SONiC - Sounds of a New Century - a brand new festival of 21st century music by more than 100 composers age 40 and under, will take over New York from Friday, October 14 through Saturday, October 22, 2011. Events will range from a daylong marathon to an electronic music night, from a free symphony concert at the World Financial Center Winter Garden to collaborations between emerging choreographers and composers. SONiC concerts will take place at eleven different venues throughout New York, and will include performances by 16 extraordinary ensembles featuring at least 18 world premieres, eight US premieres, and eight New York premieres. SONiC is co-curated by composer Derek Bermel and pianist Stephen Gosling, and is a production of American Composers Orchestra and The Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University. SONiC is presented in partnership with Carnegie Hall and Miller Theatre at Columbia University. New York Public Radio's online radio station, Q2, is the media partner and digital venue. See complete schedule and program information at the end of this release.
SONiC aims to present a snapshot of the broad array of new music being composed today - from serialism to minimalism, world music and jazz to indie rock, string quartet to electric guitar quartet. Bermel explains, "The festival is a window into the vast and diverse worlds that musicians are exploring today. There are no more aesthetic or stylistic barriers out there; SONiC is offering a whirlwind showcase for the boundless creativity of our contemporary composers."
SONiC launches on October 14 with ACO's season-opening concert, Orchestra Underground: 21st Firsts, presented by Carnegie Hall at Zankel Hall, with an all-world premiere program featuring music by five up-and-coming composers: Kenji Bunch, who premieres his own concerto for amplified viola and orchestra; Christopher Stark, winner of ACO's 2010 Underwood Emerging Composer Commission; Alex Temple whose piece is for soprano Mellissa Hughes, live electronics and orchestra; Andreia Pinto-Correia, a composer identified through ACO's national EarShot new music readings network; and Wang Lu, who is creating a multimedia work for video and orchestra. The program will be led by ACO Music Director George Manahan.
Other highlights of SONiC include eighth blackbird performing the world premiere of a new work by Bruno Mantovani alongside music by Dan Visconti, Timo Andres, Caleb Burhans and more; Either/Or in music by Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood (for an ensemble that includes two ondes martenots) and Keeril Makan; Brazil's Camerata Aberta in works by Latin and North American composers; Holland's Ensemble Klang in music by 2011 Rome Prize winner Sean Friar, Kate Moore, Pete Harden and Oscar Bettison; International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) in a signature ICElab concert at The Kitchen featuring Du Yun, Marcos Balter, Nathan Davis, Steve Lehman, and more; and Alarm Will Sound in a world premiere by David T. Little, plus New York premieres by Matt Marks and Aleksandra Gryka, music by Nico Muhly and Stefan Freund, and arrangements of Aphex Twin.
SONiC showcases the breadth and depth of emerging composers working today in Extended Play, an all-day marathon event on Sunday, October 16 that begins at noon at Columbia's Miller Theatre. JACK Quartet plays the role of host ensemble, with performances interspersed throughout the day. Other performers include Talea Ensemble, The New York Virtuoso Singers, Dither, Imani Winds, PRISM Quartet, Young People's Chorus of New York City, and NOW Ensemble.
SONiC concludes on Saturday, October 22 with a free concert by ACO at the World Financial Center Winter Garden, presented by Arts World Financial Center as part of WNYC's New Sounds Live. Entitled American Pie, this full symphony orchestra performance features the world premiere of a new ACO commission by The National's Bryce Dessner, to be performed by the orchestra with brothers Bryce and Aaron Dessner as guitar soloists. The program also includes a world premiere by Paul Yeon Lee, an alumnus of ACO's 2001 Emerging Composer Readings; and New York premieres by: Ruby Fulton, alumna of ACO's Underwood Readings class of 2008, with her alt-kitch Road Ranger Cowboy; Ryan Gallagher, whose Grindhouse celebrates Hollywood's gritty B-Movie tradition, and was discovered last year at EarShot Readings with the Nashville Symphony; Andrew Norman, whose energetic loop-based Unstuck spins off in propulsive energy; and Suzanne Farrin, whose Infinite Here explores resonances through the orchestra and into the open space of the Winter Garden. The event marks the first time in ACO's history that it has performed a free concert. It will be hosted by WNYC's John Schaefer, rebroadcast on New Sounds and broadcast live on New York Public Radio's online radio station, Q2.
