The College Of Performing Arts At The New School Announces 2024-2025 Performance Season

The College of Performing Arts - Mannes, Jazz, Drama at The New School has announced performance highlights for its 2024-2025 season. The College of Performing Arts – the Mannes School of Music, the School of Jazz and Contemporary Music, and the School of Drama – is a hub for vigorous training, bold experimentation, innovative education, cross-disciplinary collaboration and world-class performances.

Students are mentored by the legendary faculty, artists and professional performing partners within New York City's vibrant artistic community, gaining hands-on experience performing across the city and around the world. Presenting approximately 900 performances each year by students, faculty and guest artists, nearly all of which are free and open to the public, the Mannes, Jazz, Drama season provides an incredible performing arts resource for New Yorkers and visitors alike.

“It's hard to imagine that the founders of our performing arts schools could have foreseen a season of performances like this. From our world renowned ensembles in residence, the long overdue United States premiere of Carla Bley's Escalator Over the Hill, Philip Glass's score with the legendary 1931 film Dracula, or one act operas by our composition faculty members David T. Little and Kamala Sankaram, this season of works by our wonderful students, faculty, and guest artists will offer something special no matter what genre or style you are interested in. We are incredibly excited to bring this season to audiences through the metro New York region,” said Richard Kessler, Executive Dean.

Performances by students, faculty and guest artists at the College of Performing Arts break new ground, pushing the boundaries of convention and reinventing traditional forms. Highlights this season include the (Un)Silent Film series presenting Tod Browning's classic film Dracula with Philip Glass's score performed by Orange Road Quartet, the Cuker and Stern Graduate String Quartet-in-Residence, with pianist and guest conductor Michael Riesman on October 25; the Namekawa-Davies Duo (Maki Namekawa and Dennis Russell Davies) in Pianographique featuring music by Philip Glass, Laurie Anderson, Steve Reich, and Elliot Goldenthal, with real-time visualizations by Cori O'Lan, on October 26; performances by celebrated Mannes/School of Jazz Ensembles-in-Residence The Westerlies, Sandbox Percussion, and JACK Quartet throughout the season; the world premiere of The Ruminants directed by School of Drama faculty member Ana Margineanu from October 31 through November 2; Mannes Opera's double bill featuring one-act operas by David T. Little and Kamala Sankaram on November 8 and 9; the New School Studio Orchestra performing Duke Ellington's The Nutcracker Suite on December 5; the Mannes Orchestra performing at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall in a concert featuring Sandbox Percussion in Viet Cuong's percussion concerto Re(new)al and John Zorn's violin concerto with Stefan Jackiw on April 11; and the New School Studio Orchestra in the U.S. premiere of jazz great Carla Bley's rarely heard landmark album Escalator Over the Hill on May 2.

Founded in 1916 by America's first great violin recitalist and noted educator, David Mannes, and pianist and educator Clara Damrosch Mannes, the Mannes School of Music is a standard-bearer for radically progressive music education, dedicated to supporting the development of creative and socially engaged artists. Through its undergraduate, graduate, and professional studies programs, Mannes offers a curriculum as imaginative as it is rigorous, taught by a world-class faculty and visiting artists. Distinguished Mannes alumni include the 20th-century songwriting legend Burt Bacharach, the great pianists Michel Camilo, Richard Goode, Murray Perahia, and Bill Evans, acclaimed conductors Semyon Bychkov, Myung-Whun Chung, JoAnn Falletta, and Julius Rudel, beloved mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade, as well as the great opera stars of today, Yonghoon Lee, Danielle De Niese, and Nadine Sierra.

Led by conductor David Hayes and known for its bold and adventurous programming, the Mannes Orchestra has been hailed by The New York Times as an orchestra whose quality is “a revelation,” and for its “intensity of focus.” Exploring the concept of the “radical orchestra” during the 2024-2025 season and seeking to amplify the work of underrepresented composers, this year's programming features composers who went beyond traditional orchestral structures to explore new ground in sound and structure. The Mannes Orchestra's season opens on September 30 with a concert featuring two prizewinning students – composer Jihwan Yoon, winner of the Martinů Prize and violist Yuchen Lu, winner of the 2024 George and Elizabeth Gregory Concerto Competition – plus Berlioz's epic Symphonie Fantastique. As part of its ongoing partnership with the New York Choral Society, the orchestra will perform Voices of Light, a work by Richard Einhorn paired with legendary silent film The Passion of Joan of Arc, at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall on November 1. The orchestra returns to Alice Tully on December 9 to give the U.S. premiere of Adolphus Hailstork's Ndemara, the New York City premiere of Marion Bauer's rarely performed Symphony No. 1, and David Diamond's Symphony No. 2. The orchestra's spring season opens on February 28 with the world premieres of Mannes alumni JL Marlor's Saltwater Lung, winner of the Martinů Prize in 2023, and The World Inside by Alex Glass, winner of the 2024 Martinů prize, presented with Sibelius's rarely performed The Wood Nymph, Op. 15. On April 11 at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall, the Mannes Orchestra performs Viet Cuong's Re(new)al with Sandbox Percussion, Berio's Sinfonia, and John Zorn's violin concerto Contes de Fées featuring Stefan Jackiw.

Under the leadership of Managing Artistic Director Emma Griffin, Mannes Opera is a dynamic training program for operatic artists, marked by a curiosity for new and a devotion to craft. The program utilizes opera as a medium for exploration, improvisation, and creation, providing students with extensive performance opportunities and practice. Mannes Opera's season opens on October 18 and 19 with a jewel box production of W.A. Mozart's Don Giovanni, arranged by Danyal Dhondy, realized by Griffin and Mannes faculty member Cris Frisco at a crisp 100 minutes. The Opera in Concert double bill on November 8 and 9 features a duo of one-act operas by Mannes faculty members and prolific composers, David T. Little (Vinkensport, or the Finch Opera with libretto by Royce Vavrek, New York City premiere) and Kamala Sankaram (The Infinite Energy of Ada Lovelace with libretto by Rob Handel), directed by New School Drama alum Alison Pogolrec. SCENEWORKS FALL24 on December 6 and 7 at the Auditorium at 66 West 12th Street offers a delightful serving of operatic scenes; program to be announced. On March 7 and 8, Mannes Opera presents Handel's Alcina at The Gerald W. Lynch Theater, directed by Sam Helfrich and conducted by Mannes alumnus Geoffrey MacDonald. On May 9, Mannes Opera gives an invite-only workshop presentation of Hildegard, a new opera by Sarah Kirkland Snider, in collaboration with Beth Morrison Projects.

The 2024-2025 season at the Mannes School of Music also includes performances that are part of the Mannes Sounds Festival, founded in 1999 by piano chair Pavlina Dokovska, which presents more than 20 concerts by Mannes students, faculty and guest artists annually at venues and institutions across New York City; such as The Dybbuk, or Between Two Worlds, a chamber opera by Ofer Ben-Amots based on the play by S. Ansky, presented on March 31 and April 1 at the Center for Jewish History in partnership with the American Society of Jewish Music and YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, directed by Stephen Brown-Fried, and performed by students from Mannes and the College of Performing Arts. In addition, chamber music students' achievements each semester will be highlighted in two Mannes Chamber Music Festivals in fall (November 7-14) and spring (April 8-15). The season also features fall (November 25) and spring (April 2) performances by the Mannes American Composers Ensemble – founded in 2012 by Lowell Liebermann and now led by David Fulmer, representing works by iconic American and new and upcoming composers. This season's artistic curation and programming includes four innovative initiatives for the Ensemble; a two-year composer-in-focus workshop, collaboration and integration with the Vocal Performance Department, student composer commissioning projects, and collaboration with the International Contemporary Ensemble and JACK Quartet.

The School of Jazz and Contemporary Music is renowned across the globe as the most innovative school of its kind, offering students an artist-as-mentor approach to learning. The world's leading contemporary and jazz musicians, like Reggie Workman, Mary Halvorson, Arturo O'Farrill, Joel Ross, Immanuel Wilkens, Jane Ira Bloom, and more, work with students to hone their craft and create groundbreaking music. At the School of Jazz and Contemporary Music, students are immersed in the creative epicenter of New York City and are supported by a faculty of renowned professionals who challenge them to expand the boundaries of their art form, experiment with sound, and use creative voice for change. The school's approach is unique, allowing students to choose their own teachers and create their own ensembles. This education with agency provides students with the tools and experience needed to navigate and thrive as performing arts professionals. All groups rehearse, record, and perform live (with livestream) every semester.

 

The College of Performing Arts' newest large ensemble, the New School Studio Orchestra (NSSO), is composed of students from the School of Jazz and Contemporary Music and Mannes School of Music, performing music from a wide variety of genres including jazz, soul, pop, and improvised music. The NSSO kicks off its three-concert season on October 24 with an evening dedicated to the compositions and arrangements by the great jazz trombonist and composer Bob Brookmeyer. Ellington and Strayhorn's beloved The Nutcracker Suite will be presented during the holiday season on December 5. The U.S. premiere of Carla Bley's rarely performed but hugely influential Escalator Over the Hill, described by Rolling Stone as “an international musical encounter of the first order,” is the epic close to this season's series, led by Arturo O'Farrill on May 2, 2025.

"This is an exciting season for the School of Jazz and Contemporary Music,” says Keller Coker, Dean, School of Jazz and Contemporary Music and Associate Dean, College of Performing Arts. “The New School Studio Orchestra presents the U.S. Premiere of Carla Bley's rarely performed Escalator Over the Hill in May and starts off the fall in a big way with music by Bob Brookmeyer in October and Ellington's beloved Nutcracker Suite in December – I can't wait for people to hear this group. We have a boygenius Ensemble for the first time, and our Fall Ensemble Festival features Reggie Workman's John Coltrane Ensemble, the Carla Bley Ensemble directed by Arturo O'Farrill, and the Waterfalls 90s R&B Ensemble directed by Marlon Saunders, as well as groups helmed by Immanuel Wilkins, Jane Ira Bloom, Joel Ross, Mary Halvorsen and more. Folks should come get in the room with these talented musicians."

The (Un)Silent Film series has been critical in advancing the resurgence of film screenings with live music and has been hosted by Matthew Broderick, Bill Irwin, Rob Bartlett, Ed Rothstein, and Michael Bacon. (Un)Silent Film nights have presented the world premieres of works composed for The Birds and The Immigrant (by Nathan Kamal and Alexis Cuadrado respectively), a New York premiere of a score by Hollywood composer Craig Marks for the film Sherlock, Jr., and Charlie Chaplin's original scores for Gold Rush and other Chaplin classics. This season, in addition to Dracula on October 25, the series presents Safety Last!, an American silent romantic-comedy film from 1923 starring Harold Lloyd and produced by Hal Roach, and Kid Auto Races [at Venice], also known as The Pest, a 1914 American film starring Charlie Chaplin with music by Carl Davis performed by Mannes' (Un)Silent Orchestra, conducted by David Fulmer on April 25.

The Stone at The New School, named by Time Out New York as one of the best jazz clubs in New York City, serves as an artist-centric community for experimental and avant-garde artists. With concerts every Wednesday through Saturday evening, The Stone at The New School continues the tradition of the landmark non-profit performance space founded in 2005 by Artistic Director John Zorn, within a greatly improved space. The 2024-2025 season features a varied roster of artists from Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore to renowned concert and new music violinist Jennifer Choi. This season showcases notable New School faculty members such as MacArthur Genius Grant recipient Mary Halvorson; Cyro Baptista, who has shared the stage with the likes of Paul Simon and David Byrne; and Fay Victor, praised in The New York Times for inventing “her own hybrid of song and spoken word, a scat style for today's avant-garde.” The 2024-2025 season also marks the premiere of the Students at The Stone series featuring performances by current New School students, where audiences can hear the future of the experimental music scene.

The School of Drama is the creative home to a dynamic group of actors, directors, writers, creative technologists, and multi-disciplinary theater artists. With a focus on authenticity of expression, the school's curriculum confronts today's most pressing societal issues through the making of theater, film, and emerging media. From October 31-November 2, the School of Drama presents the world premiere of The Ruminants at Bank Street Theater, directed by faculty member Ana Margineanu. The Ruminants is a new play that explores protest, privilege, and the lasting effects of one's actions, which was developed as part of the 2023-2024 Farm Theater College Collaboration Project. Each year, the School of Drama invites regionally, nationally, and internationally recognized guest artists to share their artistic, collaborative, and philosophical approaches to theater-making with students in its groundbreaking MFA in Contemporary Theatre and Performance program. This year marks the return of members of Ping Chong and Company (PCC), longtime collaborators with the School of Drama and the College of Performing Arts, on November 4. Rooted in the company's mission to “create[s] theater and art that reveal beauty, invention, precision, and a commitment to social justice,” PCC engaged students in their “Undesirable Elements” series, an ongoing practice of creating interview-based theater works that explore culture, identity, and belonging in specific communities. From November 21-23 at Bank Street Theater, the School of Drama presents an innovative rendition of Euripides' Orestes, translated by poet, translator, and essayist Anne Carson and directed by Ashley Kelly Tata. Through its BIPOC Initiative + Arts Organization Collab, the School of Drama presents the third work in its series of productions written and directed by artists of color from March 27-29. The APEX Festival will take place over two weekends at Bank Street Theater, April 25-26 and May 2-3, and will spotlight eight projects serving as graduating MFA Contemporary Theatre and Performance students' capstone offerings. The School of Drama also continues its dynamic partnership with Naked Angels, a prominent figure in New York City's theater community. The esteemed 1st Mondays at The New School series, entering its second year, is a vital platform for emerging playwrights from Naked Angels' Tuesdays@9 community to showcase their work and for School of Drama students to interact with and learn from these emerging talents, gain insights into the process of creating and workshopping new plays, and forge meaningful connections within the industry.

“The diversity of works this season includes a new translation of a classic Greek text, a world premiere play that resonates deeply with the present moment, collaborations with leading arts organizations in New York City, and a festival of new and exciting multidisciplinary works from our graduate student cohort,” says Jermaine Hill, Dean, School Of Drama and Associate Dean, College of Performing Arts. “These offerings demonstrate the depth and breadth of artistic exploration at the School of Drama and exemplify our commitment to being a destination that celebrates and epitomizes the best of our student artists in a variety of genres, mediums, and forms. We welcome you to join us for this bold and exciting production season.”

Performances at The New School's College of Performing Arts are free and open to the public, unless otherwise noted. Some events require advance registration. View the full calendar of performances at the College of Performing Arts – including Mannes School of Music, School of Jazz and Contemporary Music, and School of Drama – for details on how to attend.