American Composers Forum

Recording Sound with Your Phone
2020-04-16 11:00 (America/Chicago) | Virtual, United States
Kyle King from Slam Academy leads this free webinar with practical tips for all musicians. Get advice about technical best practices for using your phone’s microphone and explore creative ways to capture and manipulate sound to simulate instruments and expand your palette of timbres and colors.
Register
This webinar is part of the Stay Plugged In series, co-sponsored by American Composers Forum, Slam Academy, and Springboard for the Arts
Notice to Participants
By participating in this webinar you agree to the following:

You acknowledge and agree that the session will be recorded (in both video and audio format) and that ACF may make such recordings publicly available in the future via download, streaming, or other means.
You acknowledge and agree that to the extent you participate in the session by asking questions, sharing examples of your music, or otherwise appearing in the recording, you grant ACF a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use your name, voice, likeness, and any other intellectual property you share during the session as part of ACF’s distribution of recordings of the session.
You acknowledge and agree that ACF and/or the session leader, as appropriate, own all rights to the materials distributed that ACF and /or the session leader, as appropriate, own all rights to materials distributed in connection with the session and the recordings of the session, and that you do not gain any rights in such materials by participating in the session.

Composer Zoom Roundtable & Happy Hour Series
2020-04-15 19:00, 2020-04-08 19:00, 2020-04-01 19:00 (America/Chicago) | Virtual, United States
ACF member and Rhode Island composer Elliott Miles McKinley is hosting a weekly series for music creators across the country to connect virtually on Zoom. Follow the link below to sign up, and then Elliott will reply with the secure Zoom link.
Elliott shares, “I am a composer, improviser, and teacher and, like most of us, am in a state of imposed isolation as we collectively navigate through this difficult and unexpected moment in time. However, we are fortunate to have tools for communication, such as Zoom and other multi-participant real-time platforms, that just a few years ago were not available. In what started as a kind of get together composition group lesson for a few former and current students, I hatched an idea to engage the wider composer-creator community in an open forum leveraging my access to Zoom for the purpose. It is my hope sessions such as these may offer a chance for people to gather, talk, share ideas and music, and/or just provide a place to share a virtual “drink” together with colleagues as fellow artists. At the moment, this is a little bit of an experiment, and as such, in the interest of allowing more space for discussion and sharing, and to preserve bandwidth, I will try to limit the number of participants for each session. Hence the “first-come, first-serve” RSVP form. If this proves to be popular, I’ll look for more ways to expand. Thank you and stay safe!”

ACF Creative Community Wellness Check-In
2020-04-14 11:00 - 12:00, 2020-04-07 11:00 - 12:00 (America/Chicago) | Virtual, United States
In response to the unique emotional challenges of this global pandemic, ACF is hosting a weekly, virtual space for creative musicians to check in, listen and be heard, and feel more connected to the national composer community. These sessions will be facilitated by Jen Rives, MA, LMFT (she/hers) of Relationship Insights Therapy & Coaching. Feel free to reach out to Kris Kautzman with any questions: kkautzman@composersforum.org or 651.243.0049.
The format of each session will follow this framework:

Introduction & guidelines
Settle in and get in touch with your breath.
Share first name, and 1 or 2 sentences about how you’ve been doing and how things are in your world this past week.
Introduction of this Week’s Theme: Potential themes could be challenges of practicing physical distancing while living alone; how have you been doing self-care at home; navigating these disruptive financial times; navigating fear and anxiety.
Individual sharing: 3-4 minutes for each person to respond to the theme and share how it is for them. Option to say “pass,” and simply listen.
Check out & closing: helpful suggestions, specific encouragement, and reminders that more support is available from adjacent resources.

DATES
Tuesday, April 7 @ 11:00am-12:00pm Central Time | REGISTER
This session is reserved for music creators who are living alone and experiencing isolation

Tuesday, April 14 11:00am-12:00pm Central Time | REGISTER
This session is open to all creative musicians
Tuesday, April 21 11:00am-12:00pm Central Time | REGISTER
This session is open to all creative musicians

Tuesday, April 28 11:00am-12:00pm Central Time | REGISTER
This session is open to all creative musicians

Please note that these sessions:

are not therapy or support groups.
do not substitute for therapy if needed, and do not prevent, cure, or treat any mental disorder or medical disease.
do not involve the diagnosis or treatment of mental disorders as defined by the American Psychiatric Association.
are not a substitute for counseling, psychotherapy, psychoanalysis, mental health care, substance abuse treatment, or other professional advice by legal, medical or other qualified professionals.

FULL EPISODE: Villa Diodati
2020-04-14 - 2020-04-24 | Virtual, United States
Past and present collide in “Villa Diodati,” the off-Broadway musical theater show that imagines the fateful vacation that Mary Shelley, Lord Byron and their friends enjoyed in the summer of 1816. The stormy weather kept the friends inside telling ghost stories, and it provided the inspiration for “Frankenstein.” In the play, a modern couple finds their lives overlapping with the literary greats.
Music by Mira J Spektor
Lyrics by Colette Inez
Additional Lyrics by Byron, Shelley, Spektor & Wordsworth… Produced by Bank Street Films & on Albany Records

The Quarantine Concerts
2020-04-12 14:30, 2020-04-10 19:00, 2020-04-09 20:00 (America/Chicago) | Virtual, United States
The Quarantine Concerts are a collaborative endeavor meant to provide artists a space to share their work and continue to earn a living during this time when most live performance opportunities have been cancelled due to COVID-19. We believe in the necessity of art during difficult moments like these, and feel fortunate to live in a time when loss of mobility does not have to mean loss of community. Thank you for being here.
Suggested donation of $5/evening – think of it like paying cover to a concert! 100% of the donations contributed during each performance go to the artists who played that night.

BEARTHOVEN: TV DINNERS
2020-04-11 20:00, 2020-04-04 20:00 (America/New_York) | Virtual, United States
‘TV Dinners’ is a live stream concert series
Each Saturday in April 8pm Eastern Time
streaming on the Bearthoven and Johnstone Fund Facebook Pages
April 4
Matt Evans:New Topographics
April 11
Karl Larson plays Anthony Vine:
Music for an apartment on Coles St.
April 18
Bearthoven plays Jaimie Branch:
new piece for streaming ensemble*
Presented with the unbelievably gracious support of the Johnstone Fund for New Music
*Commissioned by the Johnstone Fund for New Music

Virtual Quarantine Concert No.1
2020-04-11 19:00 (America/Chicago) | Virtual, United States
Quarantine Concert #1 Is announced!
from the comfort of your own home…
Featuring: Eri Isomura and Friends
Long Distance for marimba (and vibraphone) and electronics by Steven Snowden
I. Atlanta, GA – 1972
II. Monroe, NC – 1977
Eri Isomura: Percussion, Electronics
Legal Highs for violin and marimba by David P. Jones
I. Mister Coffee (pending)
Eri Isomura: Marimba and Ashley Ng: Violin
Piece in the form of Habanera by Maurice Ravel, adapted for cello and marimba
Song of the Birds – traditional folk tune arr. Pablo Casals, adapted for cello and marimba
Eri Isomura: Marimba and Patty Ryan: Cello
Red Dragonfly for marimba solo by Kosaku Yamada arr. Fumito Nunoya
Eri Isomura: Marimba

Film Score Fest 2020 Kickoff
2020-04-11 17:00 (America/Chicago) | Virtual, United States
Like everything else, our Film Score Fest Kickoff will be going virtual on April 11.
Head to https://www.facebook.com/groups/400647030668513
Don’t miss this evening of short films, filmmaker/composer networking, and sign-ups for Film Score Fest 2020!
Film Score Fest is a one-of-a-kind festival that pairs Minnesota filmmakers and composers to create short films, and an orchestra will perform the scores live at the screening in September 2020. Come meet potential collaborators and sign up to participate. Learn more at http://filmscorefest.org.
To open the kickoff event, we’re holding a MNKINO screening. MNKINO screenings are an excuse for filmmakers to experiment and show their work in a casual setting. The current theme is “Nostalgia”–bring a new film under 5 minutes and we’ll show it.
Schedule (Central time zone)
5:00 – MNKINO screening
5:30 – Introduction to Film Score Fest
5:45 – Sign-ups open, meet potential collaborators

Online Concert: More Brazilian Piano Tunes!
2020-04-10 19:00 (America/Chicago) | Virtual, United States
Rebecca Hass is an Oakland-based composer/performer. She’s doing another online concert of Brazilian music (hers and others’) on Friday 4/10 to uplift their socially distanced spirits!
This time, she also has a special treat: her housemate Diana Strong will sit in for a couple of piano-accordion duets!
It’ll be streaming on her FB page here: Rebecca Hass: Creative Wellness Coach, Pianist, and Composer, and if you can’t watch live, the replay will live there, also.

Tech Support Happy Hour
2020-04-10 17:00 - 18:00 (America/Chicago)
Slam Academy’s Free Tech Support Happy Hour!
Are you an artist that has been forced into the world of working online?
Are you a music or art educator that is struggling with your online teaching options?
Or are you just curious how all of this stuff is supposed to work?
Join us for a free pop-in meeting to chat, and get tips, ideas, and solutions from our tech ninjas.
Every Friday 5 – 6pm CDT.
Event Link
Beverages optional.
about slam academy
Slam Academy is devoted to creating a non-competitive, experiential learning environment to anyone who seeks it. We believe that each of our students has something valuable to say, and our ultimate goal is to empower them with the ability to release it through music.
When it comes to electronic music education in the Twin Cities, there are two options: 1. YouTube, and 2. College Programs. While we at Slam Academy are big fans of a college education, there seemed to be a gap in options. On the one hand was a free and completely unsupervised, non-reactive medium (YouTube), and on the other a highly focused (and fairly expensive) college education. In our opinion, there should be something in between. Something that gives the student one-on-one, personal education at an affordable price.
Since the start of each electronic art form – music, video, digital image making, software development – participation has been reserved for those who can afford the technology. In the last few years, technology has become more and more inexpensive and accessible. Anyone can make great work – all you really need is a computer. If you have a computer, we can show you how to make art on it.

MUSICAL MOMENTS
2020-04-10 12:00 - 2020-04-16 12:00 (America/Chicago) | Virtual, United States
Philip Brunelle has been offering ‘Composer moments’ offering each day through the VocalEssence and Plymouth Congregational Church websites. A different composer each day – and the response has been wonderful! All are composers who have been performed both by VocalEssence and Plymouth Church.

March 23-27
Dominick Argento, Egil Hovland, Alice Parker, David Evan Thomas, Ludwig van Beethoven

March 30-April 3
Carol Barnett, J.S.Bach, André Thomas, Libby Larsen, Francis Poulenc

April 6-10
Peter Schickele, Stephen Paulus, Conrad Susa, Undine Smith Moore, Paul Manz

April 13-17
Undine Smith Moore, Paul Manz, John Rutter, Dame Ethel Smyth, Aaron Copland, Dave Brubeck, Samuel Coleridge-Taylor

ListN Up
2020-04-10, 2020-04-03 | Virtual, United States
ListN Up is a series of weekly artist-curated playlists. Born from a desire to keep artists sharing and connected during times of isolation, ListN Up offers an intimate sonic portrait of contemporary artists by showcasing the diverse and stylistically varied music that influences their creative practice. This series is sponsored by American Composers Forum/innova Recordings with new releases every Friday on I CARE IF YOU LISTEN.

Navigating Unemployment Insurance Study Hall
2020-04-09 11:00 (America/Chicago)
Hosted by Springboard for the Arts
The CARES Act expands eligibility for unemployment compensation to self-employed individuals, independent contractors, “gig economy” employees, and individuals who were unable to start a new job or contract due to the pandemic. In this webinar, we’ll take an overview of the process for artists and creatives applying for the first time, and answer any questions you may have. This webinar is an overview of the process to apply for Minnesota Unemployment Insurance, but will be helpful to artists across the country, since there are some process consistencies from state to state. Presented by Iverson-Felsheim Law.
Step-by-step guide provided by Minnesota Unemployment Insurance (UI): https://www.uimn.org/assets/application-step-by-step-instructions-selfemployed_tcm1068-425640.pdf
When: Thursday, April 9, 11AM Central
Where: Via Zoom, Register here: https://springboardforthearts.org/events/unemployment-study-hall/
Questions: Email legal@springboardforthearts.org

ACF Town Hall
2020-04-08 17:00 (America/Chicago) | Virtual, United States
We feel that the best way we make it through this challenge is as a community. Taking this into consideration, we are hosting a series of virtual town halls where you can just drop in and hang out.

Register

Coping with COVID: Financial Implications for Creative Individuals
2020-04-07 18:00 (America/New_York) | Virtual, United States
Tune into the livestream workshop here: https://www.youtube.com/c/creativecapital/live
This virtual gathering will provide an overview of the financial implications of the COVID-19 outbreak. It is meant to help creative individuals cope with the unique financial challenges they face and provide tangible strategies for coping with the ongoing uncertainty. Hosted by Creative Capital and led by Elaine Grogan Luttrull, CPA-PFS, AFC, this webinar will cover:

Ways to manage your own income and expenses (including creative ways of adjusting for COVID-19).
Tax filing extensions and what they mean for creative individuals.
Potential options for unemployment benefits (including for self-employed individuals).
Emergency relief options offered by support groups.
Ways to support yourself and your loved ones as we navigate this together.

Elaine Grogan Luttrull, CPA-PFS, AFC® is the founder of Minerva Financial Arts, a company devoted to building financial literacy and empowerment in creative individuals and organizations. She leads workshops around the country and also works with colleges and universities to offer guest lectures on financial topics. Elaine partners with funders including Creative Capital, the Pew Center for Arts & Heritage, the Tamarack Foundation, and the Joan Mitchell Foundation to provide ongoing support for recipients of these awards. Elaine teaches at the Columbus College of Art & Design, where she served as the Department Head for Business & Entrepreneurship from 2014-2018. Previously, Elaine served as the Director of Financial Analysis for The Juilliard School and in the Transaction Advisory Services practice of Ernst & Young in New York.Elaine is the author of Arts & Numbers (Agate, B2 2013), and she contributed regularly to Professional Artist magazine. She is based in Columbus, Ohio where she serves on the boards of the Short North Alliance and Healing Broken Circles.

ACF Racial Equity Book Club
2020-04-06 16:00 - 17:00 (America/Chicago) | Virtual, United States
APRIL BOOK CLUB CONVERSATION
RE-Tool: Racial Equity in the Panel Process
A discussion tool to encourage racial equity in the review and selection process of artists and arts organizations.
Join ACF staff and Eleanor Savage, Program Director of the Jerome Foundation
Download Re-Tool here
Valuing racial equity requires examining how our organizational practices can support equitable outcomes by assessing/addressing racial disparities and inequity. The panel process for selecting artists and arts organizations involves a system of often unquestioned activities—assumed to be inherently impartial —that directly impact funding or arts participation outcomes.
To address racial equity in the panel process, we must actively investigate who has access to opportunities and who doesn’t. Put another way, anti-racist grantmakers must design and implement systems and protocols that increase access and decrease barriers for historically under-resourced groups.
_______________________________________________
Join our Monthly Book Club! We meet the first Monday of every month from 4-5pm CT. We’ll send out a Zoom link in advance to our mailing list. Curious listeners looking to learn together, please.
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. We want to continue the conversation initiated in our September 2019 convening Racial Equity for Artists: Musical Creators Leading Change. Please join us!

Northern Lights presents Spring Howl
2020-04-06 - 2020-04-30 | Virtual, United States
Log on in the month of April for a virtual poem born out of our complex times. This poly vocal, kaleidoscopic animation and sound project is a collaboration between digital artist and musician Kathy McTavish and poet Hawona Sullivan Janzen, originally commissioned to do separate projects for Northern Light.mn’s Spring Howl fundraiser. Tickets to the online experience are on sale through April 23rd and support the artistic programming of Northern Lights.mn
If you have already purchased a ticket, your ticket will automatically convert to a digital Spring Howl ticket.
Your support is more important than ever as we work to think strategically, involve others in our planning and make sure that when Northern Spark returns in 2021 it is more sustainable and just as innovative, joyful and community-building as it’s always been!
Artists at Spring Howl
Kathy McTavish is a media composer and installation artist. She has a long history with Northern Lights.mn. She presented two projects at Northern Spark 2015: Map It and Requiem for Solo Instrument Distance. In 2017, she presented A Hole in the Sky with Zeitgeist. Most recently McTavish was an Art(ist) on the Verge 10 Fellow.
Hawona Sullivan Janzen is a St. Paul-based poet and performance artist. Hawona’s experience with Northern Lights began started at Northern Spark 2019 with a re-presentation of Rondo Family Reunion. She is also a member of the 2019 – 2020 Program Council.
About Northern LIghts.
Northern Lights supports artists in the creation and presentation of art in the public sphere, focusing on innovative uses of technology to imagine new interactions between audience, artwork and place and explore expanded possibilities for civic engagement.
Northern Lights strives to transform our sense of what’s possible in public space. Northern Spark is two nights, but Northern Lights.mn shines throughout the year with projects such as Creative City Challenge with the City of Minneapolis, and Art(ists) on the Verge, The Giant Sing-A-Long at the Minnesota State Fair, and permanent, interactive public art for Saint Paul’s Union Depot.
Northern Lights.mn is a collaborative, interactive media-oriented, arts organization from the Twin Cities for the world. We create platforms with and for artists, audiences, and partners to experiment with and experience innovative art in the public sphere.

Hotel Elefant COVID-19 Artist Benefit Concert
2020-04-05 20:00 (America/New_York) | Virtual, United States
In the wake of the recent spate of concert cancellations, Hotel Elefant offers this virtual concert featuring music by Kelley Sheehan, Rosśa Crean, Shawn Lovato, Mary Kouyoumdjian, and Caleb Burhans.
Our ongoing public health crisis has placed independent freelance artists, who rely on performance fees to meet basic cost-of-living expenses, in unique financial duress. Please consider supporting these musicians at whatever level you can at paypal.me/hotelelefant.

Pauline Oliveros' Tuning Meditation
2020-04-04 17:00 (America/New_York) | Virtual, United States
Pauline Oliveros’ Tuning Meditation
led by IONE and Claire Chase
hosted by International Contemporary Ensemble

RSVP Here

Sing with us LIVE from your personal computer. No music experience necessary.

How do I participate in The World Wide Tuning Meditation?

Improvisations on Solo Violin Fantasies (Telemann)
2020-04-04 16:00 (America/New_York) | Virtual, United States
“Sanctuary” a live stream concert series by the Park Church Co-op in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Concetta is pleased to say that she will be offering a performance as part of the Park Church Co-op live stream series “Sanctuary”. Hand injury? Not quite back to normal. Not all my perfect 5th sound perfect and the stretch to play feels slightly painful and less than normal. But nothing feels normal for anyone these days and there are still some beautiful shapes and melodies I can make with her hand.
Live on Instagram @Park_Church_Coop

Schubert Club Virtual Performance: Miró Quartet
2020-04-04, 2020-04-03 | Virtual, United States
Hailed by The New York Times as possessing “explosive vigor and technical finesse”, the dynamic Miró Quartet, one of America’s highest-profile chamber groups, enjoys its place at the top of the international chamber music scene. Founded in 1995 at the Oberlin Conservatory, the quartet met with immediate success winning first prize at the 50th annual Coleman Chamber Music Competition in April 1996, and taking both the first and grand prizes at the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition two months later. In 2005, the Quartet received the Cleveland Quartet Award and was the first ensemble ever to be awarded the coveted Avery Fisher Career Grant. The quartet’s program comprises quartets by Schumann and Mendelssohn and, honoring their fierce devotion to contemporary music, Kevin Puts’ third string quartet entitled “Credo”. The Miró Quartet is named for the surrealist Spanish artist Joan Miró. This concert includes a performance of Quartet No. 3 Credo by Kevin Puts.

Pepito pre-release online watch party!
2020-04-03 21:00 (America/New_York) | Virtual, United States
Pepito the opera lands on May 1! But they are giving early and limited access to the video on April 3 and will be opening up pre-orders for the album.
On Friday, April 3, 2020 at 6pm PDT / 9pm EDT, join us (composer Nicolas Lell Benavides, librettist Marella Martin Koch), and the complete original cast for the online premiere of Pepito, a new comic opera.
This Friday, for the first time, viewers will have the opportunity to stream an exclusive behind-the-scenes recording.
Pepito is a story of love, family, and identity set in an animal shelter. Sparks fly when Pepito, a forgotten shelter dog with a big heart, meets Camila and David, a young couple searching for the perfect addition to their family. A shared fluency in Spanish draws Pepito and Camila closer, but David and Angie, the harried shelter manager, question whether or not they are ready for the changes Pepito will bring.
Nick and Marell can’t wait to share this work with you!
Pepito, a lonely shelter dog, misses his old family and his old life. Camila and David, young married professionals, are searching for the perfect dog. As the cracks in Camila and David’s marriage deepen, Camila and Pepito form an unshakeable bond.
music by Nicolas Lell Benavides
www.nickbenavides.com
libretto by Marella Martin Koch
www.marellamartinkoch.com
Commissioned by the Washington National Opera at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and first produced at the Kennedy Center during the 2018/19 season.
Singers (in order of appearance):
Samuel J. Weiser, bass
Joshua Blue, tenor
Alexandra Nowakowski, soprano
Alexandra Christoforakis, mezzo-soprano
Ensemble:
Emma McCartney, flute/piccolo
Holly Hu, oboe
Max Opferkuch, clarinet/bass clarinet
Lieza Hansen, bassoon
Matthew Lee Otto, horn
Cameron Wilkins, trumpet
Aidan Ritchie, trombone
Mary LaBlanc, percussion
You Zhao, piano
Kate Outterbridge, violin
Nicholas Bentz, violin
Erica Zappia, viola
Javier Iglesias-Martín, cello
Rebecca Lawrence, double bass
Nicolas Lell Benavides, conductor
Audio
Zach Miley Productions
www.zachmiley.com
Video
Maggie Beidelman
www.maggiebe.com
Additional Footage
Tyler Eschendal
Recorded in the Alice and Eleonore Schoenfeld Symphonic Hall,
University of Southern California
Principal Donors
Alan Savada & Will Stevenson
Albuquerque Hispano Chamber of Commerce
Jake Heggie
Foundation Support
Presser Foundation Graduate Music Award
Album art credit
Scott Suchman, photographer
Andrea Dorf McGray, director
A.J. Guban, lighting designer
Martha Timlin, costume designer
