2022 Composers Now Festival Opening Event

Thursday, January 27, 2022, 7:00 PM EST

Livestream on YouTube

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.

The Composers Now Visionary Award recognized members of the arts community who, through their own creative practice and advocacy for others, have made a profound, positive and lasting impact in our culture. This year, the 2022 Composers Now Visionary Award were presented to:

David Del Tredici

(video courtesy of Boosey & Hawkes)
photo by Susan Johann

Mary D. Watkins

"Mamie's Lament" from
Emmet Till: The Opera
Lucia Bradford, mezzo-soprano

"Pap's Song" from
Dark River: The Fannie Lou Hamer Story
  Philip Lima, baritone
  Andrea Chinedu Nwoke, soprano
  Mount Holyoke Symphony Orchestra
Ng Tian Hui, conductor
Darryl V. Jones, director
  (dress rehearsal, April 2014)

The First Commission Award provides young composers with support aimed to encourage artistic potential and creative development. Selected composers receive a Composers Now commission and world premiere. This annual award is generously made possible by Michael Minard. The 2022 First Commission Award was presented to:

Ebun Oguntola

Interim for trio and electronics (2022)

World Premiere
Performed by the
New Thread Quartet
Jonathan Hulting-Cohen, soprano saxophone
Erin Rogers, alto saxophone
Zach Herchen, baritone saxophone

Erin Rogers, mentor

award made possible through the generosity of
Michael Minard and Phyllis Ross

Performance of a new work by composer Seong Ae Kim and visual artist Andre Veloux created during their December 2021 Composers Now Composers Creative Residency, co-produced with the Pocantico Center of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.


Seong Ae Kim	Andre Veloux

The evening also included a 2021 Rohan Chander work performed by pianist Vicky Chow, a performance by Joy Guidry, and composer/trumpeter Jonathan Saraga.


Rohan Chander	Vicky Chow photo by Kaitlin Jane	Joy Guidry photo by Shala Miller	Jonathan Saraga photo by Luke Marantz

Rohan Chander - The Tragedy of Hikikomori Loveless for electronics (2021)
Vicky Chow, keyboards

Joy Guidry - Face to Face (2022)

Jonathan Saraga - Recurring Dream (2012, arr. 2021)
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 and production