New Juilliard Ensemble, Led By Joel Sachs, Presents Premieres In Three Free Concerts

The New Juilliard Ensemble (N.J.E.), led by founder and director Joel Sachs and now in its 26th season, celebrates the diversity of today's music, focusing primarily on repertory of the last decade and presenting international composers who write in the most varied styles. In the 2018-19 season, Joel Sachs and the New Juilliard Ensemble will present premieres in three free concerts and open Juilliard's 35th annual Focus festival, On the Air!: A Salute to 75 Years of International Radio Commissioning.

The opening concert on Tuesday, October 2, at 7:30pm, in the Peter Jay Sharp Theater features Josefino Chino Toledo's (Philippines) Agos (Western Hemisphere premiere) with narrator, Juilliard actor Regina de Vera; Sunbin Kevin Kim's (Korea/U.S.) Studies on Darkness - After Mark Rothko (2018, world premiere, commissioned by N.J.E.); Virko Baley's (Ukraine/U.S.) Violin Concerto No. 1 (1987) with Juilliard violinist Stella Chen, in honor of the composer's 80th birthday; and Akira Nishimura's (Japan) Mirror of Stars (2010).

The series continues on Tuesday, November 13, at 7:30pm in Room 309 with N.J.E. performing Ursula Mamlok's (Germany/U.S.) Sextet (1977) and Robert Sierra's (Puerto Rico/U.S.) Octet (2014), with additional solo and chamber works performed by members of N.J.E.

Juilliard's 2019 Focus festival, On the Air!: A Salute to 75 Years of International Radio Commissioning, takes place from Friday, January 25 to Friday, February 1. The theme celebrates the public radio stations of Europe and Canada that have contributed to the health of music by commissioning thousands of compositions since World War II. The New Juilliard Ensemble will perform on the opening night concert on Friday, January 25, at 7:30pm, in the Peter Jay Sharp Theater. (Program to be announced.) Anne Manson conducts the Juilliard Orchestra on the closing night of the festival on Friday, February 1, at 7:30pm, in Alice Tully Hall. The program features Betty Olivero's (Israel) Tenuot (WDR commission); György Ligeti's (Hungary/Germany) Lontano (Radio France commission); and Michael Tippett's (U.K.) Symphony No. 2 (BBC commission).

The closing concert of the New Juilliard Ensemble series takes place on Monday, April 1, at 7:30pm in Alice Tully Hall and features two world premieres, composed for N.J.E., by Juilliard composers Sato Matui (Japan/U.S.) and Ross Giffey; Jukka Tiensuu's (Finland) violin concerto, Hou, with Juilliard violinist Max Tan; and Zymunt Krauze's (Poland) Poem of Apollinaire (2016, Western Hemisphere premiere), in celebration of the composer's 80th birthday.

Tickets for New Juilliard Ensemble concerts are free and will be available beginning September 20 at juilliard.edu/calendar.