Soundbox Ventures to Present The Inaugural Suncoast Composer Festival in October

Soundbox Ventures has announced its inaugural Suncoast Composer Festival (SCF). Festival events are open to the Sarasota public on October 4th, 5th, and 7th. The Suncoast Composer Festival is the latest component of Soundbox’s Suncoast Composer Fellowship Program (SCFP), established in 2022 as a private residency for early-career composers to work with world-class mentors and performers/recording artists. This year’s festival will be the Fellowship’s first public showcase after two closed sessions in September 2023 and 2024.

This evolution “…reflects Soundbox’s commitment to engaging the community and deepening connections between composers, musicians, and audiences,” says Soundbox’s artistic director, Max Tan, who also performs as a member of the Sarasota Orchestra and is an alumnus of the Perlman Music Program. “Since 2007, I have felt at home in Sarasota and am always interested in developing projects that are nurtured by the rich cultural offerings in Sarasota as well as the resources it has to host artists and give them a platform to flourish.”

The festival will feature a variety of classical and contemporary chamber music concerts as well as seminars held at multiple Sarasota locations, including Selby Public Library, First Congregational United Church of Christ, and a “secret” venue in South Poinsettia Park. For more details and tickets, visit SoundBoxVentures.org.

About the Suncoast Composer Fellowship Program (SCFP)

The Suncoast Composer Fellowship Program brings the work of important early-career composers to Sarasota. Through SCFP, the city serves both as an exciting early staging ground for new musical work that will go on to national and international acclaim as well as a meeting place in which composers and preeminent performers can form important working relationships. Tan explains that by opening the residency to public performances and seminars, audiences will have a special opportunity to see how performers and composers think and address important and sometimes existential questions facing classical music today.

This year’s residency program brings together three distinguished composer faculty, six composer fellows, and 12 resident musicians associated with esteemed musical institutions such as Juilliard, New England Conservatory, Royal Academy of Music, Universität der Künste Berlin, the Staatskapelle Dresden orchestra, Opera Philadelphia, Away From Keyboard, the San Francisco Classical Voice, and Tonhain Kollektiv.  

In bringing high-quality performances of emergent contemporary music to Sarasota, Soundbox partners with organizations like ensembleNEWSRQ, the Sarasota Music Archive, and WSMR, which share key components of this mission. Fellows will take part in public seminars hosted by the Sarasota Music Archive and their compositions will be featured on Tyler Kline’s “Modern Notebook,” airing in November on WSMR. The festival will culminate in the “Composer Fellows Concert,” presented in collaboration with ensembleNEWSRQ.

Founded in November 2022 by violinist Max Tan, Soundbox Ventures is a project-based performing arts management organization headquartered in Sarasota.  Tan explains that the mission is to “organize artist residencies and concerts that give musicians the space and resources to build meaningful connections with audiences, with a particular focus on making the artistic process accessible.” 

For more information about Soundbox Ventures, visit SoundBoxVentures.org.

Festival Events at a Glance

Friday, October 4, 11 a.m-12:30 p.m.: Free public seminars at Selby Library presented in partnership with the Sarasota Music Archive: Two talks will be presented by Max Tan and composer mentor-in-residence Marc Migó, featuring performances by SCFP musicians previewing festival concert programs.

11 a.m.:  How Recordings Redefined Music: From Brahms to Today with Max Tan. Since their invention, recordings fossilize performances that were once ephemeral phenomena, holding performers accountable to high standards of fidelity to a composer’s intentions. This talk bridges the gap between performers today and composers from the era before recordings existed, specifically focusing on recordings of performances and interviews by colleagues, peers, and students from Brahms’ social circle. Featuring Johannes Brahms’ “Clarinet Quintet in B minor, Op. 115,” with Sam Boutris, clarinet; Max Tan, Christina Nam, violins; Luther Warren, viola; and Rainer Crosett, cello.

Noon: Music Behind Bars: 100 Years of Struggle for the Validation of the Catalan Symphonic Repertoire with Marc Migó Cortes. This talk will provide an answer for why, despite its obvious value, Catalan symphonic music is not sufficiently known within Catalan borders or abroad. Because the Catalan national identity was formed at around the beginning of the 20th century, this presentation will explore, from a sociocultural viewpoint, the symphonic repertoire written by Catalan composers from 1920 to 2020. Musical examples will accompany this discussion. Featuring Myroslav Skoryk’s “Melody in A minor for violin and piano.” With Gabrielle Chou, piano; and Max Tan, violin. Also featuring Marc Migó Cortes’ “Three Romances for violin and piano.” With TianYi Li, piano; and Lukas Stepp, violin.

Saturday, October 5, 1-3 p.m.: Shades of Romance: A chamber music salon at a “chateau” in South Poinsettia Park (the secret location will be revealed to ticketholders only.) Tickets are $65. The program features work by Francis Poulenc, Marc Migó Cortes and Johannes Brahms. An opportunity to meet all festival artists follows the concert. 

Saturday, October 5, 5-7 p.m.: Nothing is Forever: A chamber music cocktail concert at a “chateau” in South Poinsettia Park (the secret location will be revealed to ticketholders only.) Tickets are $80. The program features work by Sean Friar, Maurice Ravel, Sam Wu, Sarah Gibson, and Gabriel Fauré. An opportunity to meet festival artists follows the concert.

Monday, October 7, 6-9 p.m.: The Composer Fellows Concert presented in partnership with ensembleNEWSRQ at First Congregational United Church of Christ. Tickets are $25. The program includes a pre-concert reception at 6 p.m. with the six 2024 SCFP composer fellows. The concert at 7:30 p.m. features work by Treya Nash, Daniel Gostelow, David Acevedo, Sean Quinn, Joshua Muetzel, and Max Gibson.

About Soundbox Ventures:

Founded in November 2022 by violinist Max Tan, Soundbox Ventures is a musician-driven think tank that organizes artist residencies, seminars, and concerts with a special social atmosphere that redefines our modern concert culture. Inspired by Alex Ross’ book Listen to This, Soundbox events “approach music not as a self-sufficient sphere but as a way of knowing the world.” The non-profit administrates two flagship programs: Listen Hear Salon Concerts presented at St. Boniface Episcopal Church on Siesta Key and the Suncoast Composer Fellowship Program which includes educational workshops and festival events. Soundbox empowers artist curators to engage with local communities and cultivates the voices of today to support the music of tomorrow. For more information, visit www.soundboxventures.org

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