Stare at the Sun is a professional mixed-voice chamber choir specializing in the curation and commissioning of works by living composers. Works that address issues of social responsibility and the complexities of living in the 21st century. Works of defiant optimism that celebrate human potential, the value of human life, and the possibility that human […]
NOVA LINEA MUSICA (NLM) is the latest addition to Chicago’s new-music scene, a music creation engine already busy generating new string music as its moniker affirms. Its ambition, though, is far more crucial to classical music’s ability to thrive in the years to come: to etch new connections between performers, composers, and listeners and close the distances between them. […]
Beyond this point is an exploratory collaboration seeking to investigate resonances and intersections across several practices including theater, movement, media/film, non-traditional musical forms, sculpture, text, and installations both static and performative. The collaboration aims to engage diverse audiences on multiple levels through its exploration of resonances between artistic mediums with a goal of developing a […]
Thompson Street Opera Company reimagines what opera can be. We intentionally and inclusively collaborate with artists to create productions that challenge the status quo through artistic and social innovation. Our intimate performances of regional and world premieres have been called “free-wheeling and ambitious”, “consistently solid,” and “stunning” by reviewers, and lauded by composers as “better […]
Else, if Else is a Chicago-based trio dedicated to exploration and experimentation. Their performances blur the line between notated and spontaneous music, combining their background in chamber music with individual and collective improvisational practices. They have collaborated with composers such as John Supko and Nomi Epstein, been selected as an ensemble in residence at the […]
The _____ Experiment (pronounced The “Blank” Experiment) is an up and coming flexible instrumentation ensemble based in the Midwest. With over 30 commissions, this group is committed to expanding the repertoire for mixed chamber ensembles. Their mission is to commission music by a variety of composers in order to create high quality, but audibly approachable […]
Sapphire Woodwind Quintet has been entertaining audiences with eclectic programs since 2004. Sapphire has performed on concert series all over Chicagoland, including the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series, Mostly Music Chicago, the Nineteenth Century Club, and the Noontime Concerts at the University of Chicago. Sapphire has also been broadcast live on WFMT performing at […]
Masso Quartet is a Chicago-based saxophone quartet dedicated to exploring the connective possibilities of sound. Through active collaborations with living composers, mindful engagement with historic works, carefully designed performance projects, and frequent community outreach, Masso plays music to realize connections between people and the world, for audiences and performers alike. Engaging with contemporary classical music […]
The William Ferris Chorale brings Chicago audiences new and unexpected choral music in programs highlighting music written by living composers. Exploring and experiencing new music with our artists and audience opens us all to new ideas, new sounds, and new voices; and this brings the 50-year long legacy of founder William Ferris to audiences throughout […]
Conceived with the vision to return Epiphany to a place for people to once again congregate in, the shuttered, historic Church of the Epiphany has been preserved and adapted into an iconic cultural hub ‘For the Good of Art, Entertainment and Events’. Thoughtfully designed, the exemplary 42,000 square foot campus boasts three distinct venues and […]
Missing Piece is a south side Chicago-based musical duo: violinist Dan Galat and cellist Kelly Quesada, who endeavor to commission new musical works and works from other artistic disciplines on the themes of collaboration, community, environment, and social justice. We believe presenting these works can unite and organize various communities for the benefit of all. […]
Founded in January 2018, the Yang and Olivia Arts Foundation is a non-profit 501c3 organization whose aim is to provide a platform embracing diversity, equality and inclusion. The first years of activities focused on international cultural exchange between United States, China and Taiwan, particularly in the area of classical music. Since the pandemics, the foundation […]
Elizabeth Rudolph is a Chicago-based composer “whose music takes advantage of the rhythmic complexity of minimalism to emphasize thoughtfully composed melodic storytelling.” according to contralto Katherine Dalin. Rudolph’s music has been commissioned, performed, and/or recorded by VOX3, Third Eye Theater, New Moon Opera, Chicago Fringe Opera, Fresh Squeezed Opera, Chicago Gay Men’s Chorus, Interlochen Arts […]
New Music enthusiasts and chamber music specialists, Juan Horie (cello) and Sixto Franco (viola) have joined forces to form the Quijote Duo, a formation that strives to create spaces for innovation and experimentation through collaboration. With a combined experience in many fields including theater, education, composition, concert music and arts management, the Quijote […]
6Degrees Composers is a Chicago-based collective of women composers from different musical traditions. It was founded by Regina Harris Baiocchi in 2010. The group has presented numerous concerts at Sherwood Community Music School at Columbia College, the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, and several churches on the West and South sides. The […]
Julian Terrell Otis is a vocalist dedicated to the advancement of Black music in America, spanning genres from creative music and jazz, to contemporary classical. His work explores the limitless possibilities of his instrument’s expressive capacity through song, improvisation, and theater. Known for bringing fresh perspective, nuance, and “high drama” to the contemporary music world, […]
Ben Zucker makes “stirring compositions…built on a lifetime of musical curiosity” (Chicago Reader). As an intentionally wide-ranging composer/performer, he has contributed to experimental scenes across North America and Europe. Performance highlights include working with musicians including Anthony Braxton, Gareth Davis, Myra Melford, Karen Borca, Vocal Constructivists, Rinde Eckert, and the San Francisco Choral Artists, amongst […]
Zachary Guo attends Deerfield High School and studies piano with Dr. Matthew Hagle as well as composition with Dr. Christopher Jones. He is a scholarship fellow at the Music Institute of Chicago’s Academy, a training center for advanced pre-college musicians. At the Academy, Zachary enjoys learning and playing contemporary music with his peers. Zachary began […]
Zoë A. Wallace (formerly known as Zoë Holbrook) is a classical composer and guitarist who is continually striving to broaden the repertoire for instruments in an ensemble setting. She has performed in a number of concerts as a soloist and in a duo throughout California, Illinois, and Utah, and has had the pleasure of playing […]
Katherine Petersen is an engaging Soprano specializing in the performance of 21st Century repertoire for Voice/Saxophone and Russian Art Song. Her recent collaborations with Decho Saxophone Ensemble include performances at the International Congress of Voice Teachers in Vienna (2022), Cleveland Uncommon Sound Project (2022), Women Composers Festival of Hartford (2022), International Saxophone Symposium (2020) and […]
Molly Jones’ practice incorporates improvisation, composition, and multimedia performance with saxophones, flutes, and electronic samples. Her work originates in a place of playfulness, listening, and attention. Formed by her experiences in jazz, classical, Balkan brass, and Scottish country dance/contradance ensembles, and by her fascination with found sounds, she has created chamber works, graphic scores, electroacoustic […]
“…Zoulek’s performance, on saxophones in every range, is stunningly virtuosic, whatever the genre…none of this would matter much (except to saxophonists) if he were a less imaginative composer.” (The Wall Street Journal). A modern saxophonist of “pure mindfulness and talent” (PopMatters), Nick Zoulek’s artistry as a performer, collaborator, composer, and media artist has led to a diverse portfolio of distinctive […]
Richard Brasseale is a saxophonist, composer, and educator in the Chicago area. An acclaimed saxophonist, he has played with numerous ensembles, including the Milwaukee Symphony, Madison Symphony, Fulcrum Point New Music Ensemble, Camerata Chicago, Civic Orchestra of Chicago, and others. Recent solo performances include the DePaul Symphony Orchestra, North Park Orchestra, and various recitals in […]
Abdo Timejardine-Zomeño is a Chicago-based clarinetist, woodwind doubler, composer, and arranger. He is currently earning a double degree in Clarinet Performance and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago. His on campus ensemble participation includes performing in the UIC Wind Ensemble, Orchestra, Pep Band, as well as various chamber music ensembles. Abdo’s primary […]
Wenbin Lyu is a US-based Chinese composer and guitarist. The compositions written by Wenbin Lyu combines contemporary western techniques with ancient oriental culture. He seeks inspiration from nature, science, and video games. Lyu has received fellowships from Tanglewood Music Center, Cabrillo Festival Composers Workshop, and Britten-Pears Young Artist Programme. Lyu’s works have been performed at […]
Described as “kaleidoscopic,” and praised for its “real power,” “triumphalism,” (Fanfare Magazine) and “depth, beauty, and rich dimension” (The Courier), the multistylistic work of Baltimore-based composer and pianist Adam D. O’Dell (b. 1992) invokes theatre, nature, and human behavior and speech to explore the territory between the profound and the absurd. O’Dell has been commissioned […]
Amanda Beaune is a violinist and educator who is community focused and driven. She has found herself to be truly at home in new music, and believes that new music can serve as a direct path to connect with youth and our surrounding communities. As a whole, Amanda is working to elevate new music to […]
Osnat Netzer /osˈnat ˈnɛtsɛʁ/ is a composer, performer and educator. Osnat creates her compositions collaboratively, tailoring her work to the performer’s sensibilities, physicality and improvisational inclinations. She takes inspiration from cognitive linguistics, and in dialogue with the embodied experience of physical forces, such as potential and kinetic energy, resulting in compositions that are rich in […]
Dr. Greg A Steinke is retired, former Joseph Naumes Endowed Chair of Music/Art and Associate Dean of Undergraduate Studies, Marylhurst University, Marylhurst, Oregon; Associate Director, Ernest Bloch Music Festival (‘93–97) and Director, Composers Symposium (‘90–97) (Newport, OR); served as the National Chairman of the Society of Composers, Inc. (1988–97). Composer of chamber and symphonic music […]
Born in Guatemala City, Xavier studied piano at the National Conservatory of Guatemala with Consuelo Medinilla. At age 18, he was awarded the first prize at the Augusto Ardenois National Piano Competition and third prize at the Rafael Alvarez Ovalle Composition Competition in Guatemala. He continued his piano studies in the United States with Argentinean […]
Born in 1997 in Vladivostok, Russia, Aleksandr Romunchkin was adopted at a mere 6 months old and brought to America by his parents Steve and Deborah. Later, Romunchkin became a U.S citizen through adoption and his name was changed to Matt Kubek. Matt Kubek considers himself a Russian-American Saxophonist. Throughout his life, Matt has always […]
Nightingale Ensemble is comprised of an eclectic group of instruments not often seen in the same company. The ensemble performs commissioned and already existing works by contemporary composers that explore new musical landscapes and push the pairing of instruments. In addition, they also use their unusual instrumentation to their advantage in order to perform lesser known […]
Ryan McGuire is an emerging American composer based in the Chicago area. Though he is young, he has already exhibited the traits of a great composer in the making. From the age of 9, he has produced a body of works that are ever increasing in their sophistication and maturity. An admirer of Beethoven, Schubert, […]
Madeleine Wilmsen is a performer and teacher based in the Chicago area. She recently graduated from the University of Kansas with a Bachelor of Arts in Music with an emphasis in Flute Performance where her principal teachers were Sarah Frisof and Michael Gordon. She was awarded placement in the University Honors Recital in 2016 and […]
Oboist and composer Laura Adkins has been an advocate of contemporary music for much of her professional career. She was recently awarded a scholarship to attend a composition residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts with her duo partner, pianist and composer Jonathan Hannau, which resulted in a full-length, collaboratively-composed concert program. In 2016, […]
Lisa Goethe-McGinn has an active career as a soloist, chamber musician, and teaching artist. She has performed in festivals and concerts throughout the U.S. and abroad. Known as a versatile performer, Lisa is a much sought after performer of contemporary, cutting-edge music and improvisation. She is currently working on solo and collaborative projects and with […]
Clarinetist Thiago Ancelmo has an active career as chamber musician, orchestral player, and educator. Awarded in more than ten competitions, including the prestigious “New Talents of Brazilian Music”, he has performed in eleven countries in Europe, South America, and North America. An enthusiastic of the music of our time, Thiago has performed music by living […]
Composer Marc Mellits is one of the leading American composers of his generation, enjoying hundreds of performances throughout the world every year, making him one of the most performed living composers in the United States. From Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center, to prestigious music festivals in Europe and the US, Mellits’ music is a […]
Beth Bradfish is a composer and sound artist whose goal is to bring her audience as close to sound as possible. She explores both contemporary acoustic and electronic sounds. Her focus is on creating environments where the audience is free to move through the sound and experience it with more than their ears. She composes […]
In 2004, Lawrence Klevan and I became friends. New music was a major common interest. Lawrence was working for the Chicago Dance and Music Alliance and had come to know many of the new music ensembles. He and I talked about the idea of creating a consortium of the performing groups, and we raised the question with several […]