Performances
& Events
Featured Speakers: Curtis Stewart (ACO Artistic Director) and Jannina Norpoth (Violinist)
While creating and providing standard orchestral scores and parts to orchestras is a key component of being a broadly-performed composer, more ensembles are exploring the world of graphic and improvised scores. ACO Artistic Director Curtis Stewart will dialogue with Jannina Norpoth on how to successfully traverse this growing corner of new music.
This webinar is free, but registration is required.
Featured Speakers: Curtis Stewart (ACO Artistic Director) and Jannina Norpoth (Violinist)
While creating and providing standard orchestral scores and parts to orchestras is a key component of being a broadly-performed composer, more ensembles are exploring the world of graphic and improvised scores. ACO Artistic Director Curtis Stewart will dialogue with Jannina Norpoth on how to successfully traverse this growing corner of new music.
This webinar is free, but registration is required.
Featured Speakers: Curtis Stewart and David Ludwig
For most composers, developing and maintaining relationships with orchestras is a key factor toward first and repeat performances. ACO Artistic Director Curtis Stewart will lead a discussion on the “how to’s” of making initial and repeat connections with orchestra administration and staff.
This webinar is free, but registration is required.
Featured Speakers: Curtis Stewart and David Ludwig
For most composers, developing and maintaining relationships with orchestras is a key factor toward first and repeat performances. ACO Artistic Director Curtis Stewart will lead a discussion on the “how to’s” of making initial and repeat connections with orchestra administration and staff.
This webinar is free, but registration is required.
Featured Speaker: Curtis Stewart (ACO Artistic Director)
Curtis Stewart has made a name for himself taking works from the past and re-envisioning them for contemporary relevance. In this session, Curtis will take musical works from the “canon” and use them as a guide to highlight key aspects of orchestration, part writing, and more.
This webinar is free, but registration is required.
Featured Speaker: Curtis Stewart (ACO Artistic Director)
Curtis Stewart has made a name for himself taking works from the past and re-envisioning them for contemporary relevance. In this session, Curtis will take musical works from the “canon” and use them as a guide to highlight key aspects of orchestration, part writing, and more.
This webinar is free, but registration is required.
Featuring Speakers: Melissa Ngan and Deirdre Chadwick
Understanding media rights, broadcast regulations, and payments is a vital part of making a living as a composer. BMI’s Deirdre Chadwick will lead a dialogue built to demystify some of the fine print that composers face as their careers reach larger scale.
This webinar is free, but registration is required.
Featuring Speakers: Melissa Ngan and Deirdre Chadwick
Understanding media rights, broadcast regulations, and payments is a vital part of making a living as a composer. BMI’s Deirdre Chadwick will lead a dialogue built to demystify some of the fine print that composers face as their careers reach larger scale.
This webinar is free, but registration is required.
Event Details
January 25, 2024
Virginia B. Toulmin Commission Concert
Arlene Sierra, Kiskadee
Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra
Thirty orchestras will take part in the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation Orchestral Commissions Program. The unprecedented national consortium ensures that new works by women composers, each commissioned by the League, will be infused in orchestra seasons to come, with multiple performances throughout the country. The consortium’s initial six lead orchestra-composer pairings were previously announced, with more than eighty orchestras applying for the additional twenty-four spots.
The Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation Orchestral Commissions Program for women composers (formerly the Women Composers Readings and Commissions program) is an initiative of the League of American Orchestras, in partnership with American Composers Orchestra (ACO) and supported by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation. Selected composers are previous participants in ACO's EarShot Readings.
Kiskadee was commissioned by the League of American Orchestras with the generous support of the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.
Featured Speakers: Tito Muñoz and Adam Schoenberg
Receiving a performance by an orchestra isn’t the end of the road for a composer, but the beginning of an ongoing relationship. This webinar will offer rehearsal techniques to composers, and will speak to how they should engage conductors, orchestras, and its musicians throughout the rehearsal process.
This webinar is free, but registration is required.
Featured Speakers: Tito Muñoz and Adam Schoenberg
Receiving a performance by an orchestra isn’t the end of the road for a composer, but the beginning of an ongoing relationship. This webinar will offer rehearsal techniques to composers, and will speak to how they should engage conductors, orchestras, and its musicians throughout the rehearsal process.
This webinar is free, but registration is required.
Event Details
February 7–8, 2024
“Pouliot & Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto& Shelley conducts Scheherazade”
Virginia B. Toulmin Commission Concert
Gity Razaz, Methuselah (In Chains of Time)
National Arts Centre Orchestra
Thirty orchestras will take part in the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation Orchestral Commissions Program. The unprecedented national consortium ensures that new works by women composers, each commissioned by the League, will be infused in orchestra seasons to come, with multiple performances throughout the country. The consortium’s initial six lead orchestra-composer pairings were previously announced, with more than eighty orchestras applying for the additional twenty-four spots.
The Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation Orchestral Commissions Program for women composers (formerly the Women Composers Readings and Commissions program) is an initiative of the League of American Orchestras, in partnership with American Composers Orchestra (ACO) and supported by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation. Selected composers are previous participants in ACO's EarShot Readings.
Methuselah (In Chains of Time) was commissioned by the League of American Orchestras with the generous support of the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.
“Pouliot & Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto& Shelley conducts Scheherazade”
Virginia B. Toulmin Commission Concert
Gity Razaz, Methuselah (In Chains of Time)
National Arts Centre Orchestra
Featured Speakers: Melissa Ngan and Vanessa Rose
Being a part of a consortium is not only artistically beneficial to composers, but financially beneficial as well! In this session, Melissa Ngan will unpack some of the need-to-know information surrounding orchestral commissions and the creation of consortia for composers.
This webinar is free, but registration is required.
Featured Speakers: Melissa Ngan and Vanessa Rose
Being a part of a consortium is not only artistically beneficial to composers, but financially beneficial as well! In this session, Melissa Ngan will unpack some of the need-to-know information surrounding orchestral commissions and the creation of consortia for composers.
This webinar is free, but registration is required.
Event Details
February 22–23, 2024
Virginia B. Toulmin Commission Concert
Sarah Gibson, to make this mountain taller
Knoxville Symphony Orchestra
Thirty orchestras will take part in the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation Orchestral Commissions Program. The unprecedented national consortium ensures that new works by women composers, each commissioned by the League, will be infused in orchestra seasons to come, with multiple performances throughout the country. The consortium’s initial six lead orchestra-composer pairings were previously announced, with more than eighty orchestras applying for the additional twenty-four spots.
The Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation Orchestral Commissions Program for women composers (formerly the Women Composers Readings and Commissions program) is an initiative of the League of American Orchestras, in partnership with American Composers Orchestra (ACO) and supported by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation. Selected composers are previous participants in ACO's EarShot Readings.
to make this mountain taller was commissioned by the League of American Orchestras with the generous support of the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.
Virginia B. Toulmin Commission Concert
Sarah Gibson, to make this mountain taller
Knoxville Symphony Orchestra
Event Details
March 12, 2024, 7:30pm
Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall
Rei Hotoda, conductor
Chrystal E. Williams, mezzo-soprano
Felipe Hostins, accordion
Jerod Impichcha̱achaaha’ Tate, narrator and lead vocal
AMERICA IN WEIMAR: ON THE MARGINS
George Antheil: Jazz Symphony 7’
Jerod Impichcha̱achaaha’ : Lowak Shoppala’ (Clans) (NY premiere) 10–15’
John Glover (composer)/Kelley Rourke (librettist): Right Now (World Premiere) 15’
Duke Ellington: “Solitude” and “Sophisticated Lady”, arr. Morton Gould 8’
Tonia Ko: Breath, Untamed (World Premiere) 15’
Kurt Weill/Ira Gershwin: “My Ship” from Lady in the Dark 5’
AMERICA IN WEIMAR: ON THE MARGINS explores American influence on the Weimar period and—conversely—the legacy of Weimar’s embrace of transgression, non-Teutonic identity, and utopian ideals, all of which continually resonate in today’s American art and music.
AMERICA IN WEIMAR: ON THE MARGINS explores American influence on the Weimar period and—conversely—the legacy of Weimar’s embrace of transgression, non-Teutonic identity, and utopian ideals, all of which continually resonate in today’s American art and music.
Event Details
March 20–22, 2024
EarShot Readings: Indiana University
Bloomington, IN
Mentor composers:
TBD
Conductor:
Jeffrey Meyer
Featured Artists and Works:
TBD
March 20–22, 2024
EarShot Readings: Indiana University
Event Details
March 22–24, 2024
Virginia B. Toulmin Commission Concert
Angel Lam, TBD (World Premiere)
Kansas City Symphony
Thirty orchestras will take part in the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation Orchestral Commissions Program. The unprecedented national consortium ensures that new works by women composers, each commissioned by the League, will be infused in orchestra seasons to come, with multiple performances throughout the country. The consortium’s initial six lead orchestra-composer pairings were previously announced, with more than eighty orchestras applying for the additional twenty-four spots.
The Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation Orchestral Commissions Program for women composers (formerly the Women Composers Readings and Commissions program) is an initiative of the League of American Orchestras, in partnership with American Composers Orchestra (ACO) and supported by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation. Selected composers are previous participants in ACO's EarShot Readings.
Angel Lam's new work was commissioned by the League of American Orchestras with the generous support of the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.
Featured Speaker: TBD
Professional representation has helped countless artists reach the next levels of their careers, but the process of identifying and securing management can be a heavy lift for those who are unfamiliar with how to do so. This session will highlight both the ways in which representation can help orchestral composers continue their professional trajectories, and how composers can gain the attention of management agencies.
This webinar is free, but registration is required.
Featured Speaker: TBD
Professional representation has helped countless artists reach the next levels of their careers, but the process of identifying and securing management can be a heavy lift for those who are unfamiliar with how to do so. This session will highlight both the ways in which representation can help orchestral composers continue their professional trajectories, and how composers can gain the attention of management agencies.
This webinar is free, but registration is required.
Event Details
April 15–16, 2024
EarShot Readings: Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra
Venue TBD
Palo Heights, IL
Ensemble:
Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra
Mentor Composers:
Jessie Montgomery
James Stephenson
Conductor:
Stilian Kirov
Featured Artists and Works:
TBD
EarShot Readings: Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra
Venue TBD
Palo Heights, IL
Ensemble:
Featured Speaker: Charlie Ortiz
New music isn’t just for adults - a growing population of grade school students are also pushing the boundaries of music creation. Charlie Ortiz, Executive Director of WHIN Music Community Charter School, will join Melissa Ngan to offer insights on what a successful collaboration between composers and grade schools looks like.
This webinar is free, but registration is required.
Featured Speaker: Charlie Ortiz
New music isn’t just for adults - a growing population of grade school students are also pushing the boundaries of music creation. Charlie Ortiz, Executive Director of WHIN Music Community Charter School, will join Melissa Ngan to offer insights on what a successful collaboration between composers and grade schools looks like.
This webinar is free, but registration is required.
Event Details
May 16–19, 2024
Kennedy Center, “Randall Goosby plays Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto; Thomas Wilkins conducts Elgar’s Enigma Variations”
Virginia B. Toulmin Commission Concert
Anna Clyne, This Moment
National Symphony Orchestra
Thirty orchestras will take part in the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation Orchestral Commissions Program. The unprecedented national consortium ensures that new works by women composers, each commissioned by the League, will be infused in orchestra seasons to come, with multiple performances throughout the country. The consortium’s initial six lead orchestra-composer pairings were previously announced, with more than eighty orchestras applying for the additional twenty-four spots.
The Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation Orchestral Commissions Program for women composers (formerly the Women Composers Readings and Commissions program) is an initiative of the League of American Orchestras, in partnership with American Composers Orchestra (ACO) and supported by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation. Selected composers are previous participants in ACO's EarShot Readings.
This Moment was commissioned by the League of American Orchestras with the generous support of the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.
Kennedy Center, “Randall Goosby plays Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto; Thomas Wilkins conducts Elgar’s Enigma Variations”
Virginia B. Toulmin Commission Concert
Anna Clyne, This Moment
National Symphony Orchestra
Event Details
May 12, 14, 16, 18, 19, 2024
Perelman Arts Center
An American Soldier
On October 3, 2011, Chinese-American Army Pvt. Danny Chen was found dead in a guard tower at his base in Afghanistan. Based on his story and the ensuing courts-martial of Chen’s fellow soldiers, this New York City premiere opera tells the powerful true story of a young soldier from Manhattan’s Chinatown who sought to serve his country, only to find his biggest threat was the very people who swore to protect him.
Told through the multidimensional music of Huang Ruo (M. Butterfly, Book of Mountains and Seas) with libretto by Tony and Grammy winner David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly, Soft Power), and directed by Obie Award winner Chay Yew (Cambodian Rock Band, Sweatshop Overlord), An American Soldier is a powerful and unforgettable experience.
Co-Produced by PAC NYC, Boston Lyric Opera, and American Composers Orchestra.
The 2024 version was co-commissioned by PAC NYC and Boston Lyric Opera.
Huang Ruo, composer
David Henry Hwang, librettist
Carolyn Kuan, conductor
Chay Yew, director
Sunday, May 12, 2024 – Performance #1, 3pm
Tuesday, May 14, 2024 – Performance #2, 7pm
Thursday, May 16, 2024 – Performance #3, 7pm
Saturday, May 18, 2024 – Performance #4, 8pm
Sunday, May 19, 2024 – Performance #5, 3pm
On October 3, 2011, Chinese-American Army Pvt. Danny Chen was found dead in a guard tower at his base in Afghanistan.
Featured Speaker: TBD
Securing a performance and a professional recording with an orchestra is step one. Step two is understanding the parameters surrounding it all. This webinar will highlight the importance of understanding and abiding by current regulations related to unions, media rights, and more.
This webinar is free, but registration is required.
Featured Speaker: TBD
Securing a performance and a professional recording with an orchestra is step one. Step two is understanding the parameters surrounding it all. This webinar will highlight the importance of understanding and abiding by current regulations related to unions, media rights, and more.
This webinar is free, but registration is required.
Event Details
June 5–7, 2024
EarShot Readings: ROCO
Venue TBD (during League of American Orchestras conference)
Houston, TX
Ensemble:
ROCO
Mentor Composers:
Valerie Coleman
Jennifer Higdon
Nina Shekhar
Conductor:
Mei-Ann Chen
Featured Artists and Works:
TBD
June 5–7, 2024
EarShot Readings: ROCO
Venue TBD (during League of American Orchestras conference)
Event Details
June 13–14, 2024
EarShot Readings: American Composers Orchestra
Neidorff-Karpati Hall, Manhattan School of Music
New York City, NY
Ensemble:
American Composers Orchestra
Mentor Composers:
TBD
Conductor:
TBD
Featured Artists and Works:
TBD
June 13, 2024 at 10:30am - Open Rehearsal
EarShot Readings: American Composers Orchestra
Neidorff-Karpati Hall, Manhattan School of Music
New York City, NY
Event Details
June 13–14, 2024
EarShot Readings: American Composers Orchestra
Neidorff-Karpati Hall, Manhattan School of Music
New York City, NY
Ensemble:
American Composers Orchestra
Mentor Composers:
TBD
Conductor:
TBD
Featured Artists and Works:
TBD
June 14, 2024 at 7:30pm - Public Read Through
EarShot Readings: American Composers Orchestra
Neidorff-Karpati Hall, Manhattan School of Music
New York City, NY