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Festival Opening Events


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2023 Festival Opening Event
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2023 Composers Now Festival Opening Event

Monday, January 30, 2023

The Opening Event of the thirteenth annual Composers Now Festival featured a vibrant program of music by living composers hosted by Composers Now founder and artistic director, Tania León.

Full Program

00:00 - Welcoming remarks by Tania León

2023 Composers Now Visionary Awards
   02:20 - Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (b. 1939)
   08:41 - Adolphus Hailstork (b. 1941)

2023 Composers Now First Commission
   14:24 - Dorian Tabb (b. 2010)
   15:41 - Hymn for a Forgotten People (2023) World Premiere
      Bergamot Quartet:
         Ledah Finck and Sarah Thomas, violins
         Amy Tan, viola; and Irène Han, cello
      funding for First Commission is graciously provided by Michael Minard and Phyllis Ross

23:30 - Fall 2022 Collaborative Creative Residencies
   a project of the Pocantico Center of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Asian Cultural Council & Composers Now
   inti figgis-vizueta & Wu Chien-Wei
   Selma Savolainen & Cheuk Wing Nam

36:30 - Paola Marquez
38:17 - Rosas for Rosi
   Intempo Ensemble: Angélica Durrell, violin; Jon Garcia, trumpet; Jon Bush, piano

45:25 - Gity Razaz
47:38 - Metamorphosis of Narcissus
   Seattle Symphony Orchestra
   Pablo Rus Broseta, conductor

56:36 - Rick Baitz
01:01:39 - documentary and fiction films

01:13:14 David Virelles
01:15:25 - Nuna, selected solo works David Virelles, piano

01:28:06 - SPACE CADE7S
01:28:46 - Better Living
01:31:04 - Earthbound

01:36:12 - Post-concert conversations between composers, artists, and audience



2022 Composers Now Festival Virtual Opening Event

Thursday, January 27, 2022

The Opening Event of the twelfth annual Composers Now Festival featured a vibrant program of music by living composers hosted by Composers Now founder and artistic director, Tania León.

Full Program

Introduction 0:00
Welcome and Opening Remarks 0:22
     Tania León

The 2022 Visionary Awards
     David Del Tredici (b. 1937) 3:29
          video courtesy of Boosey & Hawkes
     Mary Watkins (b. 1939) 16:01
          "Mamie's Lament" from Emmett Till: The Opera (2019) 19:27
               Lucia Bradford, mezzo-soprano
          "Pap's Song" from the opera Dark River: The Fannie Lou Hamer Story (2009) 24:36
               Philip Lima, baritone; Andrea Chinedu Nwoke, soprano
               Mount Holyoke Symphony Orchestra
               Ng Tian Hui, conductor; Darryl V. Jones, director dress rehearsal, April 2014

The 2022 First Commission
     Ebun Oguntola (b. 2005)
          [Introduction] 28:20
          Interim (2022) for trio and electronics (world premiere) 31.37
               Jonathan Hulting-Cohen, soprano saxophone
               Erin Rogers, alto saxophone & composer mentor
               Zach Herchen, baritone saxophone
      award made possible through the generosity of Michael Minard and Phyllis Ross The

December 2021 Collaborative Creative Residency
     Seong Ae Kim, composer & Andre Veloux, visual artist 37:21
     a joint initiative of the Pocantico Center of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and Composers Now

Rohan Chander (b. 1998)
     The Tragedy of Hikikomori Loveless (2021) for electronics 42:19
          Vicky Chow, keyboards

Joy Guidry (b. 1995)
     [Introduction] 53:39
     Face to Face (2022) 57:33

Jonathan Saraga (b. 1987)
     [Introduction] 1:04:09
     Recurring Dream (2012/2021 quartet arrangement) 1:06:31
          Jonathan Saraga, trumpet; Chris Pattishall, piano
          James Robbins, bass; Mark Whitfield, Jr., drums
          January 11, 2022; Douglas Recording, NYC
          Scott Chiu, audio-video recording; mixing & mastering; production




2021 Composers Now Festival Virtual Opening Event

Saturday, January 30, 2021

The Opening Event of the eleventh annual Composers Now Festival featured a vibrant program of music by living composers hosted by Composers Now founder and artistic director, Tania León.

Full Program

Introduction by Tania León & Presentation of 2021 Visionary Award: 0:00
Joan Tower Award Acceptance:
3:45
Joan Tower - "Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman" (1986): 7:26 

First Commission Award:
Intro by Paloma Alonso:
10:40
Paloma Alonso - "2020" (2021): 12:35

Intro by inti figgis-vizueta: 15:18
inti figgis-vizueta - "Form the Fabric" (2020): 16:15

Intro by Alba Potes: 25:02
Alba Potes - "Tres Piezas Breves" (1990-97): 29:24

Intro by Anthony Cheung: 39:08
Anthony Cheung - "Character Studies" (2016): 41:40

Intro by Pamela Z: 50:32
Pamela Z - "Other Rooms" (2018): 51:50

Intro by Donal Fox: 1:00:29
Donal Fox - "The Time is Now, Now's The Time" (2017): 1:03:36




2020 Composers Now Festival Opening Event

Friday, January 31, 2020
Marc A. Scorca Hall at National Opera Center 

The Opening Event of the tenth annual Composers Now Festival featured a vivacious program of music by living composers hosted by Composers Now founder and artistic director, Tania León.

Video by Nan Melville

Full Program

Introduction by Tania León: 0:00
CN Visionary Award to Carman Moore: 1:36

Interview with Ilaria Loisa Hawley: 8:02
"Quando L'acqua riflette" (When the Water Reflects) by Ilaria Loisa Hawley: 9:08

Interview with Niloufar Nourbakhsh & Amanda Gookin: 14:34
"Veiled" by Niloufar Nourbakhsh: 16:52

Interview with Robert Dick: 24:51
"Book of Shadows" by Robert Dick: 25:09

Interview with Darian Donovan Thomas: 36:21
"Fluid" by Darian Donovan Thomas: 38:28

Interview with Lisa Bielawa: 47:17
"Vireo: The Spiritual Biography of a Witch's Accuser,
Episode 5: The Cow Song" by Lisa Bielawa": 49:19

Interview with Noah Becker: 1:00:32
"Jamaica, Después" (Hibiscus, After) by Noah Becker: 1:01:59



2019 Composers Now Festival Opening Event

Friday, January 31, 2019
Marc A. Scorca Hall at National Opera Center 

The Opening Event of the ninth annual Composers Now Festival featured a vivacious program of music by living composers hosted by Composers Now founder and artistic director, Tania León.

 

Video by Nan Melville

Full Program

Introduction by Tania León: 0:00
CN Visionary Award to TJ Anderson: 0:45
CN Visionary Award to Laura Kaminsky: 7:29
 

"Blustery Day" by Yuri Lee: 10:59

"Very Short" by Yusei Hata: 15:37

"Rising Tide, movement III: Forage" by Laura Kaminsky: 21:08
Final scene from "Today It Rains" by Laura Kaminsky: 25:08 

"Tipat Taluh" [world premiere] for gender wayang by Gusti Komin Darta: 35:16
"Aptiningulun" for gender wayang by Gusti Komin Darta: 42:28

"Black Moon (La Lune Noir) by Major A. Scurlock: 51:16
Discussion with Major A. Scurlock and Kendra J. Ross: 57:17

"Aguazul" by Samuel Torres: 1:09:14

"Goth Song" by Joseph Keckler: 1:20:20
"City" by Joseph Keckler: 1:24:35
"GPS Song" by Joseph Keckler: 1:29:19 



2018 Composers Now Festival Opening Event

Tuesday, January 30, 2018
The Jazz Gallery

The Opening Event of the eighth annual Composers Now Festival featured a vibrant program of music by living composers hosted by Composers Now founder and artistic director, Tania León.

 

Video by Breeanah Breeden

Full Program

Fall 2017 Dialogues Highlights: 1:38
Introduction by Mary Madigan: 7:51

CN Visionary Award to Cecille Wasserman, Cece10:06
CN Visionary Award to Frank J. Oteri: 14:15

"Hiko-Hiko River Talk" by Miya Masaoka: 20:33

"Hallucinations" by Sofia Belimova (Luna Composition Lab): 27:45

"Charm and Strange" by Emma O'Halloran: 32:18

"The Silence of a Falling Star Lights Up a Purple Sky" by Christopher Trapani: 44:15

"Voices of the Enchanted Forest" by Žibouklė Martinaitytē & Ami Yamasaki: 48:43

Scene IV from "The Fall of the House of Usher" by Felix Jarrar: 1:03:36

"Remembrance" by Rufus Reid: 1:15:26




2017 Composers Now Festival Opening Event

Wednesday, February 1, 2017
The DiMenna Center for Classical Music

The Opening Event of the seventh annual Composers Now Festival featured a vibrant program of music by living composers hosted by Composers Now founder and artistic director, Tania León.

Mayor's Proclamation & Visionary Awards

Mayor Bill de Blasio's Proclamation: 00:00
     Wednesday, February 1, 2017, as Composers Now Festival Day
     Presented by Kathleen Hughes, Assistant Commissioner of DCLA 2017

Visionary Award to Muhal Richard Abrams: 06:08
2017 Visionary Award to Thomas Buckner: 10:08
2017 Visionary Award to Pauline Oliveros (posthumously): 14:42

 

Performances

 

Videos by Alexey Gorokholinskiy & Nan Melville

Full Program

"Four+" by Muhal Richard Abrams: 1:20

"Strum" by Jessie Montgomery13:02

Video Screening from their Fall 2016 Pocantico Residency: 21:59
     
Sasha Zamler-Carhart, composer/singer
     Ngô Thanh Phu'o'ng, choreographer

"Three Improvisations on Poetic Texts" by Zamler-Carhart/Rauh/Greenberg: 27:57
   
 I. "Le vierge, le vivace" (Stéphane Mallarmé)
     II. "Ar vei bru" (Raimbaut d'Aurenga)
     III. "On the Resurrection" (Romanos)

"The Trip, Part I: The Bus – Tableau Uno, "The Midterm" by Paris Lavidis43:08
"Odysseus Meets Telemachus" by Michelle David: 48:19

"Extemporary Meditation for Solo Percussion" by Tyshawn Sorey: 56:18

Video Screening from their Fall 2016 Pocantico Residency: 01:07:41
     Tania Ko & Yasuno Miyauchi, composers

We've Got Our Eye on You by Nkeiru Okoye: 01:13:06
     "The Cooking Song"
     "The Chastity Song"

"Entre Cuerdas" by Edmar Castañeda: 01:25:23
   
 Edmar Castañeda, harp