North Carolina NewMusic Initiative
OUR MISSION
To engage our community in all phases of new music’s culture:
- Commissioning and meeting composers – Recent projects by Lei Liang, Melinda Wagner, Matthew Ricketts, James Mobberley, Travis Alford and Aaron Brooks!
- Preparing new works for world premiere performances–New projects emerging from Asha Srinivasan, and Trevor Weston (spring, 2025 premiere)
- Creation of archival recordings
- Pursuing questions of cultural and aesthetic critique.
FALL 2024 CONCERT SEASON
Calypsus Brass
[October 13, 2024 @ 5:00pm]
Fletcher Recital Hall
Founded in 2021, Calypsus Brass is a professional chamber ensemble performing new works recitals, creating high-level professional recordings for composers, and working with chamber musicians at all levels. The five founding members are avid performers and educators who give recitals and masterclasses worldwide. Calypsus is also committed to recording works by emerging artists and encourages all musicians to program music by a diverse array of composers so that the music they perform is inclusive of the community they serve as artists.
In addition to the concert, members of Calypsus will engage with our music students through a series of master classes and a composition reading session/ workshop featuring music by ECU student composers, written specifically for this occasion.
[October 13, 2024 @ 5:00pm, Fletcher Recital Hall, free]
Frequencies Presents: An Evening of Modern Art Songs
[October 15, 2024 @ 7:30pm]
Fletcher Recital Hall
A concert of 20th and 21st century music, produced and performed by ECU music students.
[October 15, 2024 @ 7:30pm, Fletcher Recital Hall, free]
Susan Narucki & Curtis Macomber
[October 31, 2024 @ 7:30pm]
Fletcher Recital Hall
Grammy Award-winning soprano Susan Narucki and 20th-century music violinist Curtis Macomber will perform György Kurtág’s iconic “Kafka Fragments” in a concert on October 31, 2024.
Kurtág’s “Kafka Fragments” is a 75-minute, multi-movement work that uses fragments of texts from the diaries of Franz Kafka to create a kaleidoscopic world of sound, sense and expression. Each fragment — some lasting less than a minute — is singular and potent; each movement offers a glimpse of a distinct viewpoint, and each gains in meaning through juxtapositions throughout the work as a whole.
In addition to the concert, members of EZRA will engage with our music students through as series of master classes, seminars, and a composition reading session/ workshop featuring music by ECU student composers, written specifically for this occasion.
[October 31, 2024 @ 7:30pm, Fletcher Recital Hall, free]
Frequencies
[November 5, 2024 @ 7:30pm]
Fletcher Recital Hall
A concert of 20th and 21st century music, produced and performed by ECU music students.
[November 5, 2024 @ 7:30pm, Fletcher Recital Hall, free]
PREMIERE PERFORMANCES
[November 19, 2024 @ 7:30pm]
Fletcher Recital Hall
New works by ECU student composers, featuring ECU student performers.
[November 19, 2024 @ 7:30pm, Fletcher Recital Hall, free]
SPRING 2024 CONCERT SEASON
EZRA (Progressive Bluegrass Ensemble)
[January 25, 2024 @ 7:30pm]
Fletcher Recital Hall
Founded by award-winning composer and multi-instrumentalist Jesse Jones, EZRA is a collective of classical, jazz, rock, and bluegrass musicians focussed on the creation of genre-crossing and style-inclusive new music. Though the instrumentation and personnel of the group fluctuates, EZRA’s core ensemble consists of world-renowned mandolinist Jacob Jolliff, banjo virtuoso Max Allard, and bassist extraordinaire Craig Butterfield, with Jones on guitar- and keyboard-related instruments.
In addition to the concert, members of EZRA will engage with our music students through as series of master classes, career seminars, and a composition reading session/ workshop featuring music by ECU student composers, written specifically for this occasion.
[January 25, 2024 @ 7:30pm, Fletcher Recital Hall, free]
FREQUENCIES
[February 13, 2024 @ 7:30pm]
Fletcher Recital Hall
A concert of 20th and 21st century music, produced and performed by ECU music students.
[February 13, 2024 @ 7:30pm, Fletcher Recital Hall, free]
Joe Bognar, Piano
[March 11, 2024 @ 7:30pm]
Fletcher Recital Hall
Pianist Joe Bognar (Valparasio University) will present a lecture/recital, performing pieces by György Ligeti, György Kurtág, Unsuk Chin, and “Hommage an György Ligeti,“ a composition by ECU Professor of Musicology, Navid Bargrizan.
[March 11, 2024 @ 7:30pm, Fletcher Recital Hall, free]
Gilad Hochman, composer
ECU Symphony Orchestra – 2023 Composition Contest Winner
[March 16, 2024 @ 7:30pm]
Wright Auditorium
The ECU Symphony Orchestra will perform the winning work of the 2023 NCNMI Orchestral Composition Competition, A Voice in the Wilderness by Gilad Hochman.
Concert will also include William Grant Still’s Danzas de Panama and Sibelius’s Pelleas and Melisande Suite.
[March 16, 2024 @ 7:30pm, Wright Auditorium, free]
PREMIERE PERFORMANCES
[March 21, 2024 @ 7:30pm]
Fletcher Recital Hall
New works by ECU student composers, featuring ECU student performers.
[March 21, 2024 @ 7:30pm, Fletcher Recital Hall, free]
HINGE
[April 4, 2024 @ 7:30pm]
Fletcher Recital Hall
Philipp Stäudlin (saxophones), Dan VanHassel (electric guitar), Matt Sharrock (percussion), and Keith Kirchoff (piano). Lying somewhere between a chamber ensemble and an avant-garde rock band, the Hinge Quartet combines cutting-edge contemporary classical and experimental music with seamless multimedia integration and the innovative re-imagining of rock and pop songs.
In addition to the concert, members of Hinge will engage with our music students through as series of master classes, career seminars, and a composition reading session/ workshop featuring music by ECU student composers, written specifically for this occasion.
[April 4, 2024 @ 7:30pm, Fletcher Recital Hall, free]
PREMIERE PERFORMANCES
[April 9, 2024 @ 7:30pm]
Fletcher Recital Hall
New works by ECU student composers, featuring ECU student performers.
[April 9, 2024 @ 7:30pm, Fletcher Recital Hall, free]
BECOME A SPONSOR!
Come hear how new ideas are initiated, and celebrate our ANNUAL EXPLORATION OF THE SOUNDS OF OUR TIME. There are concerts, Master Classes with visiting performers and composers, readings of student composers’ works, receptions, discussions and more!
Follow this link to make a secure donation.
TO BECOME A SPONSOR CONTACT:
East Carolina University School of Music, 252-328-6851, or Travis Alford or
Edward Jacobs, Founder/Director of the NC NewMusic Initiative, at NewMusic@ecu.edu 252-328-1249