American Composers Forum

YWC Workshop Series
2020-07-30 17:00 - 18:15, 2020-07-27 17:00 - 18:15, 2020-07-23 17:00 - 18:15, 2020-07-20 17:00 - 18:15, 2020-07-16 17:00 - 18:15, 2020-07-13 17:00 - 18:15 (America/Chicago)
Young Women Composers (YWC) is proud to announce the curation of a dual-streamed, 100% free workshop series that will feature some of the most prominent and exciting voices in new music today. All sessions will take place on Zoom – please register at the event website for each workshop.
Our series is divided into two streams:
1. The Process: presentations by female-identifying or non-binary composers about their compositional process, from sketches to final product
Featuring presentations by Kate Soper, Vivian Fung, Angélica Negrón, Nina C. Young, and Pamela Z
2. Artistry in 2020: presentations by female-identifying or non-binary artists, entrepreneurs, and change-makers in the new music scene
Featuring presentations by Aiden Feltkamp, Eve O’Donnell, Sarah Williams, Claire Chase, and Gabriela Lena Frank
missed a workshop?
view our archived videos here (live until september 30).

Castle of Our Skins: Founder's Chat Series
2020-07-30 12:00 - 12:45, 2020-07-23 12:00 - 12:45, 2020-07-16 12:00 - 12:45, 2020-07-09 12:00 - 12:45 (America/Chicago)
This is a conversational series with the leaders of several outstanding music organizations representing Black artists. Ashleigh Gordon and Anthony R. Green – the Co-Founders of Castle of our Skins – will hold discussions with an international roster of Black women – the leaders of these music organizations. Tune in on our Facebook homepage for these weekly interviews to learn:
About their musical journey.
The origin stories of each organization.
How their work has changed and evolved.
And of course more…
The lineup includes:
The String Queens : July 9th
D-Composed : July 16th
Dr. Louise Toppin : July 23rd
Challenge the Stats : July 30th
We Free Strings : August 6th
The String Arkestra : August 13th
Vivazza Ensemble : August 20th

Lifting Up Marginalized Voices Through Music
2020-07-28 19:00 - 21:00 (America/Chicago)
Mexican-born Jewish composer Sergio Barer was a 2019 McKnight Visiting Composer fellow. During his fellowship he created a suite of choral pieces, collectively called The Immigrants. The compositions were inspired by dozens of interviews Sergio conducted with local Mexican families whom he met throughout the Twin Cities. Initially scheduled for premieres in Minnesota in 2020, The Immigrants awaits its first performance. However, the socioeconomic disparities and political ploys that shape the lives of the immigrants who inspired the work are more poignant and pressing than ever.
The Rimon Artist Salons have been called “one of the leading series of Jewish events in the country.” Since 2007, Salons have investigated dance, photography, slam poetry, popular music, puppetry, glass arts, fiction, papercutting, multimedia installation, film, architecture, theater, painting, video, and non-fiction.
The series is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund. It is also funded in part by gifts from Bruce Goodman, the Oren and Sharron Steinfeldt Foundation, and two anonymous gifts.
Rimon is an initiative of the Minneapolis Jewish Federation.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS:
Sergio Barer is a composer and pianist who was born in Mexico City. He studied with Cuban pianists Marcia Freyre and Marcia Freyre de Andrade in Mexico and with Mario Feninger and Ian Brooks in the United States. Sergio made his concert debut in Mexico in 1985. In the late eighties he injured his left hand and performed music for one hand for several years, recording the CD “Piano Music for One Hand.” In the 1990s Sergio studied the basics of composition with his mentor Mario Feninger. When he returned to playing in public, he did so performing his own music. Following the advice of his friend, the esteemed composer Stephen Paulus, Sergio began composing choral music in the 2010s. In 2015 the San Fernando Valley Master Chorale named him Composer-in-Residence, a position he still holds. In 2017 the Chorale premiered “Moses, an Oratorio.”
Adam Wernick is a composer, writer, and lyricist, primarily working in theater. Over the past thirty years, he has created original music and sound for many theater companies, including The Guthrie Theater, The Shakespeare Theatre Company, The Royal Shakespeare Company, The Kennedy Center, The Old Globe, Denver Center Theater Company, Red Bull Theater, Classic Stage Company, Manhattan Theater Company, The Wilma Theater, Philadelphia Theater Company, and others. Adam has received grants and awards from The McKnight Foundation, American Composers Forum, The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, The Independence Foundation, The Philadelphia Music Project, The Presser Foundation and ASCAP. Adam also contributes as a freelance writer for Public Radio International and herds goats.

Island City Jazz Jam Rolls On
2020-07-26 14:30 - 17:30 (America/Chicago)
The July Jam with H3O Jazz Trio will be one week later than usual – Sunday, July 26, 2020 from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. on the patio at Island City Brewing Company.
After a three month “vacation”, the monthly Island City Jazz Jams began again in June with an enthusiastic and socially distanced audience filling the picnic tables in front of the brewery.
This month, anyone wishing to participate in the Jazz Jam will be screened prior to joining the trio. Additional disinfectant measures will also be in place to ensure everyone’s safety.
Island City’s patio is covered by a large tent so the Jazz Jam will take place unless there is severe weather. Check the Island City or H3O Facebook pages for weather announcements the day of the event.
Island City Brewing Company has asked that patrons observe the following guidelines:

Mask are required inside the brewery per City of Winona restrictions
Seating is limited. Please call 507-458-8873 in advance to make your reservation.
Walk-up reservations will be allowed, but wait times are unknown.
If you are 15 minutes late for your reservation it will be forfeited to another customer.
Seating is outdoor only, with a minimum distance of 6 feet.
Groups are limited to 4 from different households or 6 if from the same household.
Please, no re-arranging of tables or chairs. Please respect social distancing guidelines.

Children will need to be with you at all times.
If your kids cannot stay seated, we will have to ask you to leave.

An up-to-date schedule is always available at H3OJazz.com. The family-friendly event is free and open to everyone – young and not so young. And if you’re not quite ready to sit in, come and enjoy a great afternoon of jazz.
Please contact Emily Johnson: events@islandcitybrew.com for more information.

Chamber Music Northwest
2020-07-25 19:00 - 23:30, 2020-07-18 19:00 - 23:30, 2020-07-11 19:00 - 23:30, 2020-07-04 19:00 - 23:30, 2020-06-27 19:00 - 23:30 (America/Chicago) | Virtual, United States
Concerts will premiere at 7 p.m. Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays from June 22-July 26. Each performance will be available for viewing until 11:59 p.m. the next day on the Chamber Music Northwest YouTube channel.

Bach Invention Project
2020-07-24 20:00 - 21:00 (America/Chicago)
Please tune in on Sunday July 26 for Lorenzo Marasso’s Bach Invention project, a live streaming performance including new works by fifteen composers from around the world, nestled into all the Two and Three-Part Inventions by J.S. Bach. The concert will begin at 6:00 pm West Coast time (9:00 pm East Coast time and 3:00 am next day European time).
Composers who have responded to one of the Bach Inventions and Sinfonias with their own new works are Daniel Corral, Michael Finnissy, Morgan Hayes, Jeffrey Holmes, Tom Flaherty, Vera Ivanova, Carmelo Lacertosa, Bernhard Lang, Anne LeBaron, Wayne Marshall, Elliott Miles McKinley, Giacomo Platini, Roberta Vacca, Nina C. Young, and Jack Van Zandt.
There is still time to participate in the co-commissioning campaign, which will support the musicians involved in this project. If you wish to participate please go the link https://dots.livemusicproject.org/the-invention-project/

Ask an Expert: Licensing and Permissions Requirements for Livestream and Rebroadcast - A Deeper Dive
2020-07-23 13:00 - 15:00 (America/Chicago)
Still confused about the specific licensing and permission requirements for livestreaming and rebroadcast of concerts? Don’t know how to keep platform algorithms from shutting you down? This webinar will take a deeper dive into the specific licensing requirements for livestreaming and rebroadcasting of concerts, permissions that need to be obtained from record labels, artists and managers, and how to inform the platform once you have obtained the correct license in order to get listing approval. We will hear directly from these important industry sectors – PROs, streaming platforms, publishing, and management – to get the answers you need in this informative and timely discussion.
This webinar is hosted by the Alliance of Performing Arts Conferences. APAC is Arts Midwest, Arts Northwest, ArtsReady, Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP), Folk Alliance International (FAI), North American Performing Arts Managers and Agents (NAPAMA), North Carolina Presenters Consortium (NCPC), International Performing Arts for Youth (IPAY), South Arts and Western Arts Alliance (WAA).

Jazz and Social Justice: A Salon with Music Volume 11—Jen Shyu: What Mentorship Means Now
2020-07-21 19:00 (America/Chicago)
In times of turmoil and transformation—a locked-down present and an uncertain future—how do artists share wisdom and experience? How do they foster growth? As a vocalist singing in ten languages, as a composer straddling genres and styles, as a musician playing instruments whose histories span continents and centuries, and as a dancer and writer of compelling grace and power, Jen Shyu transforms wisdom from masters and stories gathered from communities around the world into fresh and original expressions. Her work off the bandstand focuses on fighting inequity and helping create new mentorship networks.
For this virtual edition of the “Jazz and Social Justice” series, Shyu will sing, play Taiwanese moon lute, piano, and percussion in her performance of past and present protest songs, and she’ll present excerpts from Living’s a Gift, her first work composed for a cappella choir, commissioned by American Composers Forum for the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade choirs at Brooklyn’s MS 51 William Alexander Middle School. Following the music, she’ll join series host Larry Blumenfeld, along with Mimi Broderick (choir director at MS 51), vocalist-composer Sara Serpa and multi-instrumentalist Eden Girma.
Meet the Artist
Guggenheim Fellow, USA Fellow, Doris Duke Artist, multilingual vocalist-composer-multi-instrumentalist-dancer Jen Shyu is “one of the most creative vocalists in contemporary improvised music” (The Nation). Born in Peoria, Illinois, to Taiwanese and East Timorese immigrants and the first female and vocalist bandleader on Pi Recordings, she’s produced seven albums, performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and is a Fulbright scholar speaking 10 languages. Her Song of Silver Geese was among New York Times’ “Best Albums of 2017.” Larry Blumenfeld wrote in the Wall Street Journal that “her voice, a wonder of technical control and unrestrained emotion, tells a story dotted with well-researched facts and wild poetic allusions. She claims both as her truths.” She’s was touring her solo Zero Grasses (commissioned by John Zorn) and giving free creativity workshops in schools and homes across all 50 states before the pandemic lockdown. She is also a Paul Simon Music Fellows Guest Artist and a Steinway Artist.
Jazz and Social Justice
This ongoing series connects the music we love with the social and political issues that matter to us all. Each salon blends live performance with conversation between artists, activists, and experts. Curated and hosted by journalist Larry Blumenfeld, whose NJMIH programs during the past dozen years have considered Afro-Cuban influence within New York’s jazz scene and contemporary New Orleans.

Connecting ACO Community: Weekly Premieres
2020-07-19 17:00, 2020-07-12 17:00, 2020-07-05 17:00, 2020-06-28 17:00 (America/New_York) | Virtual, United States
American Composers Orchestra Announces a new solo commissioning initiative in response to the COVID-19 crisis with online world premieres beginning Sunday, April 19, 2020 at 5pm on Zoom
$5 tickets* available through Eventbrite
If the $5 entrance fee poses a barrier to participation, interested listeners will be asked to fill out an anonymous form at https://bit.ly/ACOConnectComp or email Aiden Feltkamp at aiden@americancomposers.org to request a fee waiver.
In response to the impacts of COVID-19 on composers and performers, American Composers Orchestra announces Connecting ACO Community, a new initiative to commission short works for solo instrument or voice. Each composer will receive $500 to write the work, and each performer will receive $500 to perform the work, with the rights to stream for six months. With this project, ACO aims to support artists who need financial assistance; to create new work that will live beyond this crisis; and provide virtual, interactive performances to ACO’s supporters and the general public.
Ticketholders will receive a private link to join the performance, and all of the proceeds from the ticket sales will go solely to fund artists involved in this project. The composer, performer, and a host (ACO President Ed Yim or ACO Artistic Director Derek Bermel, who is also donating his own performance to the project) will hold an online chat with attendees after the performance. The recorded session will be available within 24 hours after the performance on ACO’s website and social media platforms, as well as on MUSIC on the REBOUND: an online festival for participating in live events as well as a platform for streaming concerts.
Connecting ACO Community Volume 2 Composer-Performer Teams and Schedule of Events
Sunday, June 7, 2020 at 5pm ET:
Joseph Pereira & Chester Englander, percussion (register/buy tickets)
Sunday, June 14, 2020 – OFF
Sunday, June 21, 2020 at 5pm ET:
Shara Nova & Ahya Simone, harp (register/buy tickets)
Note: Ahya Simone was unable to appear during the originally scheduled premiere in Volume 1, during which Shara Nova premiered a version for voice and guitar. This installment features Simone performing a second premiere of the work When I Said Let a Change Come for harp.
Sunday, June 28, 2020 at 5pm ET:
Karena Ingram & Monica Ellis, bassoon (register/buy tickets)
Sunday, July 5, 2020 at 5pm ET:
Krists Auznieks & Stephen Gosling, piano (register/buy tickets)
Sunday, July 12, 2020 at 5pm ET:
Lembit Beecher & Seth Parker Woods, cello (register/buy tickets)
Sunday, July 19, 2020 at 5pm ET:
Alejandro Basulto Martinez & Alecia Lawyer, oboe (register/buy tickets)

ACF Town Hall on Recordings
2020-07-14 13:00 - 14:00, 2020-07-08 17:00 - 18:00 (America/Chicago) | Virtual, United States
As ACF begins a new 5 years strategic plan, along with the areas that we continue to create, we are going to be looking at our recordings program and how we support artists through these programs. We invite you to contribute to this conversation. Below are some questions we will consider during this ACF Town Hall.
What has been your experience with recording/releasing music?
What part(s) of the recording/releasing music process do you wish there was more support for?
What may be some barriers to making a recording for you?
Label vs Self Releasing?

ACF Monthly Book Club – July
2020-07-06 16:00 - 17:00 (America/Chicago) | Virtual, United States
As an organization dedicated to living musical creators and cultivating a community for their work to thrive in, ACF strives to be diverse, inclusive, and equitable like many in our shared ecosystem. To do so, however, we must acknowledge the historical exclusion of non-white artists in the musical world – particularly Western European-based classical music – and provide a platform to the very artists we seek to support.
Reading of this month:
How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi
REGISTER HERE

Ensemble Evolution Public Show
2020-07-02 19:00 (America/New_York) | Virtual, United States
Featuring International Contemporary Ensemble and Ensemble Evolution Participants.
The International Contemporary Ensemble’s Ensemble Evolution program culminates with a virtual concert curated by participants and faculty featuring the world premiere of Nicole Mitchell’s Inescapable Spiral, specifically re-designed for the digital world.

Presented by The International Contemporary Ensemble, Experimental Sound Studios, and the College of Performing Arts as part of the Ensemble Evolution summer intensive.

Braxton75: The Music of Anthony Braxton – Navigation Through Form
2020-07-02 13:00 (America/New_York)
Talk by James Fei
Tri-Centric Foundation
In celebration of Anthony Braxton’s 75th birthday year, International Contemporary Ensemble and Braxton’s Tri-Centric Foundation are collaborating to present the very first online Braxton75 event accessible to the public. In this talk, Tri-Centric president James Fei, who has been working closely with Braxton for over two decades, will offer a rare glimpse into the inner workings of Braxton compositions. Specifically, using scores and audiovisual material, Fei will examine the intersection of improvisation and notation, the changing role of the performer, and the fluid notions of “composition” in Braxton’s works.
James Fei (b. Taipei, Taiwan) moved to the US in 1992 to study electrical engineering and has since been active as a composer and performer on saxophones and live electronics. Works by Fei have been performed by the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of the S.E.M. Ensemble, Bang on a Can All-Stars, MATA Micro Orchestra and Noord-Hollands Philharmonisch Orkest. His recordings can be found on Leo Records, Improvised Music from Japan, CRI, Krabbesholm and Organized Sound. Compositions for Fei’s own ensemble of four alto saxophones focus on physical processes of saliva, fatigue, reeds crippled by cuts and the threshold of audible sound production, while his sound installations and performance on live electronics often focus on electronic and acoustic feedback. Fei has taught at Mills College in Oakland since 2006 where he is Professor of Electronic Arts and Head of the Music Department and Art and Technology Program. He is the recipient of the 2014 Grants for Artists Award from the Foundation for Contemporary Arts and currently the president of Anthony Braxton’s Tri-Centric Foundation. www.jamesfei.com
The Tri-Centric Foundation is a non-profit organization which supports the work and legacy of American composer and musician Anthony Braxton. Our primary activities are preservation and dissemination of his scores, recordings, and writings, production of performances, and pedagogy. https://tricentricfoundation.org/

Presented by The International Contemporary Ensemble and College of Performing Arts as part of the Ensemble Evolution summer intensive.

2020 NextNotes Award Ceremony Livestream
2020-06-27 19:30 - 21:00 (America/Chicago) | Virtual, United States
Join us on Saturday, June 27, 2020 at 7:30pm CDT as, for the first time, NextNotes will culminate in a live-streamed awards ceremony emceed by public radio and podcast creator of Trilloquy, Garrett McQueen. The ceremony will celebrate 2020’s six talented creators who were selected from over 140 across the US and represent the skill and range of music being created today. Learn about their experience as part of this year’s cohort and hear samples from the award winning creations.

The live ceremony will be available to view on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. A link for Facebook and Instagram will be posted to ACF’s social media channels; to view on YouTube, you can bookmark this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0Hu-sxY0T0&feature=youtu.be

During the ceremony, you’ll get to know the following winners were selected for skill, originality, potential, and strong creative voices:

KiMani Bridges (Louisville, KY)
Helen Feng (Deerfield, MA)
Gene Angelo Nucal (Mesquite, TX)
Rohan Srinivasan (Portland, OR)
Jasper Talwani (Los Angeles, CA)
Charlotte Weinstein (Brooklyn, NY)

These NextNotes creators have been participating in a robust series of virtual conversations, workshops, and lessons with all-star mentors Marcos Balter, Mary Ellen Childs, and Joe Horton. You can learn more about NextNotes and this year’s cohort here.
