Tania León and Angélica Negrón Join American Composers Orchestra's Next Composer Talk

American Composers Orchestra (ACO) presents its next Composer to Composer Talk online with Tania León and Angélica Negrón on Wednesday, April 28, 2021 at 5pm ET.

The talk, which will be hosted by ACO Artistic Director Derek Bermel, will be live-streamed and available for on-demand viewing for seven days. Tickets are free; registration is highly encouraged. Registrants will receive links to join the event, as well as to recordings of featured works in advance.

ACO's Composer to Composer series features major American composers in conversation with each other about their work and leading a creative life. The intergenerational discussions begin by exploring a single orchestral piece, with one composer interviewing the other. Attendees will gain insight into the work's genesis, sound, influence on the American orchestral canon, and will be invited to ask questions of the artists.

On April 28, Angélica Negrón talks with Tania León about León's work Carabalí for orchestra, from 1991. James Melo writes in the note for the piece, "The title Carabalí refers to a people of West Africa who rebelled against slavery, and whose saga continued through the cimarrones in the Caribbean region. The quiet and introspective character of much of the piece belies something that stirs much more deeply below the surface in preparation for the final outburst, a carnavalesque frenzy that seems to release all the energy accumulated in the previous sections. The trumpets' calls at the end acquire a heroic and defiant urgency."

ACO's Composer to Composer Talks will be archived by Oral History of American Music (OHAM) within Yale University's Irving S. Gilmore Music Library.

ACO also continues its series of free Professional Development Panels co-presented with the American Composers Forum, featuring panel discussions by esteemed professionals in the industry about topics including Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; Entrepreneurship and Creating an Ensemble; Film Composition; Fundraising via Supportive Individuals; Programming and Digital Curation; Publishing, Self-Publishing, and Management; Recording Law and Practice; Project Production and Recording; and more. All panels are free and open to the public; registration is required.

Recording Law & Licensing for Composers - April 21, 2021 at 1pm ET
Chris Campbell, Director of Recordings at Innova Recordings, leads a panel covering the basics of recording law and licensing. The panel, which includes Meerenai Shim, flutist, artist, record producer, music educator, movement coach; and Ari Solotoff, Esq., entertainment lawyer / Founder & Managing Attorney, Solotoff Law Group, PLLC; will be followed by a Q&A session with the audience.

Conductor's Roundtable with Marin Alsop & George Manahan - May 5, 2021 at 5pm ET
Orchestral conductors Marin Alsop and George Manahan provide insight into the conductor-composer relationship, programming new works, and other topics relevant to composers, followed by a Q&A with the audience. ACO Artistic Director Derek Bermel hosts.

Programming & Digital Curation - May 19, 2021 at 3pm ET
How does traditional programming change when it's focused online? Where is classical music headed in the digital age? American Composers Orchestra CEO and President Melissa Ngan moderates a panel of experts including Keith Obadike, maker of music, art, and literature; Mendi Obadike, maker of music, art, and literature; Paola Prestini, composer, Co-Founder and Artistic Director of National Sawdust; and Kamala Sankaram, composer, performer. A Q&A with the audience will follow the panel discussion.

Tania León (b. Havana, Cuba) is highly regarded as a composer, conductor, educator and advisor to arts organizations. Recent commissions include works for New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, NDR Symphony Orchestra, Grossman Ensemble, International Contemporary Ensemble, and pianist Ursula Oppens with Cassatt String Quartet. Appearances as guest conductor include Philharmonic Orchestra of Marseille, Gewandhausorchester, Orquesta Sinfonica de Guanajuato, and Orquesta Sinfónica de Cuba. Upcoming premieres feature commissions for the NewMusic USA Amplifying Voices Program, The Musical Fund Society in Philadelphia to celebrate their 200th anniversary, and for The Crossing chamber choir with Claire Chase, flutist, among others. A founding member of the Dance Theatre of Harlem, León instituted the Brooklyn Philharmonic Community Concert Series, co-founded American Composers Orchestra's Sonidos de las Américas Festivals, was New Music Advisor to the New York Philharmonic, and is the founder/Artistic Director of the nonprofit and festival Composers Now. Her honors include the New York Governor's Lifetime Achievement, awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the ASCAP Victor Herbert Award, among others. She also received a proclamation for Composers Now by New York City Mayor, and the MadWoman Festival Award in Music (Spain). León has received Honorary Doctorate Degrees from Colgate University, Oberlin and SUNY Purchase College, and served as U.S. Artistic Ambassador of American Culture in Madrid, Spain. A CUNY Professor Emerita, she was awarded a 2018 United States Artists Fellowship.

Puerto Rican-born composer and multi-instrumentalist Angélica Negrón writes music for accordions, robotic instruments, toys, and electronics as well as for chamber ensembles, orchestras, choir, and film. Her music has been described as "wistfully idiosyncratic and contemplative" (WQXR/Q2) while The New York Times noted her "capacity to surprise." Negrón has been commissioned by the Bang on a Can All-Stars, Kronos Quartet, loadbang, MATA Festival, Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Sō Percussion, American Composers Orchestra, and the New York Botanical Garden, among others. She has composed numerous film scores, including Landfall (2020) and Memories of a Penitent Heart (2016), in collaboration with filmmaker Cecilia Aldarondo. Upcoming premieres include works for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra and National Symphony Orchestra, Opera Philadelphia, LA Philharmonic and NY Philharmonic Project 19 initiative.

More information about American Composers Orchestra and resources about American orchestral composers is available online at www.americancomposers.org.

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