American Composers Forum

Music for Days Like This
2020-11-21 18:30 - 19:30 (America/Chicago)
The brainchild of VSO Creative Projects Chair Matt LaRocca, our newest project serves the present moment with streamed chamber ensemble performances, presented from a variety of traditional and unexpected venues around the state. Your VSO will premiere new works from composers of diverse styles and backgrounds, showcase beloved classics, and collaborate with esteemed creative partners from Vermont and beyond. In a performance season like no other, we’re thrilled to share this music with you!
This concert will feature a string quintet and pianist and will be performed from Elley-Long Music Center in Colchester
Saturday, November 21, 2020, 6:30pm CST / 7:30pm ET
Brooke Quiggins and Jane Kittredge, violins
Stefanie Taylor, viola
John Dunlop, cello
Luke Baker, bass
Mary Jane Austin, piano
Hosted by VSO New Music Advisor David Ludwig
Get tickets here.

Great Falls Symphony's 62nd Live Concert Series - 2020-2021 Season
2020-11-22 15:00 - 16:00, 2020-12-06 15:00 - 16:00, 2020-12-06 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”

Transcendent Beethoven, Digital World Premiere featuring Tracy Silverman
2020-11-22 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago)
Apollo Chamber Players, is featuring African-American composer Kimo Williams this Sunday November 22 at 7pm CST /8 pm EST as part of a digital world premiere and live Zoom Q&A.
The commission is titled With Malice Toward None and is scored for string quartet and electric violin – the piece connects President Lincoln and Beethoven through their shared Enlightenment ideals. Kimo is also a veteran and dedicated this piece to the late civil rights activist and congressman John Lewis.
Join on Facebook.
Register and join for the Q &A on Zoom.

Rethinking Music Theory Pedagogy: A Panel Discussion (Composers Coffee Break)
2020-11-23 18:30 - 19:30 (America/Chicago)
Join Elliott Miles McKinley and two of Mckinley’s fellow teachers of music at the college level, 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 free and open panel discussion on the role of music theory at the undergraduate college/university level.
They will explore problems in both past and current methodologies, and discuss ways to imagine a path forward in our own pedagogy to better serve the needs of students in our programs. They invite discussion and questions from the audience, especially those who are also teachers and students of music.
Join them LIVE on Facebook or on Youtube on Monday, November 23, 2020 at 6:30 PM CST.

Symphonic Wind Ensemble Virtual Concerts
2020-11-25 - 2020-12-09
The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater’s Department of Music brings music straight to your home this November with a variety of virtual concerts.

Two of these virtual events include the Symphonic Wind Ensemble (SWE) concert conducted by Glenn Hayes Ph.D., and the Whitewater Symphony Orchestra (WSO) conducted by Christopher Ramaekers, Ph.D.

SWE will be performing “Canzona” by Peter Mennin, “Divertimento for Band” by Vincent Persichetti, movement II of “Four Abstractions for Band” by Robert Ward,” Prelude and Fugue in A-flat” by Bach (arranged by Roland Moehlmann), movement II of “Dragon Rhyme” by Chen Yi, and “Mysterium” by Jennifer Higdon (Chen Yi and Jennifer Higdon are both BandQuest and ChoralQuest composers).

The content will be available for viewing on Wednesday, November 25 through Wednesday, December 9.
Single viewer tickets are $13 and family viewing tickets are $26.
For more information on tickets to each concert, you can call (262) 472-2222 or by going to tickets.uww.edu.

Lunchtime Concert Series - Autumn 2020 features black composers
2020-11-25 07:00 - 08:00, 2020-12-09 07:00 - 08:00 (America/Chicago)
The University of Liverpool presents some of their very best instrumental tutors performing an exciting range of repertoire in our flagship SSL Studio. The concerts also showcase the continuation and creativity of their partnerships with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the Solem Quartet. In celebration of Black History Month this October you can also find works by Black composers running right throughout the Series.
All concerts start at 7am CDT / 1pm in London, UK and last appropriately 35 minutes. They are FREE to watch and there’s no need to pre-register. The University of Liverpool Lunchtime Concerts will be available to view on the following platforms:

Department of Music website
Facebook
YouTube

Schedule:
14 October: University of Liverpool Instrumental Teachers Lockdown Band
Jump aboard Strayhorn’s Take the A Train and cool down with Water from An Ancient Well by Abdullah Ibrahim (fka Dollar Brand) in this set of jazz classics.
Abdullah Ibrahim – Water from An Ancient Well, Herbie Hancock – Watermelon Man, Billy Strayhorn – Take the A Train, Theolonius Monk – Blue Monk, Blue Mitchell – Fungii Mama
21 October: Members of the 18th Sinfonia
Igantius Sancho was an 18th century composer and social reformer and the first person of African descent to vote in a British general election. These short, characterful dances are performed on Baroque violin, cello and harpsichord.
Igantius Sancho – Minuets etc
28 October: Tom Kimmance (piano)
Lucien Lambert (snr) came from a family dynasty of fine musicians. Born as a free person of colour in New Orleans in the late 19th century he emigrated to France, then Brazil. This Grand Valse is a sparkling, Romantic work.
Lucien Lambert (snr) – Bresiliana: Grand Valse Brilliante
25 November: Mandy Burvill (clarinet)
Hailstork is an internationally renowned American composer and Professor of Music at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA. Smiles for Tracey humorously explores the range of the clarinet.
Adolphus Hailstork (a BandQuest composer) – Smile for Tracey (no.3)
9 December: Solem Quartet
Florence Price was the first noted African American female composer to gain national status. Recently, much of her music was rediscovered in an abandoned house that was once her home. A Summer Moon is an arrangement of a piano piece Price composed for her pupil the singer, jazz pianist, and social activist, Memry Midgett.
Florence Price – A Summer Moon
If you would like to join our Music Events mailing list or have further questions about the Series please email helen.thomas@liverpool.ac.uk.

All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914 airs on PBS this holiday season
2020-11-27
Composer Timothy C. Takach (a past JFund winner and Healing & Hope Through Song composer), is delighted that PBS will air All is Calm across the country. The show has changed quite a bit since they first premiered it as a radio drama in Minneapolis with 3 actors speaking the lines and the 9 members of Cantus singing the songs, but it has received rave reviews both in it’s off-Broadway run last year and across the country in over 100 performances, and the creative team is excited to bring the show to a wider audience.
“A beautiful musical recounting of a World War I cease-fire
of gifts, poetry, and melody.”
– The New York Times
All is calm premieres November 27 and you can stream it on December 15.
So keep your eye out for All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914 this season on PBS!

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra's Front Row: The PSO Virtual Experience.
2020-11-27 18:30 - 19:30, 2020-12-04 18:30 - 19:30 (America/Chicago)
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s free event: Front Row: The PSO Virtual Experience.
Episode 2: Originators and Disrupters (Part 2) Friday, November 27, 2020 at 6:30pm CST / 7:30pm ET
Part 2 brings together the musicians with modern American composers (Libby Larsen, Gary Schocker and Charles Rochester Young) and a Beethoven orchestration by Music Director Manfred Honeck in a salute to a bouquet of Pittsburgh path breakers who defied their times and boundaries: Rachel Carson (environmentalist and writer), Martha Graham (choreographer), Thaddeus Mosley (sculptor), Fred Rogers (television creator) and Andy Warhol (multi-media artist).
Episode 3: Finding Your Song Friday, December 4, 2020 at 6:30pm CST / 7:30pm ET
With the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s new Principal Pops Conductor Byron Stripling as a featured artist and conductor, Finding Your Song explores the journeys of artists and how they come to find their voice, song, inspiration and connection to the world. Finding Your Song travels from Heinz Hall to Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild to The Andy Warhol Museum, and includes the Pittsburgh Symphony debuts of composer Gabriela Lena Frank and composer Hannah Ishizaki.
Episode 4: Tapestry of Light: A Holiday Celebration. Friday, December 18, 2020 at 6:30pm CST / 7:30pm ET
Enjoy the magic and excitement of the holiday season with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra AND Principal Pops Conductor/Soloist Byron Stripling! Perfect for all ages
Episode 5: For the People (Part 1). Friday, January 22, 2021 at 6:30pm CST / 7:30pm ET. (Part 2). Friday, January 29, 2021 at 6:30pm CST / 7:30pm ET
A constellation of five female composers (Jennifer Higdon, a BandQuest and ChoralQuest composer, Libby Larsen, ACF’s co-found and BandQuest composer, Jessie Montgomery, Florence Price and Joan Tower).
More information can be found on their website.

Sounds From Home
2020-11-28 20:00 - 21:00, 2020-11-29 14:00 - 15:00 (America/Chicago)
The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra will center their program over Thanksgiving weekend around their complex and ever-evolving sense of home. Dvořák wrote his American String Quintet after moving to the United States, blending Czech influences with popular American music. The program also features excerpts from Florence Price’s String Quartet No. 2, infused with African American dances and Black idioms of the mid-20th century. SPCO Principal Flute Julia Bogorad-Kogan performs a solo work by James Lee III, inspired by his long relationship with Brazilian music and Saint Paul composer PaviElle (ACF | create awardee and a McKnight Composition Fellow) French reprises a movement from A Requiem for Zula, a piece commissioned and premiered by the SPCO as part of its 2019 Tapestry 19 Festival, which explored the concept of home from the perspectives of a diverse set of composers and artists. The program opens with the world premiere of Elegy for Solo Oboe by composer Chen Yi (a BandQuest and ChoralQuest composer), who was born in Guangzhou, China and settled in the United States, where she is a Professor of Composition at University of Missouri-Kansas City. The piece was written for and will be performed by SPCO Principal Oboe Cassie Pilgrim, whose family hails from the same region of China.
Dates and streaming links:
Saturday, November 28, 2020 at 8pm CST. Streamed from the Ordway Concert Hall, Saint Paul
Stream online on November 28th here.
Sunday, November 29, at 2pm CST (rebroadcast of live stream)
Stream online on November 29th here.

The Fall 2020 Digital Season is completely free of charge — no tickets necessary!
Stream online for free at thespco.org/live. SPCO musicians will perform from the Ordway Concert Hall with no audience on site, and this performance will be streamed through the organization’s free online Concert Library. Live streams will occur every other week at 8:00pm on Saturdays, with a 2:00pm rebroadcast the following day.
For a complete listing of the Fall 2020 Digital Season, including upcoming live streams and additional encore broadcasts, visit thespco.org/live.

AURA: One on One
2020-11-30, 2020-12-01, 2020-12-02, 2020-12-03, 2020-12-04, 2020-12-05, 2020-12-06
AURA: One on One is a video series featuring performances of exciting solo works by members of AURA Contemporary Ensemble. The music to be performed has been written by some of today’s most innovative composers, who will be interviewed by the performers at the end of each video.
Beginning on October 5th, new episodes are presented every Monday at 12pm CDT, and daily at 12pm CDT from November 30 – December 6.

Videos will be posted to Facebook and Youtube:
www.facebook.com/AURAUH/
www.youtube.com/AURAUH/
The series will feature solo works by Ryan Brown, Alejandro Cardona, Melissa Dunphy, Marti Epstein, Matt Ingalls, Misook Kim, HyeKyung Lee, Matthew McConnell, Mike McFerron, Aulon Naci, Natalie Nicolas, Chad Robinson, Nina Shekhar, & Fabian Svensson.

Learn more about AURA: www.uh.edu/aura

TUES@7: The Musicality of Light
2020-12-01 18:00 - 19:00 (America/Chicago)
International Contemporary Ensemble’s lighting designer Nick Houfek guides us through a throwback to light organs of the early 20th century and looks forward to new options for today. In his creation of a light synthesizer prototype, he explores the musicality of light with Elizabeth A. Baker, mediaqueer, and Viola Yip. Featuring workshop performances and discussions.
Tuesday, December 1, 2020 at 6pm CST.
RSVP for free here.

2021: Time to Visit Cuba with Sage Lewis and Adolfo Nodal, Project Por Amor
2020-12-02 18:00 - 19:00 (America/Chicago)
Do you have dreams of visiting Cuba? Join on Zoom and Facebook Live as Sage Lewis and Adolfo Nodal of Project Por Amor take an insider’s look at present day Cuba, discuss what the future of Cuba now holds over the next four years, and detail ways that people can visit safely.
Cuban art, music and culture continue to flourish as the island nation controls COVID 19 and deals with economic setbacks
Learn about LA Plaza’s specially-curated tour, scheduled to take place in November 2021.
This event is on Wednesday, December 2, 2020 at 6pm CST | 7pm EST
Register now for this free event.

The Singers’ “What Sweeter Music”
2020-12-04 - 2020-12-09
Join The Singers as they bring you Christmas favorites from past seasons! This digital, pre-recorded concert includes Ceremony of Carols by Benjamin Britten, Three Nativity Carols by Stephen Paulus, beloved Joseph by Timothy Takach, composer-in-residence & a Healing and Hope Through Song composer and many more Holiday favorites.
Ticket buyers will receive a link and instructions on how to watch by Friday, December 4, 2020 or thereafter. The concert will be available until 9pm on Sunday, December 13, 2020. CHECK YOUR SPAM FOLDER, IF YOU DON’T RECEIVE THE CONFIRMATION EMAIL.
Get tickets here.

Sarah Cahill performs Piano Break recital presented by the Ross McKee Foundation
2020-12-04 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago)
Sarah Cahill, called a “a sterling pianist and an intrepid illuminator of the classical avant-garde” by the New York Times, performs a recital featuring the world premiere of Regina Harris Baiocchi’s Piano Poems, inspired by poetry by Gwendolyn Brooks and Richard Wright; along with George Lewis’ Endless Shout, Mary Watkins’ Summer Days, and Aida Shirazi’s Albumblatt.
The Ross McKee Foundation presents Sarah Cahill via YouTube livestream, and is free for viewers. The Piano Break concert series supports Bay Area pianists who have lost performance opportunities due to COVID-19 on Fridays at 5:00 p.m PT.
This performance will begin on Friday, December 4, 2020 at 7pm CST / 5pm PST.
Learn more by clicking here.

Simone Dinnerstein presents World Premiere of An American Mosaic with Oregon Bach Festival
2020-12-06 16:00 - 17:00 (America/Chicago)
Celebrated pianist Simone Dinnerstein presents the world premiere of Richard Danielpour‘s An American Mosaic, commissioned by the Oregon Bach Festival. An American Mosaic is a series of 15 miniatures, commemorating segments of the American population that have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, including parents, caretakers and those who have lost their lives to the virus. Los Angeles-based Danielpour and New York-based Dinnerstein will present the premiere virtually.
Sunday, December 6, 2020 at 4pm CST / 2pm PST.
Learn more here.

Mutual Mentorship for Musicians (M³) World Premieres: Duo Concerts & Conversations
2020-12-06 18:00 - 19:00 (America/Chicago)
This event takes place on ZOOM. You must RSVP to receive ZOOM link.
Experience six world premieres born from the new initiative Mutual Mentorship for Musicians (M³), a revolutionary model of mentorship created in March and launched in June 2020 at the height of the pandemic.
Hosted by M³ Editor-in-Chief Jordannah Elizabeth, each premiere will be followed by a Q&A with the audience about its creative process.
Created by co-founders Jen Shyu and Sara Serpa along with Jordannah Elizabeth, M³ is a think tank for new ways to connect, collaborate, support, create, and empower womxn musicians worldwide including BIPOC, LGBTQIA2S+, and musicians of all abilities across generations. More information: https://mutualmentorshipformusicians.org/
Part One: Sunday, December 6, 2020 at 6pm CST | 7pm EST
Romarna Campbell + Val Jeanty
Caroline Davis + Maya Keren
Jen Shyu + Sumi Tonooka
Part Two: Saturday, December 12, 2020 at 6pm CST | 7pm EST
Eden Girma + Anjna Swaminathan
Erica Lindsay + Sara Serpa
Lesley Mok + Tomeka Reid

CULTIVATING CREATIVITY: RANEE, APARNA, AND ASHWINI RAMASWAMY ON ARTS AND CULTURAL LEADERSHIP
2020-12-07 19:00 - 20:00 (America/Chicago)
Ragamala Artistic Directors Ranee and Aparna Ramaswamy and Choreographic Associate Ashwini Ramaswamy share their decades of experience building an arts nonprofit in the Twin Cities and provide vital insights for the next generation of leaders in Minnesota’s arts and culture sector.
Join this live artist talk either in-person and physically distanced at Northrop or via live stream. Online and in-person attendees will be invited to share their questions and help shape this conversation.
Presented in partnership with The Coven, and the Master of Professional Studies in Arts and Cultural Leadership
Join this event on Monday, December 7, 2002 at 7pm CST
This event is FREE and open to the public, but registration is required. Click here to learn more.

CHARTS: The New 21st Century Fake Book
2020-12-09 18:00 - 19:00 (America/Chicago)
Composers Concordance Presents a LIVE-Stream Event, CHARTS: The New 21st Century Fake Book.
Performing a set of compositions written as lead sheets or charts. Music includes the premieres of Gene Pritsker‘s ‘Kinda Charts’ (an ACF awardee) and Daniel Schnyder‘s ode to Bassam Saba as well as compostions by Jay Rodriguez, Mark Kostabi, Dan Cooper and Max Pollak.
CompCord Ensemble
Daniel Schnyder – soprano sax
Jay Rodriguez – tenor sax
Franz Hackl – trumpet
Gene Pritsker – guitar
Mark Kostabi – piano
Paul Nowinski – bass
Max Pollak – drums/percussion
Wednesday, December 9th at 6pm CST
Live Stream From Kostabi World on Facebook or the other sites below:

https://www.facebook.com/pg/HotIndieMediaPresents/live
https://www.youtube.com/hotindiemedia
https://www.twitch.tv/hotindiemedia

Danny Clay: McKnight Visiting Composer Residency
2020-12-10 16:00 - 17:00 (America/Chicago)
Join for the culminating event of Danny Clay’s 2019 McKnight Visiting Composer Residency with MPLS (imPulse) and ComMUSICation, which will take place on Thursday, December 10, 2020 at 4pm CST via this link.
Over the past two months, Danny worked virtually with MPLS (imPulse) and ComMUSICation from San Francisco with the ensembles located in the Twin Cities. Danny facilitated a collaborative musical dialogue between the professional vocalists and the youth community chorus program in which both groups used graphic notation to invent their own sonic language and compose a series of pieces for the other ensemble to perform. The resulting collection of lovingly crafted squiggles, wiggles, blobs and doodles will be premiered as an animated score with accompanying footage of the creative process. This is an exciting event to hear and see the works that have been created and to learn more about the collaboration!
