Eric Nathan Appointed Artistic Director Of Collage New Music

As David Hoose steps down as Music Director of Collage New Music, composer Eric Nathan takes on the ensemble's artistic directorship, as the acclaimed ensemble redefines its leadership structure going forward. Founded in 1972, Collage New Music is the longest-standing ensemble of its kind in New England and one of the most respected new music organizations in the country.

Long considered one of the most passionate and compelling interpreters of new music by audiences and critics alike, Hoose has made a profound impact during his 32 year tenure as music director of Collage, including numerous commissions, world and Boston premieres, a GRAMMY nomination, and concert presentations of works by many of the most revered composers of the 20th and 21st centuries, as well as music by many young and emerging composers. Mr. Hoose will take on the title of Music Director Emeritus of Collage, and he will return to conduct a program in each of the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons.

When Mr. Nathan assumes the position of Artistic Director, he will oversee all of Collage New Music's artistic planning and programming for its annual concert season in Boston, conduct the ensemble, commission new works, select annual guest conductors and guest soloists, and envision new local and national partnerships. Prior to officially assuming his new role in Collage's 2024-25 season, which he will hold for an initial term of three years (through the 2026-27 season), Nathan has designed and appointed an Artistic Advisory Panel that includes such distinguished musicians as Tony Arnold, Matthew Aucoin, Marcos Balter, Anthony Cheung, Tania León, and Joan Tower. This committee of outstanding composers and performers will advise the new artistic director on creating programs that ensure the ensemble's musical excellence, impact and commitment to supporting a diverse range of voices as it forges a path forward in the years to come.

In David Hoose, we have had a marvelous musical leader and conductor. His thoughtful and engaging programming, thorough musical preparation, superb work with our instrumentalists and soloists, musical integrity, and vivid performances have maintained Collage's highest standards. We all owe him an immense debt of gratitude" says Frank Epstein, former Boston Symphony Orchestra percussionist, Collage founder and first music director, and currently chair of the board.

Eric Nathan recalls, "I remember playing trumpet under David's baton as a high school student at the Boston University Tanglewood Institute, and how inspiring that moment was for me. It has been especially meaningful working with him in recent years on thrilling performances of my music with Collage, which have been meticulously and insightfully crafted. I look forward to our future collaborations."

Nathan's music is well-known by Collage's audience, and his Short Stories, heard in 2022, was among the ensemble's 50th-anniversary commissions. His relationship with Collage began in 2012, when Collage presented the first professional Boston performance of his music, Walls of Light, since his student days.

"It is an immense honor and privilege to join Collage New Music as its new Artistic Director," Nathan continues. "I have so enjoyed working with and getting to know Collage's highly accomplished musicians, and I look forward to the meaningful performances that we will create together in the years to come. I'm excited to build on Collage's rich history of championing contemporary music and supporting local composers, and to introduce diverse new voices from New England and beyond to Collage's audiences."

"We think we have found the perfect person to take the reins of Collage into its next half-century," says Epstein. "Eric is an excellent composer, as well as a highly respected figure in American music. He has a deep understanding of what makes Collage unique, and we are excited by his ideas for the future. We look forward to working with Eric and the Artistic Advisory Panel to create partnerships that will expand on Collage's commitment to commissioning new work."

Current Music Director David Hoose says, "Eric's becoming Collage's next leader pleases me very much. He is an imaginative composer whose energy will undoubtedly carry this wonderful ensemble to new and exciting places. I look forward to Collage's future with him."

Renowned composer John Harbison, a past co-director of the ensemble, wrote about the coming changes to Collage New Music, "David Hoose, who has decided, after only a few more encounters, to move on from its Music Directorship, has succeeded brilliantly in maintaining the distinctive assets of Collage New Music-its high level of repertoire choices, lavish preparation of the performances, distinctive performance atmosphere, and a very loyal audience. He brought to Collage his own experience as a performer, composer, and leader of other groups. Most of all, he brought his ability to understand and clarify new scores, through the lucidity of his mind and the clarity of his conducting skills.

"Collage has made a great choice for David's successor in Eric Nathan. He will be able to maintain both the expertise and the adventure necessary to keep Collage among the elite new music ensembles. Eric is an accomplished composer-conductor, part of a powerful new generation whose music inspires confidence in the future.

"And of course Founder-President Frank Epstein offers a guiding hand, making sure Collage stays strongly on course."

More About David Hoose

Before Mr. Hoose was tapped for his current position by founding music director Frank Epstein, he had appeared as a regular guest conductor of the ensemble for more than a dozen seasons. During his 32-year music directorship, he has designed programs that include a wide span of works, from music of the central 20th- and 21st-century canons, to music of more recent and emerging composers. Among the hundreds of composers whose music he and the ensemble have given first Boston, or world, premieres (many of them CNM commissions) have been Luciano Berio, Martin Brody, Yi Yiing Chen, Peter Child, Sebastian Currier, Mario Davidovsky, Marti Epstein, Richard Festinger, Charles Fussell, Michael Gandolfi, Helen Grime, John Harbison, Stephen Hartke, John Heiss, Andrew Imbrie, Fred Lerdahl, Steven Mackey, Marjorie Merryman, Eric Moe, Shawn Okpebholo, James Primosch, Gunther Schuller, Donald Sur, Augusta Read Thomas, Joan Tower, Andy Vores, and Yehudi Wyner. The ensemble's most recently commissioned works include seventeen compositions written in honor of Collage's 50th anniversary.

During David Hoose's Collage music directorship, the ensemble's programs and performances have regularly received high praise from the press. His recordings with the ensemble appear on the New World, Koch, Arsis, Métier, and Albany labels, and their Koch recording of Harbison's Mottetti di Montale was a 2005 Grammy Nominee for Best Performance by a Small Ensemble. Further details about David Hoose can be found at www.collagenewmusic.org and www.cantatasingers.org/davidhoose.

More About Eric Nathan

Eric Nathan's (b. 1983) music has been called "as diverse as it is arresting" with a "constant vein of ingenuity and expressive depth" (San Francisco Chronicle), and "thoughtful and inventive" (The New Yorker). A 2013 Rome Prize Fellow and 2014 Guggenheim Fellow, Nathan has garnered acclaim internationally through performances by Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Scharoun Ensemble Berlin, Dawn Upshaw, Jennifer Koh, Stefan Jackiw, and Gloria Cheng. His music has been featured at the New York Philharmonic's 2014 and 2016 Biennials, Carnegie Hall, and the Aldeburgh, Tanglewood, and Aspen festivals.

He serves as Associate Professor of Music at Brown University and is currently the New England Philharmonic's Composer-in-Residence. He received his doctorate from Cornell. Further details about Eric Nathan can be found at www.ericnathanmusic.com.

Photo Credit: David Hoose courtesy of the Artist; Eric Nathan by Luyuan Nathan.

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