News and Events
These posts include performances, concerts, recordings, and general activity from ACA, ACA's composers, and music in ACA.
News and events posts from the previous iteration of ACA's website (2009-2024) can be found on the Archived News and Events page.
News and Events
Jan. 29: Jackie Biggs performs Citiscape Piano Concerto 1st mvmt (by H. Leslie Adams) at BYU
BYU PHILHARMONIC: EVENING OF CONCERTOS
Nathan Haines, conductor
One of the most anticipated concerts each year, the Evening of Concertos features the top instrumentalists and singers in the School of Music in this annual showcase. Pianist Jackie Biggs will perform the first movement of the lush concerto Citiscape by H. Leslie Adams. Jackie has been a champion for the music of Adams and other composers, along with her husband and duo partner trombonist Curtis Biggs.
January 29 Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.
CONCERT HALL (MB)
$10–16, ON SALE NOVEMBER 20
The concert will live-stream at 9:30pm eastern time
New Recordings by Matthew Davidson, Contemporary Piano Rags
The Graceful Ghost: Contemporary Piano Rags 1960 – 2021
Matthew de Lacey Davidson
Rivermont Records BSW-3138
Davidson's recent releases include two CD sets totaling five discs. Both albums merit a “deep dive” and are recommended for listening. The Graceful Ghost album is a broad survey of contemporary piano rags composed between 1960 and 2021, some originally recorded and released by Davidson in 1994, others brand new. Thirty-seven works by eighteen composers are packed onto two discs, making this collection a welcome addition to a contemporary Ragtime connoisseur’s listening library.
Stolen Music, released this month, features two previously released discs of Davidson’s original compositions (sixteen works in all). Stolen Music is quite eclectic; the works contained are influenced by musics originating from all around the globe, coming to life here via the transcription of folk music by Davidson and others.
I Had Five Long Years for string quartet (performed by the Solaris String Quartet) is based on a Louisiana prison song, with individual sections sounding more akin to the string music of Shostakovich and Webern. Magyar Rondo for solo viola (played by Rudolf Haken) is Hungarian. The album’s titular piece is a three-movement suite for solo flute of melodies from Appalachia, Africa, and Afghanistan, played by Lisa Goethe-McGinn.
Read MoreFeb 2: Lisa Williamson performs Nightsongs by H. Leslie Adams with Connecticut Symphony
Lisa Williamson performs Nightsongs by H. Leslie Adams with the Connecticut Symphony Orchestra, Feb. 2nd, 2025 at 3pm at Congregation Beth Israel in West Hartford.
Described by the Washington Post as “silvery of voice” and “a showstopper” for performances with Washington National Opera as The Rose in The Little Prince and The Flamingo in the world premiere of Jeanine Tesori’s The Lion, the Unicorn and Me, Lisa Williamson is a versatile soprano who has forged a career that has taken her around the world
Read MoreH & G, A Great and Terrible Story by Allen Shawn, Performances at Eastman School and William Paterson University
H & G, A Great and Terrible Story, set for voices and piano by Allen Shawn will be performed at the Black Box Theatre at Eastman School of Music Jan. 30, 21, Feb. 1, and 2 and also at William Paterson University on April 11-13.
Read MoreT.J. Anderson's orchestration of the Treemonisha Opera Overture by Scott Joplin, performances March 1,2; April 19.
T.J. Anderson's orchestration of the Treemonisha Overture by Scott Joplin is scheduled for performances by the Reno Chamber Orchestra, March 1 and 2, and also by Symphony New Hampshire, Roger Kalia, conductor, at Nashua Center for the Arts on April 19th.
Treemonisha Overture - 2 performances March 1 and 2
Read MoreFeb. 22, March 2. Judith Shatin's Scirocco to be performed by Dale Tsang, pianist
Pianist Dale Tsang will perform Judith Shatin's Scirocco twice under the auspices of Ensemble 4 These Times (E4TT), first on Feb. 22 at 7:30 pm at the Berkeley Piano Club in Berkley, CA, and then on March 2 at 4:00 p.m. at the SF Music Center. Named for the hot wind that sweeps up from the Sahara to the Mediterranean, it is a short whirl of a piece that is newly published by ACA.
Read MoreJudith Shatin's For the Fallen performed by Wanchi Huang, Feb. 8
Judith Shatin's For the Fallen, in the version for violin and electronics commissioned by Wanchi Huang will be performed at Garth Newel Music Center on February 8, at 6 p.m., when she will reprise selections from her recent album Imagining Worlds. The program also includes works by Adolphus Hailstork and John Corigliano.
Read MoreMusic by Tillis and Montgomery - Free Family Concert, Feb. 1
Music by Tillis and Montgomery - Family Concert
Saturday, February 1, 2025 at 12:00 PM
Newark School of the Arts
89 Lincoln Park Newark, NJ 07012
TICKETS
This concert is FREE and open to the public. RSVP is not required.
PROGRAM
Frederick Tillis Spiritual Fantasy No. 12
Jessie Montgomery Strum
ARTISTS
Ashley Horne, violin
Claire Chan, violin
William Frampton, viola
Wayne Smith, cello
Nancy Van de Vate's Six Etudes for Solo Violin, performance in Tel Aviv, Jan. 17
Nancy Van de Vate - Six Etudes for Solo Violin will be performed by Smadar Schidlowsky on Friday, 17 January in the Museum Yafo, Tel Aviv in concert beginning at 12:30pm.
Smadar grew up in Berlin, Germany, where she also started playing the violin. Studying music and violin brought her to the State University of Music Stuttgart, the Guildhall School of Music London and the University of Music Frankfurt. For her musical developement she gained support of various scholarships and foundations like Yehudi Menuhin „Live Music Now“ Stuttgart and the Baden-Württemberg Stipendium.
Read MoreChoral work by Philip Carlsen, with Una Voce Choir, Jan. 31 and Feb. 2
The Una Voce Chamber Choir presents its winter concert series The Sounding Sea will be held Friday Jan. 31st at 7pm and Sunday Feb. 2nd at 2pm at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 1 Middle St. in Brunswick, Maine.
The concert will feature a variety of works in a program featuring music by contemporary standouts Jan Sändstrom, Caroline Shaw, Ēriks Ešenvalds, Eric William Barnum, Jake Runestad, Cecilia McDowall, Matthew Lyon Hazzard, and Maine-based composer Philip Carlsen.
The Sounding Sea, Una Voce Chamber Choir’s 2025 Winter Concert Series, is a richly textured program that evokes both the spirit of adventure, and the need to return to the communities and people we love. Replete with images of seascapes, desert landscapes, and urban milieu, the Sounding Sea weaves together a variety of musical styles to highlight and connect poems that reflect a panoply of human experiences.
Read MoreMusic of Philip Carlsen, Farnsworth Concert Series, Jan. 15
New songs by Philip Carlsen for the Resinosa Ensemble, collectively called "Three Paintings," will be premiered next week at the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland. The songs are "Dark Winter," "Woman and the Nautilus," and "Bella Above," using poems by Jeri Theriault that were inspired by paintings. Also on the program by Carlsen will be "Moving Day" for cello and piano.
Farnsworth Concert Series: Resinosa Ensemble
January 15 @ 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Free admission to the museum following the performance, as the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland, Maine, welcomes the Resinosa Ensemble for the fourth installment of its Concert Series. The trio, comprised of Joëlle Morris, mezzo-soprano; Bridget Convey, piano; and Eliza Meyer, cello, combines a love of chamber music with offering innovative programing.
Music of Hubert Howe, David Mecionis, Dana Richardson, and more, NYCC, Jan. 23
Thursday, January 23 @ 7:00 PM
Marc A. Scorca Hall
OPERA America's National Opera Center
330 7th Ave, 7th Floor, New York, New York
New York Composers Circle Presents:
New Music by Hubert Howe:
Harmonic Fantasy No. 8 for electronic sounds
Inharmonic Fantasy No. 18 for clarinet and electronic sounds
Paul Aljian - Sonatina for Flute
Galen H. Brown - Night Machines for piano
Emiko Hayashi - Three Arabesques for clarinet and piano
David Mecionis - Fragmentary Scenes for piano
Dana Dimitri Richardson - Piano Variations, Book 2
Cameron Wentz - Baixalto for flute
with aritsts Craig Ketter & Blair McMllen, piano
Michiyo Suzuki, clarinet, and Ammon Swinbank, flute
Gen Adm $20
Seniors $15
Students Free
NewYorkComposersCircle.org
New York Women Composers with William Wielgus, oboe, in recital, Dec. 18
William Wielgus, oboe recital, Dec 18th 7:30, Scorca Hall, National Opera Center, 330 7th Ave 7th Floor, NYC
Read MoreEdward Smaldone: "What no one else sees..." Album release Dec. 6
Join us as we celebrate the release of Edward Smaldone's comprehensive new album of music, What No One Else Sees, out in wide release on New Focus Recordings. Bandcamp
1 Beauty of Innuendo
Brno Philharmonic, Mikel Toms Conducting
2 Prendendo Fuoco (Catching Fire)
Royal Scottish National Orchestra,
Mikel Toms conductor, Niklas Sivelöv, piano solo
3 Murmurations
Den Kongelige Livgardes Musikkorps,
Giordano Bellincampi, conductor,
Søren-Filip Brix Hansen, clarinet solo
4 June 2011
Royal Scottish National Orchestra,
Mikel Toms conductor
5–7 What no one else sees…
Opus Zoo Woodwind Quintet
Nov. 15: Album Release of Richard Orlando Thompson's Art Songs, "Life's Sweet Shadows"
From Navona Records:
Celebrated soprano Ellaina Lewis honors composer Richard Thompson's art song oeuvre in LIFE'S SWEET SHADOWS, a recording created in collaboration with masterful sound liberator Joe Williams. Immersed in the rich text of Paul Laurence Dunbar and Langston Hughes, Lewis gives a profoundly emotional performance, her rich timbre pronouncing the story within each song and elevating the complexities of Thompson's compositional style. Lewis shines in each expression, proving equal beauty in the musings of One Life as the joyful call of Passion. Lovingly brought to fruition with the help of many supporters, including the encouragement of pianist Kim Davenport, LIFE'S SWEET SHADOWS is a triumph in art song.
https://www.navonarecords.com/catalog/nv6682/
Read MoreMusic of Louis Karchin with Mise-En Ensemble, New York City, Dec. 8
On Sunday, Dec. 8, at 8:00 PM, ensemble mise-en will present an hour-long program featuring two recent chamber works and two solo pieces by Louis Karchin at the Tenri Institute, in Manhattan. The concert, conducted by Music Director Moon Young Ha, will include As the Circle Opens to Infinity...., an extended seven-instrument composition inspired by the first part of poet H. D.'s Trilogy, The Walls Do Not Fall. Processions III In Memoriam: Kaija Saariaho, for solo violin, will receive its world premiere, and was written in memory of the dearly-missed composer colleague. A new five-instrument version of Karchin's recent Incantations and Dances, and Fanfare/Pavane, composed for flutist Patricia Spencer in 2000, will round out the program.
Tenri Institute
43a West 13th St.
New York, NY
Music of Edward Smaldone, Nov. 10, 12, 13
Remembering Gheorghe Costinescu - with Stephen Gosling in concert, Dec. 7
All are welcome to attend this free event honoring composer Gheorghe Costinescu on Saturday, December 7th at 3pm at the New York City historic landmark Rutgers Presbyterian Church at 236 W 73rd Street at Broadway.
A program of music by the composer will be presented by Silvelin Costinescu, featuring the internationally-known pianist Stephen Gosling, and will include hearing private recordings of music, and viewing artwork and animation films by the composer, followed by a reception at the church.
Born in Bucharest in 1934 and residing in New York since 1969, Gheorghe Costinescu was active as a composer, conductor, pianist, musicologist, and educator.
After studying with Pascal Bentoiu and earning an M.A. in composition from the Bucharest Conservatory under Mihail Jora, he continued his studies with Karlheinz Stockhausen in Cologne and Luciano Berio at The Juilliard School in New York. In 1976 he received a Ph.D. with Distinction from Columbia University.
His chamber, choral, orchestral, and stage music has been performed in major cities in Europe and the United States, and at the Royan, Shiraz-Persepolis, and Tanglewood festivals. His stage work The Musical Seminar, a winner in the League-ISCM National Composers Competition was premiered at Lincoln Center in New York City.
Costinescu was a Fulbright Scholar and also received the Romanian Academy’s George Enescu prize; The Juilliard School’s Alexandre Gretchaninoff Memorial Prize; and fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. He passed away in 2023.
His music is published by American Composers Edition (BMI)
Read MoreNov. 3: Performances of Dana Richardson and Edward Smaldone with Long Island Composers Alliance
This Sunday, works for saxophone by Dana Richardson and Edward Smaldone will be performed by members of the Cobalt Quartet. This concert is presented by the Long Island Composers Alliance, details below:
Sunday, Nov. 3rd 2024
2 p.m. ET
Floyd Memorial Library
539 1st Street
Greenport, NY 11944
Marilyn Shrude: New Music Symposium & Concert at CIM, Nov. 2 and 3
Marilyn Shrude: New Music Symposium -Cleveland Institute of Music :
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 4pm New Music Ensemble -
Concert:
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Start Time 4:00 pm
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Location Mixon Hall
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Ticketing Free — Seating Passes Required
Livestream
Repertoire
- SCHOENBERG Chamber Symphony No. 1, Op. 9 (1906; arr. Webern, 1923)
- SHRUDE Within Silence (2012)
- SHRUDE Secrets (2004)
- SHRUDE Within the Wall (2018/2021)
Performed by
- New Music Ensemble
- Keith Fitch, director
- Marilyn Shrude, guest composer/piano, Kulas Foundation Visiting Artist
- John Sampen, saxophone, Kulas Foundation Visiting Artist
Admission is free, but a reservation is required.
Cleveland Institute of Music
11021 East Boulevard
Cleveland, OH 44106
ALSO:
SATURDAY, NOV. 2:
Kulas Foundation Visiting Artist and guest composer Marilyn Shrude discusses her music.
Event Details
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Start Time 4:00 pm
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Location Room 217
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Ticketing Free — No Tickets or Seating Passes Required
Location
Cleveland Institute of Music
11021 East Boulevard
Cleveland, OH 44106




















