American Composers Orchestra Announces 2024-2025 Season Highlights

The American Composers Orchestra has announced its 2024-2025 season highlights. This upcoming season brings ACO's annual series presented by Carnegie Hall, including The New Virtuoso: Borders, led by Mei-Ann Chen, featuring works that question the nature and effect of political, gender, and ecological borders by Michael Abels, Kebra-Seyoun Charles, Curtis Stewart, Paul Novak, and Victoria Polevá, performed by Mak Grgić, Inbal Segev, Kebra-Seyoun Charles, and Curtis Stewart; and Hello, America: Transatlantic, which features music from various parts of Latin America and examines its influence on jazz and “classical” music in the U.S., including ACO commissions from Clarice Assad, Edmar Castañeda, and Tomàs Peire Serrate; interactive live performances of Austin Wintory's GRAMMY-Nominated Score for video game Journey at BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) presented by Ode to Joy; as well as national EarShot Readings, regional orchestral premieres of the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation Orchestral Commission works, and the support of three newly-announced New York Community Trust Van Lier Fellows.

On October 30, 2024, ACO performs The New Virtuoso: Borders at Zankel Hall in Carnegie Hall. The New Virtuoso is a series of programs featuring works that defy genre expectations for a solo instrument, and in doing so carve out novel texture, affect and technique in Symphonic composition. With conductor Mei-Ann Chen on the podium, this concert features guitarist Mak Grgić, cellist Inbal Segev, and violinist Curtis Stewart. American Composers Orchestra will perform new work, commissioned by ACO and developed via EarShot CoLABoratory as a World Premiere, by CoLABoratory Fellow Kebra-Seyoun Charles; Paul Novak, whose work, Forest Migrations, is an EarShot Readings commission and World Premiere; and ACO Artistic Director Curtis Stewart's ACO commission, Embrace; alongside Michael Abels' Borders and Victoria Polevá's The Bell.

On October 15, 2024, American Composers Orchestra hosts Raise Up!: 2024 Gala and Creative Catalyst Awards at Bryant Park Grill in New York City. This annual gala, co-chaired by Dr. Indira Etwaroo, Melin Tan-Geller, MD, and Lana Turner, honors the contributions of creatives working in the contemporary orchestral music space whose impact will resonate for years to come. Honorees include Regina Carter, ‍MacArthur Fellow, Doris Duke Award recipient and multi-GRAMMY Award nominated violinist, Hollis King, ‍Emeritus Creative Director and VP, Verve Group, and the BMI Foundation, Inc., which supports creators of American music through awards, scholarships, grants and commissions. Regina Carter, Claudia Acuña, Kebra-Seyoun Charles, and Harlem Samba will perform.

On December 6 and 7, 2024, ACO performs at BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) with composer and conductor Austin Wintory for an original, interactive live performance of Wintory's Grammy-nominated score for iconic video game Journey, “the most beautiful game of its time" (IGN). Never the same each time it is played, Journey LIVE is an interactive parable, marking an unprecedented formal exploration in which live musicians respond to the actions of video game players—in real time—on stage. In this alchemical collision of mediums, BAM teams up with composer/conductor Austin Wintory, American Composers Orchestra, and Ode to Joy to present an original, interactive live performance.

On March 6, 2025, ACO returns to Carnegie Hall for Hello, America: Transatlantic, featuring music from various parts of Latin America and its influence on jazz and “Classical” music in the United States. Conductor Tito Muñoz leads ACO in the performance of works including Clarice Assad's Evolution of AI, an ACO Commission and World Premiere; CoLABoratory Fellow Edmar Castañeda's new work; the World Premiere Arrangement of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda's Going Home; Tania León's work Ácana, and Tomàs Peire Serrate, whose new work is an EarShot Readings commission. Guest artists Clarice Assad (vocals and electronics), Edmar Castañeda (harp), and percussion ensemble Harlem Samba join ACO onstage. Both Carnegie Hall programs feature works commissioned and developed by American Composer Orchestra's signature EarShot Readings. This concert is part of Carnegie Hall's season-long Nuestros sonidos festival.

American Composer Orchestra's signature EarShot Readings, a collaboration with American Composers Forum, the League of American Orchestras, and New Music USA, continue in the 2024-2025 season. This eight month professional development process for composers with finished orchestral scores culminates in multi-day in-person Readings with a professional orchestra. On October 28–29, 2024, EarShot Readings: National Arts Centre Orchestra will be presented by Canada's National Arts Centre in Ottawa with Henry Kennedy, the National Arts Centre Orchestra's newly-appointed Resident Conductor, and Jimmy López Bellido, Ana Sokolović and Dinuk Wijeratne acting as mentor composers. On June 5–6, 2025, EarShot Readings: American Composers Orchestra will be presented in Neidorff-Karpati Hall at the Manhattan School of Music. Additional partnerships will be announced later in the season as more information becomes available. American Composers Orchestra will also award a $15,000 commission to one Readings participant.

After a highly successful EarShot Readings collaboration with Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music during the 2023-24 season, ACO partners with IU once again in a new model that will include an initial set of composer workshops with orchestra in March 2025, followed by EarShot Readings in the fall of 2025 featuring newly composed works emerging from the spring workshops and subsequent mentorship sessions. Within this new model, working with IU faculty, ACO staff, and mentor composers, EarShot participants will have the opportunity to deepen both the collaborative processes and levels of creativity in the creation of new orchestral works.

EarShot Readings is a national composer development program that serves as the nation's first systemic program for building relationships between composers and orchestras nationwide, promoting diverse talent and cultivating the careers of composers.

As a vital conduit for new voices in orchestral music, EarShot presents three major programs: Readings with orchestras around the country to mentor and promote new composing talent, CoLABoratory Fellowships, advancing work by composers whose work is experimental or rooted in underrepresented traditions, and Commissions, providing opportunities for last year's featured EarShot composers to compose new works for major orchestras.

EarShot CoLABoratory Residencies, for composers with an idea but no written score, advance the work of artists whose work is experimental or underrepresented in the orchestral repertoire. In 2025, Indigenous artists Suzanne Kite, Laura Ortman, Michael Begay, and Raven Chacon will workshop their first orchestral pieces, which the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and Tucson Symphony Orchestra will premiere. Tucson Symphony Orchestra continues their workshop partnership with EarShot CoLABoratory Residencies this season, and they are joined by South Dakota Symphony Orchestra. Kebra-Seyoun Charles, Joseph C. Phillips, Jr., Edmar Castañeda, Mali Irene, Kian Ravaei, Horacio Fernández Vázquez, Jordyn Davis, Mazz Swift, and Shelley Washington will also complete residencies.

ACO partners with The Juilliard School (NYC), Bienen School of Music (Chicago), Eastman School of Music, University of Rochester (Rochester), Curtis Institute of Music (Philadelphia), and Sphinx (Detroit) on “(Re)loading the Canon,” a commissioning consortium to develop a series of eight minute violin, viola, cello, and bass concertos by Black and Latine composers. Four concertos will be completed during the 2024-2025 season, with premiere performances and recording sessions in fall 2025 and performances at the 2027 Sphinx competition.

American Composers Orchestra's Sonic Spark residencies nurture the imagination through creative rituals and play, cultivating personal, social, and academic growth. In 2024-2025, Sonic Spark will serve 515 students at seven NYC high and middle schools. In response to requests from music teachers working with youth ensembles, American Composers Orchestra is also commissioning a series of works by Black/Latine composers for young musicians to perform from four composers who self-identify as Black and/or Latine and previously participated in EarShot activities. These composers, including inti figgis-vizueta, Joseph C. Philips, Jr., Kebra-Seyoun Charles, and Michael R. Dudley Jr., will have both versions of their EarShot work – one for professional orchestra and one for youth orchestra – represented by American Composers Orchestra's publishing arm. Launched in 2024, EarShot Publishing administers the rights for select orchestral works developed through its national EarShot composer advancement initiatives, which include Readings, CoLABoratory Fellowships, and other commissioning opportunities. American Composers Orchestra partnered with Boosey & Hawkes, an international leader in classical music publishing, to administer the EarShot Publishing catalog worldwide. Through this initiative, ACO extends composers' EarShot experience by providing access to artist-centric publishing agreements and connections to its national network of orchestras.

American Composers Orchestra continues The Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation Orchestral Commissions Program; established in partnership with League of American Orchestras. Performances from two 30-orchestra consortia established over the last two years continue into next season with supporting commissions by six women and nonbinary EarShot alumni. Each composer writes a six to eight minute orchestral work and develops an educational or community-focused program presented in partnership with each orchestra. In the 2024-2025 season, ten composers will have their works performed by 15 orchestras across the United States: Wang Lu (Aspen, Cincinnati), Sarah Gibson (Idaho State), Brittany Green (Jacksonville, Fayetteville), Gity Razaz (Akron, Berkley), Angel Lam (Jacksonville, Utah, Quad City), Melina Tsui (Naples), Marina Lopez (Grand Rapids), Chelsea Komschlies (Tucson, Vermont), Arlene Sierra (Dallas), and Karena Ingram (Memphis).

ACO's first cohort of The New York Community Trust Van Lier Fellowships kicks off this season. ACO has been awarded a two-year grant of $100,000 to provide 8 to 12 month fellowships to six young composers. The artists selected for a New York Community Trust Van Lier Fellowship were NYC residents who have professional work as a composer at a high artistic standard but have yet to receive a major orchestral commission. Artists receive a commission fee, mentorship, workshops, recordings, and professional premiere, via American Composers Orchestra's EarShot Readings or CoLABoratory Residencies. To select the artists, American Composers Orchestra held multiple open call for scores for its Readings programs in 2023-2024, as well as a specific CoLABoratory open call for ideas in January 2024. Artists selected for the first cohort of Fellows include composers Kebra-Seyoun Charles, Malachi Brown, and Jordyn Davis.

The New York Community Trust's Edward and Sally Van Lier Fellowship Program provides support for talented young professionals (aged 18 to 30) from historically underrepresented populations who are dedicated to a career in the arts. Grants help arts groups provide young professional artists living and working in New York City with paid opportunities to create and present new work, as well as training, mentorship, and other support. Fellowships are intended to help young working artists achieve a significant professional credit that can lead to future opportunities and advance their careers.

A 2024-2025 CoLABoratory fellow and The New York Community Trust Van Lier Fellow, Kebra-Seyoun Charles's commissioned work Bass Concerto (Nightlife) will see its world premiere with the American Composers Orchestra on October 30, 2024 at Zankel Hall in Carnegie Hall. Charles said, “The piece combines multiple styles and genres; a language I call counter-classicism. Mirroring the way people listen to music today, I seamlessly move between genres and rhythms, a quality that likens this piece to a playlist. I compose on the train often where I listen to music from Korngold, Mahler, and Bach. Then upon entering any concert venue, I'm met with music from SZA or Frankie Knuckles. Bass Concerto, subtitled Nightlife, is an exploration of the core tenet of music: dance. Throughout history, music has been used for dance, with classical music no exception. I take forms like the French Baroque Overture and infuse them with modern genres like house music, jazz, and especially gospel.” In addition to their solo career as a bassist, Kebra-Seyoun Charles is a passionate chamber musician, having played with groups like East Coast Chamber Orchestra, A Far Cry, Palaver Strings, and the Sphinx Virtuosi.

On June 13-14, 2024, American Composers Orchestra presented and performed its own EarShot Reading, featuring workshops with composer Malachi Brown's work Statements: a journal entry, a chronology of the composer's thoughts, experiences, and vision for the country over a period of time. Using these reflections as jumping-off points for finding peace in the midst of chaos, Brown shares in his program notes, “Statements is a series of pieces that serve as my own personal journal recapping a year or a moment in time I just lived. What I struggle to do with words, I do with my music. Statements: a journal entry is no exception to this, as it describes both a crucial moment in my life and the world, just as much as it illustrates a concept. This piece exists within the realm of the inauguration of the 45th president of the United States.” A cellist and composer born and raised in Norfolk, Virginia, Brown has composed for four films, including the multiple award-winning And Don't Forget I Love You. He is working on two films projected to release in 2024, one of them being an animated short, The Candylady. In addition to composing and performing cello, Malachi acts in theater and film. He's currently in a Bertolt Brecht play and has a web series role for later this year. Through his Van Lier Fellowship, Brown will write a new commission to be premiered in a future season.

Ground-breaking bassist, composer, singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Jordyn Davis's Each One, Teach One, developed with her band Composetheway, explores questions that push the boundaries of orchestral possibilities: namely, autonomy for individual players within an orchestral setting. Through collaborative efforts, Composetheway aims to coach and encourage orchestra musicians to apply their musicality beyond what is written on the page, fostering a dynamic and inclusive environment. Davis is the first African American woman to receive a Bachelor's Degree in Music Composition from Michigan State University and the first Michigan State student to receive a Bachelor's Degree in Music Composition and Jazz Studies concurrently. Davis has also completed a Master's Degree in Jazz Studies at Michigan State University and worked as a graduate teaching assistant. She recently relocated to Brooklyn, NY and was named one of two inaugural Jazz Leader Fellowship recipients by the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music. Davis has worked on the Tony-winning Broadway musical, New York, New York: A New Musical, and collaborated with Craig Harris and the contemporary dance company Urban Bush Women. She leads her own band/ensemble called Composetheway and released an EP entitled Connections in 2017.