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2023 Festival Opening Event
2022 Festival Opening Event
2021 Festival Opening Event
2020 Festival Opening Event
2019 Festival Opening Event
2018 Festival Opening Event
2017 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.
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
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.
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
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.
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
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
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
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
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
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
Fall 2017 Dialogues Highlights: 1:38
Introduction by Mary Madigan: 7:51
CN Visionary Award to Cecille Wasserman, Cece: 10:06
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
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 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
Videos by Alexey Gorokholinskiy & Nan Melville
"Four+" by Muhal Richard Abrams: 1:20
"Strum" by Jessie Montgomery: 13:02
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 Lavidis: 43:08
"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