Luna Composition Lab to Continue Luna Lab@10 Anniversary With 2026-27 Season
Kronos Quartet, Eighth Blackbird, and Sō Percussion will premiere works by 50 alumni composers.
Luna Composition Lab has announced its 2026-2027 season, a continuation of Luna Lab@10, a multi-year celebration marking the organization's tenth anniversary. Spanning the 2025-2026 and 2026-2027 seasons, Luna Lab@10 features the world premieres of more than 90 commissions for over 50 Luna Lab alumni. The 2026-27 season continues this landmark commissioning initiative with premieres, co-commissioned, presented, and performed by leading ensembles and institutions including Kronos Quartet, Imani Winds, Louisville Orchestra, International Contemporary Ensemble, Sō Percussion, Eighth Blackbird, Ensemble Connect, Sandbox Percussion, Composers Now, The Metropolitan Opera's Lindemann Young Artist Development Program, LA Opera's Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program, Cal Performances, Norway's Arctic Chamber Music Festival, Berlin Academy of American Music, New Music Concerts Toronto, and many more.
Founded in 2016 by composers Missy Mazzoli and Ellen Reid, Luna Composition Lab began as a bold and necessary intervention: a commitment to support young composers who are female, nonbinary, or gender-nonconforming from the very beginning of their artistic lives – not as exceptions, but as the future of the field. Growing up in small towns in Pennsylvania and Tennessee, Mazzoli and Reid did not encounter a single professional female composer until their twenties – an absence that shaped Luna Lab's founding vision. A decade later, that vision has grown into an internationally recognized organization with a proven model for equity, artistic excellence, and long-term impact.
Highlights of the 2026-2027 season include a February 2027 evening-length program presented by Cal Performances in Berkeley that will include works by Mazzoli and Reid, mentor composers, and world premiere commissions by three Luna Lab alumni, as well as the Luna Lab Festival held in New York City in June 2027, featuring performances by the International Contemporary Ensemble of five commissioned works by Luna Lab composers at National Sawdust and of premieres by the 2027 Luna Lab Fellows performed by Ensemble Connect at Carnegie Hall.
Luna Composition Lab's mission is to close the gender gap in music composition through mentorship, performance opportunities, and sustained professional community. By empowering young composers ages 13 to 18 during a formative stage in their artistic development while dismantling structural barriers to participation, Luna Lab provides a model of inclusivity that reshapes individual artistic lives and expands the future of the field itself.
What began in 2016 as a small program at New York City's Kaufman Music Center – a cohort of three New York-based students supported by a single $10,000 grant – has grown into a nationally recognized organization with nearly 60 alumni. Over the past decade, Luna Composition Lab has expanded the Luna Lab Fellowship to a national cohort; established the G. Schirmer Prize, providing publishing access and professional mentorship; launched Adventures in Sound, a beginner-level composition course designed to expand access; and presented free, public masterclasses featuring leading composers and performers.
Central to Luna Lab's success is its emphasis on direct, sustained mentorship. Fellows work one-on-one with acclaimed professional composers, gaining guidance not only in craft but in navigating the realities of a life in music. Mentor composers have included Valerie Coleman, Reena Esmail, Gabriela Lena Frank, Sarah Gibson, Laura Karpman, Jessie Montgomery, Gabriela Ortiz, and Jeanine Tesori, among many others. These relationships form the foundation of an active alumni network that continues to provide artistic, professional, and peer support well beyond a fellow's initial participation.
In 2022, after six seasons in residence at Kaufman Music Center, Luna Lab became an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit. In 2024, the organization presented its Festival outside New York for the first time, partnering with Kronos Quartet in San Francisco for the world premieres of fellow works, and collaborated with ChamberQUEER on The Nebula Project, a new commissioning initiative for alumni – further extending Luna Lab's mentor-driven model onto major national stages.
As Luna Lab celebrates its tenth anniversary, the organization can point to tangible, long-term results. 100% of Luna Lab alumni remain involved in music, and 75% of alumni currently in college are studying composition, many at top conservatories and universities including The Juilliard School, Curtis Institute of Music, Princeton University, Yale University, Harvard University, Columbia University, Mannes School of Music at The New School, Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music, and New England Conservatory, among others.
With Luna Lab@10, the organization embarks on its most ambitious initiative to date: a large-scale commissioning celebration that brings alumni composers onto major national and international stages. Presented over two seasons and in cities including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Santa Barbara, Cincinnati, Toronto, Denver, Seattle, Austin, Milwaukee, Palo Alto, Berkeley, Sarasota, Louisville, Albuquerque, Munich, Germany, and Svalbard, Norway, these premieres represent a field-level statement – demonstrating what sustained investment in young artists can yield over time.
Through Luna Lab@10, Luna Composition Lab affirms its central belief: when young composers see themselves supported, commissioned, mentored, and celebrated on major stages, the field becomes more vibrant, more innovative, and more reflective of the society it serves.
2026–2027 Season
September 11–12, 2026: Zeitgeist (Ellsworth, WI)
World premiere by Alicia Erlandson (2022)
September 17, 2026: Present Music (Milwaukee, WI)
World premieres by Zola Saadi-Klein (2021) and Olivia Bennett (2020)
October 4, 2026: ~Nois Quartet (Chicago, IL)
World premiere by Peyton Nelesen (2024)
October 8, 2026: Salon de Virtuosi (New York, NY)
World premiere by Elaina Stuppler (2023)
October 25, 2026: iSing Silicon Valley (Palo Alto, CA)
World premiere by Lucy Chen (2023)
November 24, 2026: ensemble oktopus (University of Music & Theatre, Munich, Germany)
World premiere by Marvel Jem Roth (2024)
December 21, 2026: San Francisco Girls Chorus (San Francisco, CA)
World premiere by Haeon Lee (2024)
January 15, 2027: Composers Now (New York, NY)
World premieres by Maria Emiliano (2024), Abby Harris (2019), and Isabelle Tseng (2023)
January 16, 2027: Young People's Chorus of New York City (New York, NY)
World premieres by Moon Cove (2017) and Zola Saadi-Klein (2021)
January 18, 2027: ensembleNEWSRQ (Sarasota, FL)
World premieres by Chloe Kirk (2026) and Andromeda Wen (2026)
February 6, 2027: Gualala Arts Center (Gualala, CA)
Preview of work by Hannah Chen (2023), performed by Dutt Campbell Duo (Hank Dutt & Kate Campbell)
February 21, 2027: Ensemble Connect: A Well-Being Concert (Saratoga Springs, NY)
World premiere by Lili M. Namazi (2023)
February 26, 2027: Cal Performances (Berkeley, CA)
World premieres by Hannah Chen (2023), Marvel Jem Roth (2024), and Danity Pike (2025), performed by Dutt Campbell Duo (Hank Dutt & Kate Campbell), Friction Quartet, and The Living Earth Show
February 26, 2027: Ensemble Connect: A Well-Being Concert (New York, NY)
New York City premiere by Lili M. Namazi (2023) at Carnegie Hall
February 27, 2027: Louisville Orchestra (Louisville, KY)
World premiere by KiMani Bridges (2020)
February (TBC): Arctic Chamber Music Festival (Svalbard, Norway)
World premieres by Lucy Chen (2023) and Alisha Heng (2021)
April 6, 2027: The Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artist Development Program Recital Series (New York, NY)
World premiere by Azalea Twining (2021)
April 9, 2027: ~Nois Quartet (Chicago, IL)
World premiere by Olivia Bennett (2020)
April 15, 2027: Kronos Quartet / Kronos Performing Arts Association (Towson, MD)
World premieres by KiMani Bridges (2020), Madeline Clara Cheng (2020), Maya Miro Johnson (2018), and Lili M. Namazi (2023)
April 17, 2027: Eighth Blackbird & Southern Exposure New Music Series (Columbia, SC)
World premiere by Carolina Bragg (2018)
May 15, 2027: Ensemble for These Times (San Francisco, CA)
World premieres by Ilaria Hawley (2024), Peyton Nelesen (2024), and Èbùn Oguntola (2020)
May 20, 2027: San Francisco Girls Chorus (San Francisco, CA)
World premiere by Joanna Moutouama (2019), SFGC Composer in Residence
May 22–23, 2027: Berkeley Ballet (Berkeley, CA)
World premiere by Chloe Elise Villamayor (LACO Partnership, 2020)
May 29, 2027: New Music Concerts, MAKEWAY Program (Toronto, Canada)
World premiere by composer to be confirmed
May 29–30, 2027: VAMP & Tetractys New Music (Austin, TX)
World premiere by Sage Shurman (2020) at Here Be Monsters
June 10, 2027: Ensemble Connect, Presented by Luna Composition Lab (New York, NY)
World premieres by 2027 Fellows at Carnegie Hall
June 10–11, 2027: Third Coast Percussion (Chicago, IL)
Performance of work by Peyton Nelesen (2024)
June 11, 2027: Denver Chamber Music Festival (Denver, CO)
World premiere by Andromeda Wen (2026)
June 12, 2027: Luna Lab Presents Commissions from The Sarah Gibson Foundation, performed by International Contemporary Ensemble (Brooklyn, NY)
World premieres by five composers to be announced at National Sawdust
June 23–26, 2027: Nief-Norf (Knoxville, TN)
World premieres by Ilaria Hawley (2024), Andromeda Smith (2023), Anchi Wang-Hall (2026), Brannon Warn-Johnston (2025), and Faith Wesley (2026)
June (TBC): Imani Winds (New York, NY)
World premiere by Andromeda Smith (2023)
July (TBC): Northwest Boychoir (Seattle, WA)
World premiere by Elaina Stuppler (2023)
July (TBC): Sandbox Percussion (New York, NY)
World premiere by Mia Turakhia (2025)
July (TBC): Sō Percussion Summer Institute (Princeton, NJ)
World premiere by Haeon Lee (2024)
Dates to Be Announced
ARCO Collaborative (New York, NY)
World premieres by Violet Barnum (2017), Maria Emiliano (2024), Jack Gjaja (2021), Jordan Millar (2021), Caleb Palka (2018), Danity Pike (2025), Isabelle Tseng (2023), Brannon Warn-Johnston (2025), and Emilie Wolff (2025)
American Mavericks Project (New York, NY)
Performance of work by Moon Cove (2017)
Berlin Academy of American Music (Berlin, Germany)
World premiere by composer to be confirmed
Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts (Katonah, NY)
World premiere by composer to be confirmed
Cincinnati May Festival (Cincinnati, OH)
World premieres by Moon Cove (2017), Christabelle Kirkham (2026), and Azalea Twining (2021)
Chatter (Albuquerque, NM)
World premiere by Faith Wesley (2026)
Decoda (Asheville, NC)
World premiere by Sara Sørbye Visel (Bergen International Festival Partnership, 2023)
The Hess Collective & MATA (New York, NY)
World premiere by Yuri Lee (2019)
HERMESensemble (Wijnegem, Belgium)
World premiere by composer to be confirmed
Hub New Music (Detroit, MI)
Performance of work by Sage Shurman (2020)
LA Opera's Domingo-Colburn-Stein Young Artist Program (Los Angeles, CA) & The ASCAP Foundation (New York, NY)
World premiere by Cecelia Olszewski (2022)
The Little Orchestra Society (New York, NY)
World premiere by composer to be confirmed
loadbang (New York, NY)
World premiere by Joanna Moutouama (2019)
Madison Youth Choirs (Madison, WI)
World premiere by composer to be confirmed
SFMOMA (San Francisco, CA)
World premiere by Yuri Lee (2019)
Uniting Voices Chicago (Chicago, IL)
World premieres by Cecelia Olszewski (2022), Rachel Mugemancuro (2022), and Gabriella Cariddo (2022)