled with uncertainty. Stirring selections from Sergei Rachmaninoff’s piano compositions and George Walker’s First String Quartet lead the program, along with the world premiere performance of American Indian composer Brent Michael Davids’ (a BandQuest composer) new work for solo flute. We will conclude with Franz Joseph Haydn’s series of seven musical meditations on Christ’s final words.
We dedicate this program to the memory of George Floyd.
Date & Time: Saturday, May 22, 2021 at 8 PM CT
Get more information here.

A Brighter Tomorrow
2021-05-22 20:00 - 21:00 (America/Chicago)
This is a Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra‘s Concert
Inspired by sacred music, this program looks toward a brighter tomorrow after a year filled with uncertainty. Stirring selections by Sergei Rachmaninoff lead the program, along with the world premiere of a new work for solo flute by American Indian composer Brent Michael Davids (a BandQuest composer).
Date & Time: Saturday, May 22, 2021 at 8pm CST
Livestream the event here.

Fac Favorites: Part Three
2021-05-22 18:00 - 19:00 (America/Chicago)
Members of the Space Coast Symphony Youth Orchestras will perform side-by-side with their professional SCSO counterparts in an inspiring program that also includes the world premieres of Vero Beach resident Michael Daugherty’s (a BandQuest composer) “Italian Sojourn” and of Thomas Joseph’s “Concerto Dystonia” for horn and orchestra, which chronicles the composer’s own battle with task-specific focal dystonia.. Featuring orchestral favorites and more, this is a concert just for you with wall-to-wall classics. Celebrated pianist, Jacob Craig will join the orchestra and perform works by Debussy, Mozart, and Rachmaninoff. The concert will also highlight the two winners of the Concerto Competition, Ethan Hahn and Payton Brown. Featuring popular works by Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, Prokofiev, Verdi and more, this concert of wall-to-wall classics is just for you.
Jacob Craig, piano
Ethan Hahn, french horn
Payton Brown, oboe
Date & Time: Saturday, May 22, 2021 at 6 PM CT | 7 PM ET
Buy tickets here.

Look + Listen – VIOLA YIP + KEN UENO | Forms of Erasure (premiere)
2021-05-22 15:00 - 16:00 (America/Chicago)
Saturday, May 22, 2021 at 3 PM CT | 4 PM EST/UTC-4 (1pm PST | 10pm CET/UTC+2)
Viola Yip + Ken Ueno will present an hour-long live telematic multimedia performance. In this new piece for the Look + Listen Festival, they ask: How can we reclaim time from the COVID-19 malaise of non-time? What are ways in which geographically-distanced performance can point to the limits of what we feel as the “now”? Their piece will instrumentalize the streaming network, expressively coaxing affordances of failure, sonic artifacts which serve as evidence of life being lived in the present.
Get more information here.

ACF Artist Equity Summit: Twin Cities Arts Leaders
2021-05-21 15:00 - 16:00, 2021-05-20 16:00 - 17:00 (America/Chicago)
As we have reached out to artists and leaders in our community, we hear a consistent need and desire to connect with one another and support each other in these times. ACF seeks to share our platform to bring our circles together and build relationships, share experiences, and strengthen our work through dialogue and art-making.
In May 2021 ACF will convene culturally specific organizations that have been a physical space and nexus for their artistic communities to exchange experiences, share ideas, and find support, as a follow-up to the conversations that we have had this spring with leaders from organizations like Black Table Arts, Cedar Cultural Center, Free Black Dirt, Indigenous Roots, Tru Ruts, and Root Springs. The conversation will be moderated by ACF Director of Community and Belonging, Dameun Strange.
Join us for two days of conversation on Thursday, May 20, 2021 at 4pm CT & Friday, May 21, 2021 at 3pm CT
Register for part one here.
Register for part two 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.
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

AACM Conversation with Rudresh Mahanthappa
2021-05-19 15:00 - 16:00 (America/Chicago)
AACM in Conversation with Rudresh Mahanthappa Moderated by Dameun Strange on Wednesday, May 19, 2021 at 3PM CT
Join artist and AACM member Renee Baker and artist Rudresh Mahanthappa’s discussion of the work Rudresh has developed for AACM through our ACF l connect program. We’ll learn about Rudresh’s inspiration for the improvisation-driven piece and the process of creating music for the iconic Chicago-based ensemble that has worldwide reach – moderated by Dameun Strange.
Learn about our ACF | connect program here.
Register to this event here.
Possible 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.
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.

Professional Development Panel: Programming & Digital Curation
2021-05-19 14:00 - 15:15 (America/Chicago)
The following Professional Development Webinar is co-presented by the American Composers Orchestra (ACO) and the American Composers Forum (ACF).
How does traditional programming change when it’s focused online? Where is classical music headed in the digital age? American Composers Orchestra Artistic Director Derek Bermel moderates a panel of experts, followed by a Q&A with the audience.
Panelists:
Keith Obadike, maker of music, art, and literature
Mendi Obadike, maker of music, art, and literature
Paola Prestini, composer, Co-Founder and Artistic Director of National Sawdust
Kamala Sankaram, composer, performer
Date & Time: Wednesday, May 19, 2021 at 2pm CT | 3pm ET
Register and get tickets 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).

Giving Voice: A Place in the Choir
2021-05-18 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago)
Join this event for an uplifting and joyful virtual concert featuring our three Twin Cities based choruses.
Take “your special place” for this second virtual concert performance by Giving Voice Chorus!
The St. Paul, Minneapolis AM, and Minneapolis PM choruses are each featured singing a favorite song. And all three choruses
Join together to sing their opening and closing songs. Your “special place” is reserved just for you, right in the front row!
Date & Time: Tuesday, May 18, 2021 at 7 PM CT
Click here to register!

Gala 2021 Celebrating 60 Years of Theatre Communications Group: Our Stories
2021-05-18 18:30 - 19:30 (America/Chicago)
This Tuesday, May 18, 2021 at 6:30 PM CT | 7:30 PM ET, Theatre Communications Group (TCG) will be honoring the Performing Arts Alliance at their 60th Anniversary Gala: Our Stories.
Celebrate the theatre field’s legacy and future! You’re invited to celebrate this year’s honorees: Ricardo Khan and the Performing Arts Alliance. The Gala and virtual LIVE afterparty will be hosted by drag superstar Shequida. As TCG’s most important annual fundraiser, the Our Stories Gala also raises essential funds for the next 60 years and beyond – thank you!
ACF is a member of the Performing Arts Alliance (PAA) which is being honored for its extraordinary advocacy and leadership at the Theatre Communications Group Gala this month! ACF’s President and CEO, Vanessa Rose, is the PAA’s Board Secretary.
For more information and to get tickets, please visit TCG’s website.
Questions about TCG’s Gala? Please contact Natalie Smith, Development Manager, at nsmith@tcg.org.

Neave Trio Performs Virtual Concert Presented by Ridgecrest Chamber Music Society
2021-05-16 18:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago)
The Boston-based Neave Trio returns – virtually – to the Ridgecrest Chamber Music Society for an online concert, marking the trio’s seventh appearance on the series. The performance was recorded in Pickman Hall at the Longy School of Music of Bard College, where the trio is on faculty.
Date & Time: Sunday, May 16, 2021 at 6 PM CT | 4 PM PST
Tickets are available for purchase through Brown Paper Tickets here, and instructions to watch the stream will be sent to registrants via email.
Neave Trio’s program includes Clara Schumann’s Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 17; Glinka’s Trio Pathètique in D minor; Shostakovich’s Piano Trio No. 1 in C minor, Op. 8; and Lili Boulanger’s D’un matin de printemps. The Schumann and Boulanger are part of a collection of works by women composers, spanning the Romantic era through the modern day, that Neave Trio has been performing around the U.S and worldwide.
Anna Williams, Neave Trio violinist, says, “There is so much great repertoire that is under-performed, especially from women composers, and we feel it is essential to program and record these masterworks alongside the more well- known catalogue of piano trio repertoire. These women really broke down barriers and paved the way for future generations and we are excited to honor their unique contributions and voices.”
Clara Schumann’s Piano Trio in G minor, Op. 17 is widely regarded as one of her best-known compositions. It was written after she endured a great personal loss and is full of heartfelt melodies and beautiful harmonies. You can hear her brilliant pianism, and arguably, musical inspiration that she provided to some of her famous male composer contemporaries. Lili Boulanger, noted by Gabriel Fauré as an incredible prodigy, was the first woman to win the Prix de Rome (1913). D’un matin de printemps is full of character and joy, though it was the last work she wrote before her death at the very young age of 24.
Originally titled Poème and dedicated to Shostakovich’s love interest, his first trio was written when he was only sixteen. It is full of beautiful, sincere and heartfelt melodies, but Shostakovich’s sonority, harmonies and textures are unmistakably recognizable even at this tender age. Known as the father of the Russian classical music tradition, Glinka wrote his Trio Pathètique in D minor while in Italy. It is unapologetically romantic, lush, and operatic. Inspired by heartbreak, Glinka wrote on the score, “The only way I know love, is by the pain it causes.”

Jupiter String Quartet Gives Virtual Concert presented by Chamber Music at the Clark at UCLA
2021-05-16 15:00 - 17:00 (America/Chicago)
On Sunday, May 16, 2021 at 3pm CT | 1:00pm PT, the Jupiter Quartet will perform a virtual concert presented by Chamber Music at the Clark at UCLA. The program features Felix Mendelssohn’s String Quartet No. 6 in F minor, Op. 80; Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel’s String Quartet in E-flat Major; and Judd Greenstein’s Four on the Floor. Of his piece, written in 2006, Greenstein writes, “I wanted to write a piece that really rocked, not in the easy sense of writing out rock chords, but in the energy and vibe that would be conveyed in the music. To get this effect, I took advantage of the precise playing of a good string quartet, as well as the dramatic sounds of strings moving with and against each other.”

Learn more here.

NEW VOICES II
2021-05-15 18:30 - 19:30 (America/Chicago)
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. Featuring four world premiere works as well as classic Russian poetry newly translated by Jody McAuliffe (3 Russian Nocturnes).
Date & Time: Saturday, May 15, 2021 at 6:30pm CT | 7:30pm ET
Program:

Tom Cipullo: Rapture
Daron Hagen: To a Street Person (World Premiere)
Jennifer Higdon (a BandQuest and ChoralQuest composer): Lilacs
James Kallembach: Autumn Violets (World Premiere)
Libby Larsen (a BandQuest composer and ACF’s co-founder): The Other Side of Silence (World Premiere)
James Primosch: 2 Whitman Love Songs
Scott Wheeler: 3 Russian Nocturnes (World Premiere)
MARY BONHAG | ELISABETH MARSHALL
LAURA STRICKLING soprano
ANDREW FUCHS tenor
GREGORY FELDMANN baritone
MICHAEL BROFMAN | DANNY ZELIBOR piano

BUY DIGITAL SEASON SUBSCRIPTION
INDIVIDUAL TICKETS AVAILABLE 5/15/21 7:30 PM ET

New Voice Festival - Past/Present/Future
2021-05-15 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.

In Search of Peace - LIVESTREAM
2021-05-15 18:00 - 19:00 (America/Chicago)
This program will be livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook.
Minju Kim, violin; Keith Robinson, cello; Daniel Gilbert, clarinet; Donna Lee, piano
Trio for Clarinet, Cello and Piano, Op. 11, Ludwig van Beethoven
Andante un poco mosso from Trio, Op. 99, Franz Schubert
Lucas’s Garden, Amanda Harberg
Song Without Words, Libby Larsen
Date & Time: Saturday, May 15, 2021 at 6pm CT | 7pm ET

Tin Pan Allegiances, Featuring Music Inspired by NYC's Tin Pan Alley
2021-05-15 17:00 - 18:00 (America/Chicago)
Composers Concordance presents Tin Pan Allegiances on Saturday, May 15, 2021 at 5 PM CT | 6 PM ET at Michiko Studios in New York City. The concert commemorates and pays tribute to NYC’s Tin Pan Alley, where publishers of zillions of popular songs had their offices. Songwriters associated with Tin Pan Alley included George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, and Jerome Kern, among many others.
New chamber music compositions that pay tribute to this essential chapter in NYC’s music history include Gene Pritsker’s TINPANAPNIT, Frank J. Oteri’s TakeMe-2Stretch, and Dan Cooper’s Dub Alexander. These will be performed alongside several standard songs from yesteryear.
As part of this live-streamed concert with a limited, in-person audience, composer George Boziwick, retired Chief of the Music Division of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, will virtually lead a sing-along performance of Take Me Out to the Ball Game, composed in 1908 by Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilze.
Composers featured on the concert include Irving Berlin, Charles Coleman, Dan Cooper, Burton Lane, Frank J. Oteri, Cole Porter, Gene Pritsker, Daniel Schnyder, Richard Sussman, David Taylor, and Vincent Youmans / Gus Kahn / Edward Eliscu.
Performers featured include Scot Albertson – voice, Trudy Chan – piano, Charles Coleman – voice, Dan Cooper – bass guitar, Beth Holub – viola, Gene Pritsker – guitar and piano, Daniel Schnyder – soprano sax, Richard Sussman – piano, David Taylor – bass trombone, and Michael C. Vetter Jr. – drum set.
Tickets are $30. Get them here.
If you cannot make this event in person, please watch the live-stream of it here.

MENDI+KEITH OBADIKE | LULL: a sleep temple (2020)
2021-05-15 17:00 - 18:00 (America/Chicago)
Lull, a sleep temple is an overnight musical work. In this project Mendi + Keith Obadike create a sonic environment for rest. The 8 hour livestream uses field recordings, analog synths, and slow-moving harmonies from pianos, guitars, banjos, bell plates, and elongated melodies to create a field of sound for dreaming. At the center of the work is Mendi’s voice incanting original texts, remixed mythologies, and found fragments from books about dreams.
Date & Time: Saturday, May 15, 2021 at 5 PM CT | 10 PM UTC & Saturday, May 29, 2021 at 9 PM CT | 10 PM ET
“Dream kits” are no longer available but you can still sign up for the live stream of your choice below.
If you live in the US, you will receive a copy of Audra Wolowiec’s print poster Semaphore in the mail.
Sign up here.

After Hours: Latina Composers
2021-05-14 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago)
The second edition of the much-beloved After Hours program is back, and this time, it is celebrating 11 astounding Latina composers. Russell Thomas, Artist in Residence-turned-host, curated this spectacular special to transport you right to Mexico, Venezuela, Argentina, Cuba and Peru (without ever leaving your home).
Presented in collaboration with Opera San José and filmed in their new digital media studio, this recital will feature songs by Modesta Bor (1926-1998), María Luisa Escobar (1903-1985), Chabuca Granda (1920-1983), María Grever (1885-1951), Ernestina Lecuona (1882-1951), Ángela Peralta (1845-1883) and Consuelo Velázquez (1916-2005). You’ll also hear works by four contemporary composers: Gabriela Lena Frank (The Five Moons of Lorca, anyone?), Tania León (a BandQuest composer) and Mariela Rodríguez and Irma Urteaga.
Watch, listen, and be amazed by soprano Vanessa Becerra and tenor Carlos Enrique Santelli (who are both alumni of LA Opera’s Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program), baritones Luis Alejandro Orozco and Efraín Solís, pianists César Cancino and Bryndon Hassman, and guitarist Jose Chuy Hernandez as they take our virtual stage for this can’t-miss performance.
Date & Time: Friday, May 14th at 7 PM CT | 5 PM PT
Learn more on how to watch here.

Great Falls Symphony's 62nd Live Concert Series - 2020-2021 Season
2021-05-14 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”

Craig Carnahan: Ghost Camp
2021-05-14 09:00 - 2021-05-16 21:00 (America/Chicago)
The Singers – MCA, Matthew Culloton, conductor, perform the World Premier of Craig Carnahan’s “Ghost Camp” Text by Walt Whitman (1819-1892). The text for this piece dates to Walt Whitman’s experiences during the Civil War as a nurse and is taken from his journals and poetry.
James Ramlet, narrator: Ruth Palmer, piano; Heather Barringer, marimba/vibraphone/crotales; Pat O’Keefe. clarinets; Teresa Richardson, violoncello.
In addition, the video includes music by Edie Hill and Dominick Argento.
Date & Time: Friday, May 14, 2021 at 9 AM CDT – Sunday, May 16, 2021 at 9 PM CDT
TICKETS: $16/household at www.singersmca.org
Ticket purchasers will receive a link to the video by May 14, 2021 (and thereafter).

Rimon Artist Salon
2021-05-13 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago)
The Rimon Artist Salon Series presents the debut performance of “Anna,” newly commissioned songs by acclaimed composer/performer Anat Spiegel (a 2020 McKnight Composer Fellowship recipient) inspired by the extraordinary poems of the late Yiddish writer Anna Margolin. Participation is free, but registration is required.

Date & Time: Thursday, May 13, 2021 at 7 PM CT
Register here.

Steve Reich and Amy Sillman – a live conversation with performances by Bang on a Can All-Stars
2021-05-13 18:30 - 19:30 (America/Chicago)
Bang on a Can, BOMB Magazine, and the Jewish Museum present a live conversation featuring composer Steve Reich and painter Amy Sillman, plus performances of two Reich classics: Piano/Video Phase and Electric Counterpoint by the Bang on a Can All-Stars’ David Cossin (percussion) and Mark Stewart (electric guitar).
Among the most iconic and well-known composers of his generation, Steve Reich’s music has had a broad influence that continues to inspire music makers across genres, from techno and electronica to rock and roll. In the words of The Guardian, “There’s just a handful of living composers who can legitimately claim to have altered the direction of musical history and Steve Reich is one of them.”
Reich will be joined in conversation with Brooklyn-based painter Amy Sillman, who had two triumphal exhibitions in New York last year – a show of her own work at Barbara Gladstone Gallery and one she curated for the reopening of The Museum of Modern Art. Coincidentally, she is also Steve Reich’s cousin.
The program will be fully live and streamed on Bang on a Can’s new online venue-website, live.bangonacan.org. These events will be free to stream and the featured artists are being compensated by Bang on a Can, but please consider purchasing a ticket. Doing so will help Bang on a Can to do more performances, pay more players, commission more composers, and share more music worldwide.
Date & Time: Thursday, May 13, 2021 at 6:30 PM CT | 7:30 PM ET

The Making of Donne Songs Without Words
2021-05-13 18:30 - 19:30 (America/Chicago)
A Choreographic Work for Viol Quartet and Baroque Harp by Eleonor Sandresky
Parthenia Viol Consort and guests discuss the conception, composition and performance of Sandresky’s 2014 work, John Donne Songs Without Words, commissioned by Parthenia with a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts. Explore Donne’s poetry, the guiding aesthetic for this work, and talk about learning to use body movements while playing our instruments, and show videos of the 2015 premier.
Parthenia actively commissions and premieres works by today’s composers including Eleonor Sandresky, Richard Einhorn, Phil Kline, Frances White, Max Lifchitz, Will Ayton, Nicholas Patterson and Kristin Norderval. Parthenia’s latest CD Nothing Proved, on the MSR Classics label, features music by Hildegard von Bingen, Frances White, Kristin Norderval, and Tawnie Olson (a BandQuest composer).
Date & Time: Thursday, May 13, 2021 at 6:30 PM CT | 7:30 PM ET
Learn more and get tickets here.

ACF Study Group on Code Switching
2021-05-13 16:00 - 17:00 (America/Chicago)
ACF Invites you to engage in a discussion of Code-Switching. Quite often used as a survival tactic for BIPOC navigating white spaces, code-switching can be adjusting the way we talk or how we do our hair, or how we dress to fit into the dominant culture. What does it mean and what is its impact?
Date & Time: Thursday, May 13, 2021 at 4pm CT
Register in advance here.
We’re sharing some resources below for you to learn more about code switching:
What Is Code-Switching? | Psychology Today
The Cost of Code Switching | Chandra Arthur

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).

Jupiter String Quartet Gives Virtual Concert presented by Chicago Chamber Music Society
2021-05-12 11:30 - 13:30 (America/Chicago)
On Wednesday, May 12, 2021 at 11:30am CT, the Jupiter Quartet will perform a virtual concert presented by Chicago Chamber Music Society. Jupiter will perform George Walker’s “Lyric” for String Quartet; excerpts from Michi Wiancko’s To Unpathed Waters, Undreamed Shores; and Schubert’s String Quartet No. 14 in D minor, “Death and the Maiden.” Michi Wiancko’s To Unpathed Waters, Undreamed Shores was written for the Jupiter in 2020, commissioned and premiered virtually by Bay Chamber Concerts in Maine and Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. Wiancko writes that the piece, “celebrates the beauty and vitality of the natural world, suggesting hope and inspiration as humanity addresses fears and worries for our planet. The central themes of regeneration and resilience highlight the need to help protect each other and our most vulnerable populations.”
Learn more and get tickets here.

Pale Yellow
2021-05-09 15:00 - 16:00 (America/Chicago)
Date & Time: Sunday, May 9, 2021 at 3 PM CT
Location: St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, 201 North State Street, New Ulm, MN, 56073, United States (map)

ProMusica Minnesota will present the last New Ulm-based concert of the season. The performance begins with the Piano Trio Hob XV:21, in C Major by Classical composer Joseph Haydn. Next, the trio will perform the soulful and moving Pale Yellow by contemporary American composer Jennifer Higdon (a BandQuest and ChoralQuest composer). The performance will conclude with the passionate and emotional Piano Trio No 2, in C Major, Op. 87 of Johannes Brahms.
Visit website here.

Pop-up Spring Sound Garden on West River Parkway
2021-05-08 12:00 - 16:00 (America/Chicago)
This outdoor, self-guided event is free and family-friendly, but requires reservations as capacity is limited. Further details such as exact location and directions are provided upon registration.
Wavelets Creative presents composer JG Everest’s entire four-part Water Suite: Four Seasonal Sound Gardens in a series of free outdoor, self-guided “pop-up” events along West River Parkway in Minneapolis beginning with the “SPRING Sound Garden”. Each Sound Garden event features a temporary sound installation of 40 small, battery-powered remote speakers distributed throughout the park, each playing a different part of the larger piece of music, creating a multi-layered, immersive experience. The sound installation is then accompanied by live roving musicians and dancers, with site-specific poetry and visual art elements embedded throughout the installation.
These seasonal Sound Garden events are designed as durational, self-guided experiences intended for audience to connect more meaningfully to a particular place and the natural world. The spatial sound score and live dance and musical elements are meant to accompany the sounds and physical elements that are already there – the birds, the trees, the wind, the leaves. Audiences are encouraged to both circulate and linger, at their own pace, following their own impulses for what to pay attention to. The immersive, multi-layered experience is intentionally designed without any fixed focal points, instead inviting participants and audience alike to allow moments to unfold in their own personal way – noticing a particular bird call or a branch, a perspective or a memory – things that may have been previously overlooked or hidden, covered up or forgotten.
Date & Time: Saturday, May 8, 2021 at 12pm CT
For more information and to register, click here.
This activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board and the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.

CLOSE QUARTERS: EPISODE 12 BEYOND THE HORIZON
2021-05-07 20:30 - 21:30 (America/Chicago)
The creative and collaborative interweaving of classical music with elements of social justice, language, and improvisation has made Jessie Montgomery one of America’s most relevant and sought-after composers. For the second episode of her Close Quarters musical curation, Montgomery is working directly with episode director Isabel Leonard to craft an original work of video art incorporating the composer’s brilliant and eclectic program with cinematic footage of the orchestra. Isabel Leonard, internationally known as a Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano, makes her directorial debut with this episode of Close Quarters.
Date & Time: Friday, May 7, 2021 at 8:30pm CT | 6:30pm PT

Learn more here.
One of her works include Alvin Singleton‘s (a BQ composer) Be Natural, Mazz Swift‘s The End of All That Is Holy, The Beginning of All That is Good, and Montgomery’s own Break Away, encompassing a wide range of the American concert music tradition from the lens of Black composers, including influences of jazz harmonies and rhythm, extensions of European modernism with graphic notation and the idea that the interplay between the player and the listener is dynamic and reflects agency and purpose.

To the Fore
2021-05-06 21:00 - 22:00 (America/Chicago)
In this finale of the North State Symphony’s 20th season, they bring to the spotlight composers and works that have everything from exotic combinations of instruments and orchestral color to unique storylines. The sampling begins with Ellen Taaffe Zwilich and her Chamber Symphony, a work whose elaborate melodic writing and rich and varied sonorities explore a profound world of “grief, outrage, and bewilderment” (New York Times). Jennifer Higdon then takes the programmatic reins with her Dark Wood, a work that features principal bassoonist Jarratt Rossini and a dizzy whirlwind of fast-paced chromatic lines competing against an array of rhythmic and percussive elements from the whole ensemble. Higdon encourages the listener to form their own impressions while being shown the bassoon’s extraordinary sonic versatility that stems from the beauty of its “dark wood”. The program and our season conclude with the light-hearted suite from the ballet La Revue de Cuisine by Bohuslav Martinu, a witty jazz-inspired toe-tapping comedy with a bizarre story where kitchen utensils come to life in a romantic culinary soap opera.
Date & Time: Thursday, May 6, 2021 at 9 PM CT | 7 PM PT

CLICK HERE to watch the Pre-Concert Talk on Tuesday, May 4th.
CLICK HERE to watch the Concert on Thursday, May 6th.

Program:
Ellen Taaffe Zwilich’s Chamber Symphony, for Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Viola, Cello & Piano
Jennifer Higdon’s (a BandQuest and ChoralQuest composer) Dark Wood, showcasing NSS Principal Bassoon Jarratt Rossini and a string trio
Bohuslav Martinu’s jazzy La Revue de Cuisine suite from his ballet of the same name, featuring Clarinet, Bassoon, Trumpet, Violin, Cello & Piano

Engender Roundtable
2021-05-06 19:00 - 20:30 (America/Chicago)
Join Nicky Manlove and Bradford Dumont as they facilitate a roundtable with all of the guests from the Engender series: Abdullah Hall, Bex Bagnato, Erik Peregrine, Jace Kaholokula Saplan, Lindsey Deaton, Logan Bradford, Mari Esabel Valverde, and Michael Bussewitz-Quarm.
Date & Time: Thursday, May 6, 2021 at 7 PM CDT
Watch on Facebook Live here.
