SONiC – Sounds of a New Century Festival Set for 10/14-10/22

SONiC - Sounds of a New Century - a brand new festival of 21st century music by more than 100 composers age 40 and under, will take over New York from Friday, October 14 through Saturday, October 22, 2011. Events will range from a daylong marathon to a DJ/VJ night, from a free symphony concert at the World Financial Center Winter Garden to collaborations between emerging choreographers and composers. SONiC concerts will take place at ten different venues throughout New York, and will include performances by 16 extraordinary ensembles featuring at least 18 world premieres, eight US premieres, and eight New York premieres. SONiC is co-curated by composer Derek Bermel and pianist Stephen Gosling, and is a production of American Composers Orchestra and The Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University. SONiC is presented in partnership with Carnegie Hall and Miller Theatre at Columbia University. New York Public Radio's online radio station, Q2, is the media partner and digital venue.

SONiC launches on October 14 with ACO's season-opening concert, Orchestra Underground: 21st Firsts, presented by Carnegie Hall at Zankel Hall, with an all-world premiere program featuring music by five up-and-coming composers: Kenji Bunch, who premieres his own concerto for amplified viola and orchestra; Christopher Stark, winner of ACO's 2010 Underwood Emerging Composer Commission; Alex Temple whose piece is for soprano Mellissa Hughes, live electronics and orchestra; Andreia Pinto-Correia, a composer identified through ACO's national EarShot new music readings network; and Wang Lu, who is creating a multimedia work for video and orchestra. The program will be led by ACO Music Director George Manahan.

Other highlights of SONiC include eighth blackbird performing the world premiere of a new work by Bruno Mantovani alongside music by Dan Visconti, Timo Andres, Caleb Burhans and more; Either/Or in music by Radiohead's Jonny Greenwood (for an ensemble that includes two ondes martenots) and Keeril Makan; Brazil's Camerata Aberta in works by Latin and North American composers; Holland's Ensemble Klang in music by 2011 Rome Prize winner Sean Friar, Kate Moore, Pete Harden and Oscar Bettison; International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) in a signature ICELab concert at The Kitchen featuring Du Yun, Marcos Balter, Nathan Davis, and more; and Alarm Will Sound in a world premiere by David T. Little, plus U.S. premieres by Nico Muhly and Aleksandra Gryka, and arrangements of Aphex Twin.

SONiC showcases the breadth and depth of emerging composers working today in Extended Play, an all-day marathon event on Sunday, October 16 that begins at noon at Columbia's Miller Theatre. JACK Quartet plays the role of host ensemble, with performances interspersed throughout the day. Other ensembles performing include Talea Ensemble, The New York Virtuoso Singers, Dither, Imani Winds, PRISM Quartet, Young People's Chorus of New York City, and NOW Ensemble.

SONiC concludes on Saturday, October 22 with a free concert by ACO at the World Financial Center Winter Garden, presented by Arts World Financial Center as part of WNYC's New Sounds Live. Entitled American Pie, this full symphony orchestra performance features the world premiere of a new ACO commission by The National's Bryce Dessner, to be performed by the orchestra with brothers Bryce and Aaron Dessner as guitar soloists. The program also includes a world premiere by Paul Yeon Lee, an alumnus of ACO's 2001 Emerging Composer Readings; and New York premieres by: Ruby Fulton, alumna of ACO's Underwood Readings class of 2008, with her alt-kitch Road Ranger Cowboy; Ryan Gallagher, whose Grindhouse celebrates Hollywood's gritty B-Movie tradition, and was discovered last year at EarShot Readings with the Nashville Symphony; Andrew Norman, whose energetic loop-based Unstuck spins off in propulsive energy; and Suzanne Farrin, whose Infinite Here explores resonances through the orchestra and into the open space of the Winter Garden. The event marks the first time in ACO's history that it has performed a free concert featuring the full symphony orchestra. It will be hosted by WNYC's John Schaefer and broadcast live on New Sounds.

In addition to the main stage performances, SONiC will also include several After Hours concerts featuring dance collaborations, electronic music composers and DJs, and composers who also take the stage as performers, at venues including The Stone, Joyce SoHo, Joe's Pub, and Roulette.
Of the focus on composers under age 40, co-curator Derek Bermel said, "We wanted to present a snapshot of the younger generation of music-makers, to showcase the richness, vitality, and diversity of the music being created right now - under our very noses here in New York and throughout the world." He explains, "Emerging composers today have much greater access to different traditions and influences, and we are celebrating that by not restricting the music we present to any one style, movement, or agenda. We want to bring more public awareness to the many directions contemporary music is moving in, and to show everyone that ‘the composer' is alive and thriving."

Stephen Gosling adds, "We want SONiC to attract anyone with an interest in the musical zeitgeist - regardless of age, expertise, or aesthetic preferences. Our goal is to produce an objective account of where contemporary music is now and where it might be heading. We hope SONiC will engender a lot of optimism among new music lovers and even more curiosity among those new to new music."
SONiC also recalls the landmark Ditson Fund festivals of the 1940s and 1950s held at Columbia University, which presented premieres by such icons as Aaron Copland, Charles Ives, Elliott Carter, Henry Cowell, Paul Hindemith, Randall Thompson, and Samuel Barber. Fred Lerdahl, a composer and board member of the Ditson Fund, explained, "Robert Ward, chair of the Ditson Advisory Committee, recalled the Ditson festivals in his early days and wanted to resume them in some form. It was a natural step to collaborate with the American Composers Orchestra on SONiC. ACO has an impeccable record of supporting emerging composers."

For ACO, SONiC represents the culmination of seven years of planning, coalescing the work the orchestra does with emerging composers, and creating a dynamic and focused series of events that emphasize the creation of new opportunities for these artists. "We wanted to create a ‘big umbrella' that would celebrate these composers and bring together the many young innovative ensembles that are doing fantastic work, by collaborating with a wide range of venues and presenters from across New York City," said ACO Executive Director Michael Geller. Many of the composers featured during SONiC have been discovered through one of ACO's composer development programs, such as the Underwood New Music Readings for Emerging Composers or EarShot - the National Orchestral Composition Discovery Network that ACO has spearheaded in collaboration with symphony orchestras around the country.

SONiC: Interact
SONiC will extend beyond the concert hall and into the virtual world with several initiatives allowing audiences to interact and engage directly with the music.

For updates, behind-the-scenes scoops, and dialog with several of the composers and ensembles, audiences can follow SONiC on Twitter (www.twitter.com/SONiCFest2011), Facebook (www.facebook.com/SONiC.SoundsOfANewCentury) can participate in the conversation on Twitter using the hashtag #SONiCfest.

Through Re:Sound, audience members will have the opportunity to comment and vote online or via mobile phone for the piece they would most like to hear again. New York Public Radio's Q2 will broadcast recordings of the pieces that receive the most votes during a special program dedicated to SONiC.

SONiC will also feature two interactive sound projects - SONiC:Thicket and UrbanRemix:
UrbanRemix is a collaborative and locative sound project. SONiC audiences will explore, develop and express the acoustic identity of communities, based on sounds they discover, record and remix - on the way to and from, and in the neighborhoods around SONiC performances. Mobile and web-based software applications allow users to document the obvious, neglected, private or public, even secret sounds of the urban environment surrounding SONiC. The collected sounds, voices and noises provide original tracks for musical remixes that reflect the community in a novel form. The resulting remixes will become the focus of several in-school workshops and will be showcased on www.SONiCfestival.org. A mix created from the collected sounds will be performed on Friday, October 21 at Roulette. UrbanRemix is directed by Jason Freeman, Carl Disalvo, and Michael Nitsche, of the Music Technology and Digital Media programs of the Georgia Institute of Technology.

iPhone/iPad users will be able to download SONiC:Thicket a mobile audiovisual world of texture, movement, line and tone that is part art piece, part toy, part wind chime, and part spiderweb. The SONiC app is a special free version of the award-winning Thicket app created by Morgan Packard and Joshue Ott of Interval Studios. The software was used to create SONiC's animated logo on www.SONiCfestival.org. The app will also be on display at select events during the festival.
SONiC Composers (Subject to Change)

Víctor Adán, Kati Agócs, Timo Andres, Aphex Twin, Vykintas Baltakas, Marcos Balter, Matthew Barnson, Oscar Bettison, Rafiq Bhatia, Ryan Brown, Kenji Bunch, Caleb Burhans, Patrick Burke, Richard Carrick, Aaron Cassidy, Tatiana Catanzaro, Raphaël Cendo, Phyllis Chen, Anthony Cheung, Valerie Coleman, Lisa R. Coons, Mark Dancigers, Corey Dargel, Nathan Davis, Bryce Dessner, Toby Driver, Jason Eckardt, Roshanne Etezady, Mohammed Fairouz, Suzanne Farrin, Lainie Fefferman, Michael Fletcher, Gabriela Lena Frank, Stefan Freund, Sean Friar, David Fulmer, Ruby Fulton, Michel Galante, Ryan Gallagher, Erin Gee, Janice Gerber, Judd Greenstein, Jonny Greenwood, Aleksandra Gryka, Yotam Haber, Pete Harden, Susie Ibarra, Konrad Kaczmarek, Amy Beth Kirsten, Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum, Kristin Kuster, David Laganella, Hannah Lash, Thomas Lavoy, Andrew McKenna Lee, Paul Yeon Lee, Steve Lehman, Lei Liang, David T. Little, Wang Lu, Keeril Makan, Bruno Mantovani, Matthew Marks, Ko Matsushita, Paula Matthusen, Alex Mincek, Jesse Montgomery, Kate Moore, Jason Moran, Nico Muhly, Jascha Narveson, Mayke Nas, Rafael Nassif, Clint Needham, Andrew Norman, Tarik O'Regan, Joshue Ott, Christopher Otto, Hector Parra, Andreia Pinto-Correia, Nicholas Reeves, Ches Smith, Sarah Kirkland Snider, Kate Soper, Gregory Spears, Christopher Stark, Fabien Svensson, Alex Temple, Hans Thomalla, Ken Ueno, Dan Visconti, Rufus Wainwright, Bora Yoon, Du Yun, Elizabeth Ziman, and more.

SONiC Ensembles & Performers (Subject to Change)
Alarm Will Sound, American Composers Orchestra, Argento Chamber Ensemble, Camerata Aberta, Dither, eighth blackbird, Either/Or, Ensemble Klang, Imani Winds, International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE), JACK Quartet, The New York Virtuoso Singers, NOW Ensemble, PRISM Saxophone Quartet, Talea Ensemble, Young People's Chorus of New York City, Rafiq Bhatia (Guitar), Ryan Brown (Guitar), Kenji Bunch (Amplified Viola), Corey Dargel (Vocals), Aaron Dessner (Guitar), Bryce Dessner (Guitar), Toby Driver (Guitar), Erin Gee (Vocals), Mellissa Hughes (Soprano), Andrew McKenna Lee (Guitar), Ryan Lott (DJ), Deborah Lohse (Choreographer), Miro Magloire (Choreographer), George Manahan (Conductor), James Moore (Guitar), Joshue Ott (VJ), Wil Smith (Keyboards), Kate Soper (Vocals), Rebecca Stenn (Choreographer)

Ticket Information
Tickets to SONiC concerts will be available beginning on August 29, 2011. Tickets will range from FREE to $50. SONiC Festival Passes will be available for $25 and will provide discount codes to allow for the purchase of tickets discounted by at least 20% to all concerts. The SONiC Festival Pass will also provide reserved, preferred seating at the free events along with other free items and perks. Visit www.SONiCfestival.org for more information.

SONiC: Sounds of a New Century Preliminary Schedule (Subject to Change)

OPENING CONCERT: Friday, October 14, 2011, 7:30pm
Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall; 7th Ave. and 57th St., NYC
American Composers Orchestra's Orchestra Underground: 21st Firsts
George Manahan, Music Director & Conductor
Kenji Bunch, amplified viola
Mellissa Hughes, soprano & electronics
KENJI BUNCH: The Devil's Box (World Premiere, Mary Rodgers Guettel/Meet The Composer commission)
Christopher Stark: ...and start west (World Premiere, ACO/Underwood commission)
ALEX TEMPLE: Liebeslied with voice, electronics & orchestra (World Premiere, ACO commission)
ANDREIA PINTO-CORREIA: Elegia a Al-Mu'tamid (World Premiere, ACO/Patricia Wylde commission)|
WANG LU: Flowing Water Study II for orchestra & video (World Premiere, ACO/Jerome Foundation commission)

Saturday, October 15, 2011, 7:30pm
Miller Theatre at Columbia University; 2960 Broadway, NYC
eighth blackbird
Music by Timo Andres, Bruno Mantovani, Amy Beth Kirsten, Mayke Nas, Fabien Svensson, Dan Visconti and Caleb Burhans.

Sunday, October 16, 2011, 12pm (all day)
Miller Theatre at Columbia University; 2960 Broadway, NYC
Extended Play - A Marathon Event
Hosted by JACK Quartet with performances by JACK Quartet, Talea Ensemble, The New York Virtuoso Singers, Dither, Imani Winds, PRISM Quartet, Young People's Chorus of New York City, and NOW Ensemble.

Monday, October 17, 2011, 7:30pm
Miller Theatre at Columbia University; 2960 Broadway, NYC
Either/Or
Music by Jonny Greenwood (Radiohead), Keeril Makan, Richard Carrick, Hans Thomalla, Erin Gee, and Raphaël Cendo.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011, 7:30pm
Americas Society; 680 Park Ave., NYC
Camerata Aberta
Music by Latin and North American composers including Tatiana Catanzaro, Clint Needham, and Rafael Nassif.

SONiC AfterHours - Tuesday, Oct. 18, 10pm
The Stone; East 2nd Street and Avenue C
Twang
An evening of new music for guitar.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011, 7:30pm
Leonard Nimoy Thalia at Symphony Space; 2537 Broadway, NYC
Ensemble Klang
Music by Kate Moore, Pete Harden, Sean Friar and Oscar Bettison.
SONiC AfterHours - Wednesday, Oct. 19, 10pm
Joyce SoHo; 155 Mercer Street, NYC
New Sounds, New Moves
New collaborations between American composers and choreographers resulting in world premieres featuring Argento Chamber Ensemble.

Thursday, October 20, 2011, 7:30pm
The Kitchen; 512 West 19th St., NYC
International Contemporary Ensemble: ICELab
Music by Du Yun, Steve Lehman, Phyllis Chen, Nathan Davis and Marcos Balter.
SONiC AfterHours - Thursday, Oct. 20, 11:30pm
Joe's Pub; 425 Lafayette Street, NYC
Sotto Voce
An evening with young singer/songwriters blurring the lines between pop and art song.

Friday, October 21, 2011, 7:30pm
Roulette, 509 Atlantic Avenue at 3rd Avenue, Brooklyn
Alarm Will Sound
ALEKSANDRA GRYKA: New Work (US Premiere)
STEFAN FREUND: Drowning
David T. Little: New Work (World Premiere)
Nico Muhly: Seeing is Believing (US Premiere)
MATTHEW MARKS: New Song (NY Premiere)
APHEX TWIN (arr. Hause): Omgyjya Switch

SONiC AfterHours - Friday, Oct. 21, 10pm
Roulette; 509 Atlantic Avenue at 3rd Avenue, Brooklyn
DJ/VJ: Electronic Composers
An evening of electronic composition with DJs and VJs.

CLOSING CONCERT: Saturday, October 22, 2011, 7pm
World Financial Center Winter Garden; 220 Vesey St., NYC
Presented by Arts World Financial Center as part of WNYC's New Sounds Live hosted by John Schaefer
American Composers Orchestra: American Pie
George Manahan, Music Director & Conductor
Bryce Dessner & Aaron Dessner, electric guitars
RUBY FULTON: Road Ranger Cowboy (NY premiere)
PAUL YEON LEE: Echo of a Dream (World Premiere, ACO commission)
BRYCE DESSNER: New Work for Electric Guitars & Orchestra (World Premiere, ACO commission)
RYAN GALLAGHER: Grindhouse (NY Premiere, EarShot winner)
Andrew Norman: Unstuck (NY Premiere)
SUZANNE FARRIN: Infinite Here (NY Premiere)

More information will be available at www.SONiCfestival.org.
About SONiC Co-Curator Derek Bermel

For a sneak peak, watch this preview video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekLq9pQIGP4

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