October 2023 “Answer! Please…” at Columbia | Final Selections Announcement

Hello again, sorry for the long delay!

This event was more of a challenge than usual to coordinate, but thanks to the enthusiasm of Yifei Xu and the continued support of Julian Bennett Holmes, this is finally happening! A truly spectacular program has been chosen from the 300+(!!) submissions we received for this year’s piano recital. The quality of your compositions overwhelmingly surpassed our expectations. In general, combing through large amounts of new music always leads to exciting finds, but this group of submissions was exceptional in every sense.

Yifei Xu is a new piano music expert and was also impressed, and we really think you’ll enjoy the program she created. In Yifei’s words:

The idea of the entire program started from the piece Rodney Waschka II – Suite for Piano, after reading the program note, knowing that it regards to a patient-level meta-analysis septic shock treatment; whereas discovering the Three Lyric Pieces by Lawrence Kramer which is derived from Alban Berg’s Lyric Suite, who died also from SEPSIS! What a coincidence! His fatal number 23, becomes his patient number, and playing only the 2nd and 3rd movement with the 2nd and 3rd order on the program. Ending with the piece inspired by Franz Schubert, but, a frozen one.

Definitely a wonderful coincidence! From the submissions, a very unique multimedia program has emerged, given that so many of the selections involve extended techniques and other special performance practices. This program really emphasizes the “Contemporary” part of our namesake, and we hope that you will tune in to Columbia’s livestream of the event. If you can’t make that, as always it’ll be on our YouTube channel shortly after the livestream. The concert will take place in late January, precise date pending.

Without further ado, the final selections for Yifei Xu’s recital “Answer! Please…” at Columbia:

1. Brian FieldThree Passions for our tortured planet – Movement 2
2. Jianing Yang And dreaming is the end of reality days – Movements 1 & 2
3. Rodney Waschka IISuite for Piano (Complete)
4. Paul Salerni Pop Quiz #1 (Complete)
5. Clifton CallenderMeditations on a Warming Planet – Movement 1
6. Richard Derby Fantasy
7. Joao Pedro Oliveiraff(Frozen…) – Movement 3 “Frozen Franz”
8. Andrew List“From The Temple of Dendera” – Movements Hathor, Anubis, and Sphinx
9. Lawrence Kramer Three Lyric Pieces – Movements 2 & 3

Congratulations!

-NYCCMS

Tons of New Videos & an Update!

Hello composers! 

We are very excited to be able to deliver to you the fruits of our collective labor over the last few months! Sixteen brand-new pieces composed by NYCCMS composers have been uploaded to our YouTube channel, and are ready to soothe your ears and calm your nerves at your convenience. 

These performances are of course by the Bowery Trio, and flutist Jonah Murphy. Please do catch up with them if you like what you hear. 

It’s a turning point for NYCCMS, in that we have a small handful of complete events behind us now! The incredible music we’ve managed to make together is only the beginning, but it’s very nice to have it cataloged as proof of our accomplishments. We hope you are as happy with the results as we are, and that you are finding good use for the recordings. 

Jonah’s recordings will be released all at once following the livestream premiere of the full concert on YouTube this weekend! 

One final update – 

Another call for scores for solo piano will go live this September! We look forward to reviewing your submissions in the Fall. 

Have a good rest of your Summer, 

NYCCMS 

 

 

April 2022 Bowery Trio Final Selections Announcement

Thank you to all the composers from around the world who shared their music with us! As always, we appreciate very much the opportunity to listen to brand new classical music written by composers from around the world. This event with The Bowery Trio is special to us, as this project involves musicians displaced by the pandemic. It has been an inspiration to watch them navigate the challenges of the pandemic, finding a way to practice together and stay strong even when their primary abode may, at times, be in states thousands of miles apart. We very much hope you join us in enjoying their performance coming very soon in April. 

And last but not least, a huge congratulations to the winners of this project’s call for scores! 

Tres Bailes Latinos – Craig Peaslee

The Light that is Felt – Rachel DeVore Fogarty

Without Them, What Remains? – Kirsten Volness

Pop-up Brahms in Pop – Minato Sakamoto

Aurora Dances – Anthony Esland

November Tide – Daniel Crozier

And all that Jazz – Brian T. Field

Choro Steps – Jimmy Kachulis

Run River Run – Sarah Evans

Resolve – Rain Worthington

 

  

April 29th, 7:30PM – NYCCMS Presents Flutist Jonah Murphy – Symphony Space NYC

In yet another Spring concert, we are thrilled to have Jonah Murphy at Symphony Space NYC taking the time to dig deep into your scores and present a recital of them. This year is a bit of an experiment. We are working with quite a few different musicians, and therefore instruments, within a short timespan. The flute is a staple instrument of contemporary composition for solo instrumentalists, so it seems like a fitting conclusion to this trifecta of Spring concert dates. 

If you haven’t already seen Jonah’s lovely performance, please take a look at our “Listen & Roster” page to find the video recording of it along with the rest of our documented music-making! 

April 12, 6:30PM – The Bowery Trio at Columbia University

Our biggest event yet! A big thank you to the outsized number of contributors to this call for scores, we were truly surprised at the amount of music to choose from to give to the Bowery Trio. They are extremely pleased to be trying out all this wonderful music, and I’m told they can’t wait to put together a program with it. 

A huge reason why we are so grateful for our partnership with Columbia University is the fact that when we have the opportunity to present music to you there, we can livestream it! 

Livestream and attendance information available here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYHgmpUzmH2FkI_q4OZ_mVg.

If you missed the livestream, and are perusing these posts in the distant future, you can find everything neatly organized on the “Listen & Roster” page. 

March 13th, 7PM – NYCCMS Presents Timpanist/Percussionist Jeffery Kautz

For our first concert of 2022, which will be a packed year of amazing concerts we are very excited about, Jeffery Kautz will be performing pieces by NYCCMS submitters! As always, it was an absolute pleasure for NYCCMS and Jeffery to peruse your music. It really is a pleasure we do not take for granted. As we enter calendar year three of a pandemic, seeing innovative new music still being written is a breath of fresh air in an otherwise gloomy environment. 

Be sure to tune into the recordings that will be posted to our YouTube channel and Facebook page. You can easily access links to those platforms on our “Listen & Roster” page. 

March 2022 Percussion Final Selections Announcement

Thank you to all the composers from around the world who shared their music with us! It was a joy getting to know all your music as always, and we hope you will join us in congratulating the composers selected for performance in Dix Hills, New York. There were once again a significant amount of engaging works, and we have a list of semi-finalists to check out if you are curious about meeting some high quality contemporary composers. 

Selected for recording by Jeffrey Kautz: 

Sun — Daniel Zlatkin

Collapsar — Ethan Prado

Spring’s Rhythms — Ky Nam Nguyen 

Sonatina for Four Timpani — Arpad Solti 

Tetraptych for Solo Timpani — Alex Yucheng Zhang

Semi-finalists:

Alexander Liebermann
Jonathan Newmark
Maurício De Bonis
Xuesi Xu
Daniel Dorff
Linda Dusman
Aidan Gold
Pablo Rubino
Anthony Green
Gavin Luther
Giovanni Di Giandomenico
Tim Corpus

Contemporary Narratives with the Zodiac Trio and NYCCMS

We are pleased to share with you a very special collaboration!

The NYC Contemporary Music Symposium presents the Zodiac Trio in a musical journey through six bold, contemporary works for clarinet, violin, and piano. Heralded by Radio France as “A breathtaking ensemble of virtuosity and sensitivity,” the Zodiac Trio has established itself over the past decade and a half as the leading international trio of its kind.

The ensemble continues its commitment to new music with an evening of fresh and exciting takes on the timeless tradition of musical storytelling, featuring five world premieres written for the Zodiac Trio. Tickets include a post-concert wine reception with the performers and composers.

Concert & Ticket Details:

Wednesday October 27 2021 at 7:30 PM EDT – The DiMenna Center

Tickets available at tinyurl.com/zodiactrio.

April 2022 Flute Concert Final Selections Announcement

Thank you to all the composers from around the world who shared their music with us! It was a pleasure listening to your music, and we hope you join us in congratulating the composers selected for performance in New York City. We had so many high-quality submissions that we have a long list of semi-finalists that we think you should check out! Please stay in touch, so that you won’t miss the date of Jonah’s performance in April.

 

Winners – selected for recording by Jonah Murphy:

Wings to Air – Andrea Reinkemeyer

Circle Round – Jimmy Kachulis

Marble – Anna-Louise Walton

Three Miniature Paintings – Anruo Cheng

Tonoi VI – Nick Demos

Scratches of the Wind – Nnirmali Fenn

Semi-finalists:

Greg Bullen

Jorge Tabarés

Blair Whittington

Maciej Kabza

Paride Galeone

Martin Hebel

Brett Austin Eastman

Brian Field 

Adam Torlkensen 

Joanne S. Na

Kevin Leomo

Patrick Wu

F. Destro

Joshua W. Haisch

Leonidas Sakellarides

Frederic Glesser

Devon Osamu Tipp

Ethan Resnik

Videos! Here’s what’s in the works-

We are very pleased to share the product of our first efforts with our composers. If you visit our YouTube channel, you can watch the recordings of all the individual pieces that were performed on April 8th at Columbia University. 

Our next event, Jonah Murphy’s solo flute recital, will have similar such coverage, so rest assured that all of the music that we make, will be shared with everyone regardless if they are or aren’t in New York City to see the concert!