Hoff-Barthelson Music School Presents Annual Festival for Contemporary Music

Hoff-Barthelson Music School's Annual Festival of Contemporary Music takes place Friday, May 10, 2019, through Sunday, May 19, 2019, and will include a world premiere commissioned by the School. Composer Remy Le Boeuf's "Scherzo" for piano quartet will be performed at the Festival's culminating concert on Sunday, May 19, 2019, at 7:00 pm at the Community Unitarian Universalist Congregation in White Plains.

A key component of the Contemporary Festival is the HB Compose Yourself! Project, a rare opportunity for students to receive feedback from renowned, award-winning composers on works that they have written. The 2019 guest composers are Zibuokle Martinaityte and Danny Gray. Works created for this project will be performed on the HB Compose Yourself! Project Recital, on Saturday, May 18 at 6 pm. A second recital, Young Composers & Improvisers, features works by the School's very youngest composers and takes place on Monday, May 13 at 6:15 pm. Both performances are held at the School.

"The School's relationship with Zibuokle Martinaityte is made possible by Copland House, with which Hoff-Barthelson has had a long and mutually beneficial relationship," says Peter Seidenberg, Artistic Director of the Festival. "Both organizations are devoted to introducing students and audiences to contemporary music and to the nurturing and development of emerging composers."

Faculty and student soloists and ensembles can be heard in recitals taking place at the School throughout the festival including "Jazz A to Z" on Monday, May 13, 2019. Faculty performances on these shared recitals are dedicated to pieces that HBMS students can aspire to play, or pieces that faculty members themselves learned and performed when they were teens. A complete schedule of these recitals can be found at https://hbms.org/calendar-of-events.php. All events held at the School are free of charge unless noted otherwise.

"The Contemporary Festival is one of the most exciting, creative events of the school year here at Hoff-Barthelson," says Executive Director Ken Cole. "We hope you'll join us for this dynamic celebration of new music!"

For additional information: 914-723-1169, hb@hbms.org, www.hbms.org.

Hoff-Barthelson Music School has achieved national recognition as a premier community music school for its unsurpassed leadership in education, performance and community service. With a faculty drawn from the region's most talented teachers and performers, the School has long been one of Westchester County's most cherished cultural resources. Whatever a student's age or level of musical interest, Hoff-Barthelson's diverse offerings provide the highest quality musical education, personally tailored to his or her specific passions and goals in a supportive and vibrant community.

The Contemporary Festival is made possible, in part, by ArtsWestchester with support from Westchester County Government, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature.