MATA Festival Will Present 28th Annual Edition Honoring Morton Feldman's Centennial
MATA Mavens, Unnameable Strings, and composers including Reich, Feldman, and Guo featured across three-night NYC festival.
The MATA Festival of New Music will return for its 28th year with INTERVAL: IN BETWEEN SILENCE AND STASIS, running May 21–23 at the DiMenna Center in New York City, with a kickoff event on May 20 at Trans-Pecos in Ridgewood.
The 2026 festival centers on the centennial of composer Morton Feldman, featuring new works by early-career composers alongside performances by MATA Mavens, BlackBox Ensemble, The Bang Group, and Unnameable Strings.
EXPERIMENTAL RESONANCE (KICKOFF EVENT)
May 20, 6:00 p.m.–midnight
Trans-Pecos, Ridgewood
A six-hour experimental event curated by Eric Umble, blending contemporary classical and electronic music with performances by Mizu, Yaz Lancaster, DJ Aka Sol, and Concrete Husband, alongside a discussion with composer Mario Diaz de Leon.
NIGHT ONE: POSITIVE VOID – EVOLVING THINGS
May 21, 7:00 p.m.
The DiMenna Center
Featuring The Bang Group and MATA Mavens, the opening program explores transformation through music and movement, including reinterpretations of works by Steve Reich and Morton Feldman alongside new compositions by Yifan Guo, Liann J. Kang, Anselm McDonnell, Kaleena Miller, Sami Seif, and Zihan Wu.
NIGHT TWO: INTUITIVE MUSIC
May 22, 7:00 p.m.
The DiMenna Center
MATA Mavens and Unnameable Strings present extended-duration works focused on intuitive composition, featuring music by Ana Luisa Diaz de Cossio, Jennifer Gersten, Zosha Warpeha, Tristan Kasten-Krause, Laura Raquel Cetilia, and Bunita Marcus.
NIGHT THREE: LOCAL MUSIC
May 23, 7:00 p.m.
The DiMenna Center
BlackBox Ensemble performs a program centered on intimate, textural sound worlds, with works by Laila Arafah, Erich Barganier, Kristupas Bubnelis, Gillian Rae Perry, Floriana Provenzano, and Jessica Shand, alongside pieces by Morton Feldman.
The festival features 15 new works by 17 composers selected through an international call, responding to Feldman’s legacy of quietude, resonance, and experimental form.
Ticketing Information
Festival passes go on sale April 14. Performances take place at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music, 450 West 37th Street, New York City.
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