American Composers Forum

Make Music Winter
2020-12-21
ACF has previously partnered with MakeMusic!
After years of spontaneous musical merriment on June 21, the spirit of Make Music Day has come to visit on Monday, December 21, 2020 the winter solstice.
For Make Music Winter, music can pop up anywhere. Rounding the corner, you may see a herd of electric guitarists, a choir of medieval singers, or a percussive Puerto Rican parranda coming down the street. Ingenious musical parades for iPhones, hand bells, bicycles, trombones, and boomboxes have delighted audiences since New York City began celebrating Make Music Winter in 2011.
Whatever your wintertime musical dreams, anything is possible. And all of it is free, joyful, and profoundly participatory. Please complete this short form to register an event for Make Music Winter 2020.
Make Music Winter is presented by The NAMM Foundation.
Check out if this will be in or near your city:
Boston, MA

Chequamegon Bay, WI
Columbia, SC
Columbus, OH
Crystal Lake, IL
El Paso, TX
Federal Way, WA
Hartford, CT
Hawai’i (here and here)
Ilkley, England
Islamorada, FL
Land O’ Lakes, WI
London, England
Long Beach, CA
Milwaukee, WI
Montclair, NJ (here and here)
New Haven, CT
New York, NY
Ossining, NY
Portland, ME
Santa Fe, NM
Sewanee, TN
St. Louis, MO
Ventura County, CA

Learn more here.

Rethinking Music Theory Pedagogy II [Composers Coffee Break]
2020-12-22 14:00 - 16:00 (America/Chicago)
Join Elliott McKinley and their two colleagues, Dr. Peter Smucker (Assistant Professor of Music Theory at Stetson University) and Dr. Erich Stem (Associate Professor of Music Composition at Indiana University Southeast) for a second panel discussion envisioning new and different ways of teaching music theory. They invite discussion and questions from the audience, especially those who are also students and teachers of music.
This event goes live on Tuesday, December 22, 2020 at 2pm CST | 3pm EST
Attend the event here.

Festivus and Other Twisted Holidays!
2020-12-23 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago)
Question: What do Seinfeld, Christmas, The Tin Woodman, Queen, Sting, Charlie Brown, Bill Evans, Dave Brubeck, and award-winning American poetry, have in common?
Answer: Streaming Festivus and Other Twisted Holidays!
Wednesday, December 23, 2020 at 7pm.
On Facebook Live and YouTube Live Sponsored by Larry McDonough Jazz and Black Dog Café
Larry McDonough Quartet
Larry McDonough (an ACF Showcase winner), piano and vocals
Richard Terrill, saxes and poetry
Greg Stinson, bass
Dean White, drums
No cover but $10 donation suggested.
Order takeout from Black Dog Café: Consider Festivus fare such as meatloaf on a bed of lettuce or a reasonable facsimile.
https://www.blackdogstpaul.com/
https://www.Facebook.com/blackdogcafe
Facebook Live
Facebook Event
YouTube Live from the Larry McDonough Jazz YouTube Channel
Sample: We Are the Champions
Festivus and Other Twisted Holidays in the Media

Cleveland Ovations features Cleveland Chamber Choir
2020-12-23 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago)
This event is a combination of two holiday programs from 2018 and 2019. Music for Advent, Hanukkah, and Christmas are all represented including a few world premieres.
Tune in on Wednesday, December 23 at 7pm CST | 8pm EST
How to Listen
Program:
Cleveland Chamber Choir
Scott MacPherson, conductor
Part 1
Stephen Paulus (ACF co-founder, and a BQ and CQ composer): Three Nativity Carols (The Holly and the Ivy; This Endris Night; Wonder Tidings)
Johannes Ockeghem: Alma redemptoris mater
Cecilia McDowall: Alma Redemptoris mater
John McIntyre: Two Advent Motets (Rorate coeli desuper; Vigilate)
Baruch J Cohon: Hanerot Halalu
Samuel Adler: A Song of Hanukkah
Andrew Rindfleisch: Menorah Blessings
Corey Rubin: Mi Yimalel
Corey Rubin: Ma’oz Tzur
Scott Little: Banu Choshech
Charles Baker: Three Hanukkah Songs (S’vivon; Nerli; Chanukah, oi, Chanukah)
Part 2
William Billings: Shiloh
Plainsong: Resonet in laudibus
Michael Praetorius: Joseph Lieber, Joseph mein
CL Alwes: Resonet in laudibus
Elizabeth Poston: Jesus Christ the Apple Tree
Steve Heitzeg: little tree
Abbie Betinis (a ChoralQuest composer and McKnight fellow): In the Bleak Midwinter
J David Moore: Jingle Bells
Joan Szymcko: Stille Nacht
Arthur Warrell: A Merry Christmas
Trad.: We Wish You a Merry Christmas

How Can We Not Sing II
2020-12-26 10:00 - 11:00 (America/Chicago)
How Can We Not Sing is part of Artists Respond: Combating Social Isolation, a project of Springboard for the Arts. The Artist Respond commissions empowers artists to find ways to address the isolation and sense of disconnection that has come with the pandemic. For this event, three experienced artists on two continents will take the audiences remotely through the creation process of an excerpt from a larger recent work, How Can We Not Sing, which will debut in 2021.
How Can We Not Sing is a chamber opera that will be developed by composer Yan Pang in response to the current issue of solidarity between Asian and Black people all over the world, drawing on her own experiences growing up in China, and her family’s multigenerational history there. We believe this type of anti-racist collaborative project centers the vital role of art to bring us together. Audience members will engage with music and dance creators and each other in a more intimate virtual setting to reflect on the social justice themes raised by the work, and how they can be empowered to ask questions and take action in their communities.
We will begin with the performance of the music and dance piece and then take participants through three collaborative components: lyrical content, music composition, choreography, and end with a discussion and Q&A session. This project is designed for music creators, artists from other disciplines who want to work with music creators, and people interested in understanding this type of process. This experience will bring these groups together to have a conversation about social justice through art creation.
Join on Saturday, December 26, 2020 at 10am CST.
Learn more here.
Production Team
Songwriter: Yan Pang is a composer, performer, and scholar. She is currently an adjunct instructor of music at the University of Minnesota, where she received her Ph.D. in Music with a minor in Theater Arts & Dance. Her work focuses on inter-cultural music composition and performance. As part of this interest, she has been commissioned to compose and invited to perform in music festivals throughout the world. Her upcoming performance, “MIXTAPE IV: Now Streaming,” will be performed at the Cowles Center for Dance and Performing Arts in February 2021. To learn more, please visit www.yanpangcreate.com.
Producer: AK is a composer/musician now living in Warsaw, Poland. After finishing a Master’s degree study about the theory of harmony in the Sichuan Conservatory of Music, she moved to Poland. She tended to create music pieces to combine electronic sounds, visual material, and contemporary methods. She works as a freelance musician and has her own band Pomponika. AK composes, produces, sings, and performs different instruments. In her works, the text is as important as the music itself. Topics involve reflections about domestic violence, modern industry, nationalism, homophobia, also some inner thoughts about life, emotion, or death. More of her music can be found on Spotify, YouTube, and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pomponika/.
Choreographer: J-Sun is a long-term practitioner of several street dance forms, which he teaches, choreographs, theorizes, and performs. He believes in being accountable to the community, challenging tradition, and artistic collaboration as a crucial element of social change. He is the Artistic Director for the MIXTAPE series at the Cowles Center for Dance and the Performing Arts. J-Sun is pursuing a Ph.D. in Theater Historiography at the University of Minnesota and is the disciplinary head of the Hip Hop Dance track. His current choreographic and academic work focuses on using break(danc)ing to investigate agency, mobility, and power.

Field to Media
2021-01-01 19:00 - 20:30 (America/Chicago)
Field to Media is about amplifying musical communities’ responses to environmental challenges. Field researchers worked with communities in Canada, Bangladesh, China, Haiti, India, Tanzania, and the United States to create musical videos and cinematic messaging about climate change, water pollution, deforestation, and the impact of motor noise on marine life.
You will find a full length film about the project, followed by all of the musical videos, documentary shorts, and publications generated by the project. Field to Media was funded by the Humanities Without Walls’ “Humanities in a Changing Climate” based at the University of Illinois, which is, in turn, funded by the Mellon Foundation.
Friday, January 1, 2021 at 7pm CST
Learn more here.

Publishing, Self-Publishing, and Management for Composers by ACO & ACF
2021-01-06 14:00 - 15:00 (America/Chicago)
The following Professional Development Webinar 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.

Publishing, Self-Publishing, and Management for Composers
How can a composer navigate publishing? What are their options? Self-published composer Jonathan Bailey Holland leads a panel of experienced professionals to discuss avenues of publishing and management for orchestral composers. Q&A with audience will follow.
Panelists:
Carol Ann Cheung, Director of Publicity and Marketing at Boosey & Hawkes
Melissa Dunphy, composer & owner of Mormolyke Press
Elizabeth Dworkin, Founder & Chief Executive of Dworkin & Company
Join on Wednesday, January 6, 2021 at 2pm CST | 3pm EST
Get tickets here.

Composer Awards: Demystifying the Process
2021-01-07 15:00 - 16:00 (America/Chicago)
Helpful hints on choosing and presenting your best work. Hosted by composer Jeremy Gill.

Composer and BMI Student Composer Awards preliminary judge Jeremy Gill offers an insiderʼs view on how judges assess your work, and what you can do to make your best work stand out. This workshop is aimed at student composers applying to early career competitions (ASCAP, BMI, etc.).

What The Workshop Will Include

Overview of the judging process .
Tips on choosing and presenting your best work.
Q+A session.

Key Questions/Topics Addressed During Workshop:

How does the judging process unfold?
What are judges looking for in scores?
What are some common errors in score presentation?
What kinds of works stand out?

Date & Time: Thursday, January 7, 2021 at 3 pm CST
Register Here.

MODULATION
2021-01-08 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago)
Composed by Jojo Abot, Sahba Aminikia, Juhi Bansal, Raven Chacon, Carmina Escobar, Yvette Jackson, Molly Joyce, Jimmy López, Angelica Negrón, Paul Pinto, Daniel Bernard, Joel Thompson, and Bora Yoon.
As our society continues in a form of suspended animation, we look to art to open new avenues of thought, imagination, wonder, and reckoning. MODULATION is a digital, self-guided exploration of the times created by thirteen of the most provocative and diverse voices in the contemporary music idiom. Traveling through themes of ISOLATION, IDENTITY, and FEAR, with the connection of BREATH, an electrifying auditory and visual journey of new creations awaits.
MODULATION launches on Friday, January 8, 2021 at 7pm CT / 8pm ET.
Learn more here.
Tickets are $25.

TIMES3 (Times x Times x Times)
2021-01-09 09:00 - 10:00 (America/Chicago)
Created by Geoff Sobelle & Pamela Z
Such strange times call for a new time signature. Is there still time to sit in the center of a city and hear the tide of traffic? To listen for a heartbeat? Composer Pamela Z and theatre artist Geoff Sobelle collaborate on a site specific-sonic journey through Times Square – past, present and imagined… In this work of sound and space, the listener is brought into a realm where the city and score come together and fall apart and come together again.
TIMES3 (Times x Times x Times) is PROTOTYPE‘s fourth iteration of Out of Bounds, a platform for new vocal performance pieces taking place in unlikely locations throughout New York. Through the works, public sites will become temporary spaces of contact, exchange, and refreshed social dynamics.
This FREE event launches January 9, 2021 at 9am CT / 10am ET in Times Square.
Learn more here.

OCEAN BODY
2021-01-09 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Chicago)
Composed and performed by Helga Davis & Shara Nova
Directed and filmed by Mark DeChiazza
Ocean Body immerses its audience in a landscape of sculpture, multiple video diptychs, and sound utilizing parallel imagery and music to examine the efficacy of interracial coalitions and the sometimes tenuous connection of friendship. A layered invitation to commune even as we crave autonomy, even as we are stuck in fear.
There will be an artist conversation on January 14 at 5pm.
This event launches on Saturday, January 9 at 11am CT / 12pm ET.
Find out more information here.

The Albany Symphony 2020/2021 SEASON RE-IMAGINED!
2021-01-09 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.

WIDE SLUMBER FOR LEPIDOPTERISTS
2021-01-10 11:00 - 2021-01-16 23:30 (America/Chicago)
Composed by Valgeir Sigurðsson
Text by a rawlings
Direction by Sara Martí
Inspired by the award-winning book of the same name by poet a.rawlings, Wide Slumber for Lepidopterists pairs sleep and dream studies with lepidoptery, the study of butterflies and moths. Tracking the stages of sleep and pairing them with the life cycle of butterflies and moths, insomnia is mirrored in the birth of the egg and narcolepsy in larval hatching. And when the caterpillar starts its final moult, dreams begin, weaving around us as tightly as a cocoon until we are somnambulant, a chrysalis ready to emerge as a moth.
Conjuring an ethereal and visceral world of cyclic metamorphosis, Wide Slumber for Lepidopterists tracks the stages of sleep and pairs them with the life cycle of Lepidopterae (butterflies and moths), lulling the audience into a cocoon where the borders between dreams and reality are blurred.
Launches Sunday, January 10 at 11am Ct / 12pm ET | Available on demand January 10-16 | FREE
Find more information here.

THE PLANET – A LAMENT
2021-01-10 11:00 - 2021-01-16 23:30 (America/Chicago)
Directed by by Garin Nugroho
Composed and performed by Septina Rosalina Layan
Featuring Mazmur Chorale
Garin Nugroho’s brand new staged Song Cycle, The Planet – A Lament, merges film with live dance and a 14-voice choir accompanied by Papuan Soloist to impart a moving story of creation set against the backdrop of environmental disaster.
A destroyed community struggles in the aftermath of a devastating tsunami. With an alchemical mix of striking cinematics, haunting song, wild dance, and ancient ritual, Nugroho’s The Planet – A Lament imparts a moving story of creation set against the backdrop of environmental disaster.
Launches Sunday, January 10 at 11am CT / 12pm ET Available on demand January 10-16 | FREE
Find more information here.

DIGITAL U.S. PREMIERE OF THE MURDER OF HALIT YOZGAT
2021-01-10 11:00 - 2021-01-16 23:30 (America/Chicago)
Composed by Ben Frost & Petter Ekmann
Direction by Ben Frost
Libretto by Daniela Danz
Musical Direction by Florian Groß
The digital U.S. premiere of the film THE MURDER OF HALIT YOZGAT launches Sunday, January 10 at 11am CT / 12pm ET and is available to stream January 10-16.
21-year-old Halit Yozgat was assassinated in broad daylight, in his immigrant parents’ internet cafe on April 6, 2006 in Kassel, Germany. Five witnesses were present in the 77 square metre space when Halit was shot twice in the head. With his unconventional combination of sound art, electronics, and dark metal, Frost brilliantly and sensitively musicalizes the structural racism and institutional blindness that affects the country’s immigrant communities.
Find more information here.

ACF & ACO co-presents professional development workshops: Composer to Composer Talk with William Bolcom, Gabriela Lena Frank, John Corigliano & Mason Bates
2021-01-13 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

THE GHOSTLIGHT SERIES
2021-01-14
THE GHOSTLIGHT SERIES
Stories and songs in the meantime
Join Theater Latté Da for THE GHOSTLIGHT SERIES, five virtual cabarets launching January 2021. The cabaret series will feature more than 40 Minnesota artists showcasing stories and songs in a virtual series delivered monthly beginning January and running through July 2021.
THE GHOSTLIGHT SERIES features performances by Rush Benson, Paul Bigot, Renee Guittar, Rich Hamson, John Jamison, Nora Montañez, Sarah Ochs, Greta Oglesby, Britta Ollmann, Tod Peterson, Dan Piering, Regina Marie Williams, Evan Tyler Wilson, Abbee Warmboe and more.
PURCHASE THE SERIES PASS FOR ALL FIVE VIRTUAL CABARETS $75 PER HOUSEHOLD starting on Thursday, January 14, 2021.
The Five Cabaret Performances:

1. TWELVE BLOCKS FROM WHERE I LIVE – January
Curated by Kelli Foster Warder and Regina Marie Williams
Photography by Regina Marie Williams
Music Direction by Sanford Moore
2. RE-CAST – March
Curated by Kelli Foster Warder
Music Direction by Jason Hansen
3. HEROIC ACTS OF MUSIC – April
Curated by Peter Rothstein
4. THE RAP PACK – June
Curated by Q Brothers Collective
5. MUSIC TO OUR EYES: DESIGNERS SING OUT – July
Curated by Kelli Foster Warder and Peter Rothstein
Music Direction by Denise Prosek
Learn more here.

ACF's January Study Group: Between the World and Me - Ta-Nehisi Coates
2021-01-14 16:00 - 17:00 (America/Chicago)
ACF’s Study Group opens our staff and board conversations and anti-racism training to our colleagues and friends.
For our January study group, we will be discussing Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Between the World and Me. Praised by Toni Morrison as “required reading,” the book is a personal literary exploration of America’s racial history by “the most important essayist in a generation and a writer who changed the national political conversation about race” (Rolling Stone)
Don’t have a chance to read the book? No problem! Check out this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceoy3Nte-5k and join us!
Date & Time: Thursday, January 14, 2021 at 4pm CST
Register in advance for this meeting:
https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJAocemtrj0pH9WTB12MSLZDBOlJbjcCT-a8
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.
**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

Great Falls Symphony's 62nd Live Concert Series - 2020-2021 Season
2021-01-16 15:00 - 16:00, 2021-01-16 19:30 - 20:30 (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”

Darkness Sounding: Jiji & Gulli Bjornson and richard valitutto
2021-01-16 19:00 - 20:00, 2021-01-17 08:58 - 19:08 (America/Chicago)
Saturday, January 16, 2021 at 7pm CST | 5pm PST | 8pm EST
Guitartists Jiji and Gulli Bjornson, represented by avatars, will improvise to prompts generated by a digital Magic 8 Ball in response to questions from the online audience. The cyber-psychedelic desert space, designed by virtual reality architect Drew Busmire, will remain up online, with drones by the collaborators, for the duration of the festival.
Sunday, January 17, 2021 at 8:58am – 7:08pm CST | 6:58am – 5:08pm PST | 9:58am – 8:08pm EST
richard valitutto performs an all-day virtual house concert, a livestream lasting from LA’s sunrise to sunset. He marks the passing hours in pianistic solitude — playing music of long durations and gentle contemplation, full of silences, simplicity, and quietude. Featuring works by Ann Southam (Simple Lines of Enquiry), Federico Mompou (Música callada), Valentin Silvestrov (Silent Songs), Alvin Curran (Inner Cities), and many others.
Learn more about both events here.

BORN ON THE WATER
2021-01-17 08:00 - 17:00 (America/Chicago)
Boston Children’s Chorus unites its voices to honor the resilience of a people that have formed the backbone of this country’s cultural heritage. In 1619, the first slave-bearing ship, the White Lion, arrived on the shores of North America, marking the onset of centuries-long injustice borne by black Americans. Drawing upon a rich artistic legacy, we share music that underscores the history of the African American experience and reflect on the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Features arrangements are by ChoralQuest composer Rollo Dilworth.
Sunday, January 17, 2021 at 3pm CST | 4pm EST
Watch live on their website.

Music That Travels Through Space, Chamber Series
2021-01-17 13:00 - 14:00 (America/Chicago)
Sponsored by Harris N. Miller, NatPhil Board Chair and Deborah A. Kahn
Alas, we can’t all become astronauts, but this concert offers the next best thing. Seven talented NatPhil instrumentalists bring us on a musical journey through space, exploring the universe, the moon, and the stars in a way that will make you feel like out of this world! Accompanying images and videos supplied by NASA complete the experience.
Date & Time: Sunday, January 17, 2021 at 1pm CST | 2 pm EST
Laura Colgate, violin,
Julius Wirth, viola,
Lori Barnet, cello,
Chris Gekker, trumpet,
Suzanne Gekker, clarinet,
Elizabeth Hill, piano,
Alistair Coleman (a NextNotes creator), Acquainted with the Night
Lili Boulanger, Nocturne pour violon et piano
Osvaldo Golijov, Tenebrae arranged for string quartet
Manuel Ponce, 2 Canciones Mexicanas II. Estrellita arranged By Jascha Heifetz for violin and piano
Luise Adolpha Le Beau, Drei Stücke for viola and piano, op. 26, I. Nachtstück
Alistair Coleman, Nova (2014)
Carson Cooman, Moon Marked
Claude Debussy, Beau Soir arranged by Jascha Heifetz for cello and piano
Visit their website here.

EnsembleNEWSRQ announces a “newStart” to its 2020-21 season
2021-01-18 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago)
EnsembleNEWSRQ announces a “newStart” to its 2020-21 season, in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. The chamber music group, now in its fifth season, will take a cautious approach to reintroducing live musical performance, with its five upcoming programs gradually increasing in size as pandemic and vaccine news is monitored.
Concerts will be offered in a digital streaming format, and, if the situation allows, to a small in-person audience in 2021. Tickets to the streamed concerts will be “pay what you can.”
The ensemble also aims to increase the diversity of the composers represented during the season, with a concentrated focus on female, LGBTQ+ and BIPOC composers.
Schedule:
It’s About Time – October 19, 2020 at 7pm CDT / 8pm EDT
Features MN Orch Composer Institute, Katie Balch; and BandQuest composer, Tania Leon
Solitude and Suffrage – January 18, 2021 at 7pm CDT / 8pm EDT
Features NextNotes composer, Quinn Mason
Enter the Vortex – February 15, 2021 at 7pm CDT / 8pm EDT
Digital – March 15, 2021 at 8pm
Body Vessel – April 12, 2021 at 2pm CDT / 3pm EDT
Some works and final programs are still TBD and dependent on COVID situation. Find out more information here.

The Greatest Good, by Jocelyn Hagen
2021-01-19 19:30 - 20:30 (America/Chicago)
“The Greatest Good” is the fourth movement from Jocelyn Hagen‘s multimedia symphony THE NOTEBOOKS OF LEONARDO DA VINCI.
This virtual choir features performers from all over the country, and was created by C. Scott Company Multimedia Production.
For more information on this multimedia symphony, visit: https://www.jocelynhagen.com/davinci/​ Check out Jocelyn’s Tedx Talk titled “Composing for Choir, Orchestra, and Video Projections” on YouTube
Date & Time: Tuesday, January 19, at 7:30pm CST

**RESCHEDULED TBD** ACF & ACO's Next Professional Development Panel: Entrepreneurship & Ensembles for Composers
2021-01-20 14:00 - 15:00 (America/Chicago)
**RESCHEDULED EVENT. THANK YOU FOR YOUR PATIENCE AS WE WORK TO FIND A NEW DATE & TIME**
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.
Panelists:
Afa Dworkin, Sphinx Organization
Nadia Sirota, yMusic
Sugar Vendil, The Nouveau Classical Project
How can composers help guide their own careers? What part does creating an ensemble play in that? Composer Frank J. Oteri, composer advocate at New Music USA and editor of NewMusicBox, moderates an interactive online Zoom panel exploring topics of entrepreneurship and career advancement as a composer with a group of innovative ensemble creators. Register for free access, and have the opportunity to ask questions of the panel and join in the discussion.
Register here.
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

Professional Development Webinars co-presented by the American Composers Orchestra (ACO) and the American Composers Forum (ACF),
2021-01-20 14:00 - 15:00 (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.
Volume One runs from October 14, 2020 through February 3, 2021. All Professional Development Webinars are free of charge, with registration required.
Schedule:

Monday, November 9, 2020 at 2pm CDT / 3pm ET: Fundraising via Supportive Individuals
Learn how to raise funds for your next project by leveraging the support of generous individuals. ACO Acting President and Director of Development Lyndsay Werking leads a panel of artists and administrators fluent in grassroots fundraising. Q&A with audience will follow.
Panelists: Bonnie Marshall, American Composers Forum VP of Development; Nicholas Phan, tenor; Dafnis Prieto, drummer, composer, and educator; Somi Kakoma, vocalist & songwriter

If you require an interpreter, closed-captioning, or any other accommodations to fully engage, please contact Laura Krider via lkrider@composersforum.org within 48 hours of the event.

Wednesday, January 20, 2021 at 2pm CDT / 3pm ET: Entrepreneurship & Ensembles for Composers
How can composers help guide their own careers? What part does creating an ensemble play in that? Frank J. Oteri moderates a panel of innovative ensemble creators to explore topics of entrepreneurship and career advancement as a composer. Q&A with audience will follow.
Panelists: Afa Dworkin, Sphinx Organization; Nadia Sirota, yMusic; Sugar Vendil, The Nouveau Classical Project

Wednesday, February 3, 2021 at 2pm CDT / 3pm ET: Finding Your Voice Online
How can composers find their true artistic message and convey that effectively online? Dameun Strange, Director of Community and Belonging at ACF, moderates a panel and Q&A exploring topics of authenticity and effectiveness online.
Panelists: Anthony R. Green, composer & performer; Mary Prescott, composer and interdisciplinary artist; Beth Stewart, Verismo Communications founder

Composers At Home, Maybe Drinking Coffee: S3, E2: Timothy Mahr
2021-01-21 18:30 - 20:30 (America/Chicago)
Join a live discussion with composer and conductor Dr. Timothy Mahr, Professor of music and director of bands at St. Olaf College. We’ll talk about his musical journey, share some music, the world of band music, and more.
Questions and comments are welcome during the show from our viewers. The stream will be hosted on YouTube as well as Facebook via the Composers At Home, Maybe Drinking Coffee page
Thursday, January 21, 2021 at 6:30pm CST | 7:30pm EST

Dance, Rhythm, & Blues
2021-01-21 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago)
From Stravinsky’s L’Histoire du Soldat to the ragtime riffs of Joplin’s The Entertainer, this wide-ranging program features dance music from French and American Impressionism to jazz, blues and swing. Iowa composer Michael Daugherty’s (a BQ composer) Sinatra Shag kicks off the program with swirling chromatic grooves; D’Indy’s spirited Chanson et Danses evokes the French countryside. Milhaud’s Brazilian-influenced Concerto for Percussion and Small Orchestra features Principal Percussionist Aaron Williams as soloist, while Piazzolla’s Libertango evokes Argentinian tango salons. Finally, the works of two Black American composers, William Grant Still and Scott Joplin, conclude the concert with notes of jazz, blues, and ragtime.
Date & time: Thursday, January 21, 2021 at 7pm CST
Tickets are $20 and you can get it here.
