News and Events

Jan 25: Music of Dana Richardson, Edward Smaldone, Catherine Neville, Jay Gach, and more, LICA New York series

Dec. 12: Album release - Earl Louis Stewart: RHYTHM OF THE SPIRIT VOL. 1

Rhythm Sonatas 2, 5, and 12 by Earl Louis Stewart have been released by Navona Records, featuring the artists Hope Easton, cello; Sidney Hopson, vibraphone; Thomas Mellan, harpsichord; and Benjamin Ring, drums.
Listen here.

RHYTHM OF THE SPIRIT VOL. 1 from Earl Louis Stewart makes a bold statement: that America’s music — born of sorrow, improvisation, resistance, and joy — belongs within the same canon as Bach or Palestrina. Stewart’s fugues, canons, counterfugues, and retrogrades are written with the strictness of Europe’s 16th and 18th century conventions, yet pulse with the syncopation and soul of ragtime, blues, and jazz.

Review translation: Reading the biography of the African American musician Earl Louis Stewart (b. 1950), one comes across the definition of a composer of “intellectual jazz.” This is an expression that might make jazz musicians and aficionados of the genre cringe. Yet, by delving more deeply into the composer’s work—and above all by listening to his music—it becomes clear that this is in fact a perfectly apt description of his poetics, devoid of any attempt at cultural appropriation or (supposed) cultural elevation.

Stewart has collaborated with major figures in jazz—most notably Julian “Cannonball” Adderley and Kent Jordan—and has conducted several jazz ensembles. More importantly, as a great lover of both classical polyphonic tradition and Afro-American musical traditions, he has sought—and successfully achieved—a synthesis of these two worlds. The result is a substantial catalogue of works in which the contrapuntal art of Bach and Palestrina merges with the harmonies and rhythms of jazz, ragtime, and blues.

The three sonatas recorded here—entitled Rhythm Sonatas Nos. 2, 5, and 12—are a perfect example of this approach. Each is structured as a suite, whose individual movements develop fugues, counter-fugues, canons, and retrograde motions, infusing them with swing and syncopated rhythms. The instrumentation itself—harpsichord, cello, vibraphone, and drums—reflects this dual musical and cultural dimension, producing fresh and engaging sonorities.

The result—thanks also to the masterful interpretation by the musicians involved, who are able to combine attention to formal detail with a vibrant, groove-rich sound—is unquestionably successful and engaging. Some movements may perhaps resemble one another, but the listener’s attention is always sustained and curiosity continually stimulated. I recommend listening to this CD both to jazz enthusiasts and to devotees of classical music.

Jan 31, Feb 1: Program including Sonitudes by Robert Hughes, Left Coast, Berkeley and San Francisco

Left Coast Chamber Ensemble will perform Sonitudes by Robert Hughes as a part of its Metamorphosen program on January 31 in Berkeley, and February 1 in San Francisco. 

Program

Richard Strauss - Metamorphosen
for septet

Luciano Berio - Sequenza XIVb
for double bass

Hendel Almetus - Tounen
for solo flute

Robert Hughes - Sonitudes
for flute and cello

Sonitudes, written in December 1970, was commissioned by Gene Hambelton as a Christmas present for his wife Patrice, an accomplished flutist, and for his son Craig, a talented cellist. The first movement unfolds with a quasi-Japanese “kokko” rhythm and supine koto position of the cello played with a drumstick. The rhapsodic second movement features the cello; the third movement “Serenade,” the most complicated section, demands great care in the synchronization of the free-sounding cross rhythms. The final “Caprice” is a technical tour de force for the flutist. Due to the time required to master the flute part, the piece has the aspect of an “etude,” yet the extension of its sonorities by the cello make it a serious concert piece, a “sonorous etude,” and, hence its title, Sonitudes. The work will be performed by Stacey Pelinka on flute and Leighton Fong on cello. Sonitudes is paired with other works that extract maximum power from small forces.

Jan 11-25: Music of Edward Smaldone, Catherine Neville, Jay Gach, Dana Richardson and more, New York

Jan 31: Women of Valor with New Gallery Concert Series, Longy School of Music

WOMEN of VALOR

Featuring visual artist
Zahirah Nur Truth

An artistic exploration of women’s strengths, struggles, perseverance, and leadership

JANUARY 31, 2026
7pm
Pickman Hall, Longy School of Music, 27 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA

Featuring
visual artist ZAHIRA NUR TRUTH (ZNT)
and

compositions by

ANTHONY R. GREEN, MARY KOUYOUMDJIAN,
FRANCINE TRESTER, and COLE REYES,
and spoken word by AMANDA SHEA
with performances by
AMANDA SHEA, spoken word artist
CARRIE CHERON, voice
KELLEY HOLLIS, voice
FRANCINE TRESTER, violin
DÍJÍ KAY, flute
DR. SEYCHELLE DUNN-CORBIN, saxophone
SARAH BOB, piano

August 26-29, 2026 Matthew Welch Music, The Stone Residency

MATTHEW WELCH (b.1976) - 50th Birthday Celebration @ THE STONE (NYC) Save the dates

August 26

MATTHEW WELCH: STRING QUARTETS featuring Flux Quartet Tom Chiu (violin), Conrad Harris (violin), Josh Henderson (viola), Rubin Kodheli (cello)

Flux Quartet has played Welch since 2004. Flux will give the New York premieres of Welch’s String Quartet No. 2 (Lament for the Dead) and String Quartet No. 3 (Terra Incognita).

08/27 MATTHEW WELCH: MUSIC FOR PIANO featuring Isabelle O’Connell
Isabelle O’Connell (piano), Matthew Welch (piano)

Isabelle O’Connell plays Welch’s 12 Piano Etudes (2015). Welch also plays an early piano work ORION (1998).

08/28 EUDIMORPHODON
Matthew Welch (bagpipes), Dan Plonsey (sax)

EUDIMORPHODON, is an early pterosaur AND a new duo with Dan Plonsey (saxophones+) and Matthew Welch (bagpipes+). Featuring compositions and improvisations by both for this unique combination of reeds, Plonsey and Welch dig deep into their love for odd creatures and characters to summon forth wild sonic beasts of imagination.

08/29 DREADNOUGHTUS
Matthew Welch (bagpipes, electronics), Joel Nelson (electric guitar, electronics), Jeremiah Cymerman (bass clarinet, electronics)

Masters of Drone wield a set-length work of ecstatic texture and glacial scale.

Jan 22: New York Composers Circle at Tenri Institute, New York, 7pm

Tickets are now on sale for the next concert of the 2025-2026 Concert Season of the New York Composers Circle. 

Coming up, 

December performances: Aaron Larget-Caplan, Guitarist, composer, Denver

Guitarist-composer Aaron Larget-Caplan will return to Denver, Colorado for a series of concerts with the choir Kantorei under the direction of Joel M. Rinsema, titled ‘Silent Nights‘. There will be 5 performances in the Denver area on the first and third weekends. Of special note, is the premiere of ‘Cider Meditation,’ a piece the composer wrote this year for Kantorei.

Also ALC will return to Cherry Creek High School, his alma mater, as well as a give residency for the Aspen Music Festival and School, and a house concert in Taos, New Mexico.

Aspen Music School and Festival: a two-day residency (12/8-9) where I will visit Lead Guitar programs in Carbondale and Basalt to work with young guitarists and aspiring musicians. Details on the calendar

Bravo! Vail: 12/12 – performing and discussing being a professional musician at Black Mountain High School and the Community College. 

CCHS: perform Jeffrey Van’s ’14 Angels’ at Cherry Creek High School with the advanced chamber choir, the Meistersingers, under Sarah Branton on December 5 & 10. (Dec. 5 info)

TAOS: Larget-Caplan returns to Taos, New Mexico for a solo performance in El Prado. The performance includes a preview of pieces from my upcoming album, Guitar America 250. Info HERE.

Nov 8: New publication - Emanuele Arciuli's "Antologia pianistica..." 23 piano works by Italian and American composers

On November 8, 2025 the Italian music publishing house Edizioni Curci (Milano) unveiled its "Antologia pianistica di composizioni contemporanee", which includes 23 piano works by Italian and American composers, including Richard Cameron-Wolfe's "Invocations of the Aetherwind", the work published by arrangement with ACA.

This collection, curated by Italian pianist Emanuele Arciuli, himself a devoted champion of late-20th-early-21st-century music, serves as an informative introduction to post-Classical piano repertoire for young pianists, and in fact involved many Italian piano students in the production of the anthology. Soon to be available and distributed in the USA, it is currently available through the publisher, and from Amazon's Italian site.

Feb. 7: Wind Hymn by Robert Carl with SDSO

South Dakota Symphony Orchestra will premiere Wind Hymn by Robert Carl. A tone poem for orchestra, Wind Hymn is set in two movements played without pause. The first, “Aerial View“ evokes the view of a wind farm, as a series of wind turbines seen from a great enough distance that each one has a distinct character, parsed into the different string sections. The second, “Surface View", subdivides the strings so as to create a weaving micropolyphony, as though one is walking amidst the turbines. 

Delta David Gier, conductor
Lio Kuok-Wai, piano
Program:
Brahms / Symphony No. 3
Carl / Wind Hymn (World Premiere)
Beethoven / Piano Concerto No. 3

Location: 

Nov 15, 21, 22: Music of Gilbert Galindo - performances and recording release, New York City

Composer Gilbert Galindo's "When will You dry our eyes?" for saxophone and piano will be released on the upcoming album, "On The Verge" featuring the Todd Rewoldt & Jai Jeffryes Duo on Friday, November 21, 2025 by Composers Concordance Records. 

On Saturday, November 22, 7:00PM Steel Wig Music will celebrate the release. Join us (limited seating!). Also, the diminutive string quartet "La Esperanza de la Gente" written in honor of Jovita Idár, a Mexican-American & Tejana journalist, activist, and suffragist who lived in the first half of the 20th century will be performed by the Carnegie Mellon Contemporary Ensemble on Saturday, November 15.

Details: 

Steel Wig Music, Composers Concordance presents the Album Release Concert for the Todd Rewoldt & Jai Jeffryes Duo, celebrating their new album "On The Verge" (on Composers Concordance Records). This dynamic program highlights bold new directions in contemporary music, featuring works from the album by Gilbert Galindo, Jane Getter, and Eugene W. McBride, along with world premieres by Seth Boustead, Kitty Brazelton, and Jai Jeffryes. The evening will also showcase Gene Pritsker’s When Creatures Stir, featuring a poem by Peter Christian Hall and Dave Soldier’s El Amanecer.

Saturday, November 15, the Carnegie Mellon Contemporary Ensemble performs recent music, featuring collaboration, technology, improvisation, and theatrical elements. Gilbert Galindo's string quartet "La Esperanza de la Gente" will be performed. If you're in the Pittsburgh area, the concert is free.

Saturday, November 15, 2025, 7:30PM
Kresge Theatre, College of Fine Arts
5000 Forbes Avenue
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213

Dec. 7, 2025: Sacco, Mozart, Dohnányi, and a Special CD Signing, Alaria Ensemble, Carnegie Hall

Alaria Chamber Ensemble will present an afternoon concert, featuring:

• SACCO: Kaya Songs for Viola and Piano

• MOZART: String Quintet in G Minor, K. 516

• DOHNÁNYI: Piano Quintet No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 1

During the intermission, we invite you to meet our wonderful artists, Tzu-En Lee and David Oei, as they will be available to sign copies of their recently released CD “Kaya Songs.” It's a fantastic opportunity to connect with them and take home some new music!

Your attendance at this concert directly supports the mission and artistic endeavors of the Alaria Chamber Ensemble.

August 2025: New Album - Trumpet and Saxophone Duo, with music of T.J. Anderson and more

Composite Brass Duo at Oklahoma State University Greenwood School of Music have released a new album, "Echo Chamber."  Professors Joe Cooper and Johnny Salinas have collaborated to record music as Composite Brass Duo. The musicians met at OSU's Greenwood School of Music. During the pandemic, they came up with the idea to form the duo. The idea sprouted after they noticed there was a lack of music for trumpet and saxophone duos. From there, they set out to create more saxophone and trumpet music that features a modern sound.

Album features music by T.J. Anderson, Matthew Howell, Amy Dunker, Mat Campbell, Igor Karača and Béla Bartók. 

Listen on any platform here.

Nov 10, 15 Music of Scott L. Miller, St. Paul, MN with Figure and Ground, and Miller-Vidiksis-Wells

Nov. 1st: Oberlin Conservatory’s Contemporary Music Ensemble performs the premiere of David Liptak’s "Still Dancing"

Timothy Weiss leads the Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble in a Warner Concert Hall performance on November 1st at 7:30 pm. The premiere of David Liptak’s Still Dancing is featured along with works by Justin Weiss, Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, and Oberlin student composer Oliver Hecht, whose composition After Rain is also a premiere. The concert will be webcast live.

More information about this concert and a link to the webcast is found here: https://www.oberlin.edu/events/concert-contemporary-music-ensemble-9938 

Nov. 7 Concert Retrospective on the Music of Robert Carl, Bard College

Friday Nov. 7, 7 PM

Music of Robert Carl

Venue: Bito Performance Space in the Bard College Conservatory. 

Program:
Floating Fanfare in two versions—solo sax and sax plus “piano resonator” *
Wanderers for “extended pianist”
ColdNightSnow for two concert glockenspiels
A Clean Sweep for two shakuachis and fixed media
Splectar for electric guitar with Max processing
Infinity Avenue for improvising ensemble and real-time Max patch

*Premiere 

Works date from 2004 to 2018, in a mini-portrait of the recent works by Robert Carl. Artists  featured: Matt Sargent, guitar; Elizabeth Brown, shakuhachi; Andrew Attock, piano; Mike Jones and Tony Kirk, glockenspiels; and more. 

Nov 15: APNM 2025 Electronic and Multimedia Concert, New York City

APNM presents works by member composers and the winners of our 2025 Call-for-Works. The concert includes works by Sang Mi Ahn, Rodrigo Pascale, Joel Gressel, Maurice Wright, Solomon Kim, Kevin Ramsay, Louis Goldford, and Ryan Pratt.

Nov. 8, 9 & 15: Chorus Premieres by T.L. Read

Two choruses by Thomas L. Read, Misgivings and Blow Thou Winter Wind, commissioned by Social band.org, will receive first performances by that choir in November at venues in Vermont: 8th in Richmond, 9th in Hinesburg, 15th in Burlington, and 16th in Charlotte. Scores are published by ACA. 

Nov. 28, 2025 Arctic Explorations opera by Michael Dellaira, recording release on Naxos

Nov 7, 9, 10: Music of Edward Smaldone, and in Italy Nov 9, 14, 22, 23