Description: | | April 3-4, 2020 USF continues its tradition of hosting an international new music festival with over 40
visiting composers and performers, presenting six concerts of innovative compositions.
The New Music Consortium (NMC) at the University of South Florida will present a festival of new
compositions by the festival’s guest composer David Rakowski, one of the most prominent
composers of our time, and 37 other living composers, who were selected by an international call for
scores. NCM received about 400 submissions from 32 different countries throughout Asia, North
America, South America, Oceania, and Europe. Invited composers were chosen through multiple
rounds of adjudication by members of the consortium. All selected composers will be traveling to
Tampa to attend rehearsals of their pieces, all of which will be performed over the course of the
festival’s six concerts. These include a variety of cutting-edge acoustic, electronic, and multimedia
works. Some composers will also be given the opportunity to give talks and presentations. Concerts
will take place on April 3rd at 11:30am, 4:00pm, and 7:30pm, all in Barness Recital Hall; and on April
4th at 11:30am and 4:00pm in Barness Recital Hall and at 7:30pm in the USF Concert Hall. A solo or
ensemble work by David Rakowski will be featured on every one of these concerts.
Performers for the festival include students, faculty, and ensembles from the USF School of Music, in
addition to guest soloists and ensembles. Among the USF ensembles will be the award-winning
percussion ensemble McCormick Percussion Group, New Music Consortium Ensemble, USF Flute
ensemble. Soloists include Erol Oszever, Francesca Arnone, JT Posadas, Calvin Falwell, and Eunmi
Ko. Guest performers include Sini Virtanen, Ann DuHamel, Doug O’Connor, Katherine Weintraub,
Jason Calloway, Songeaters (Thea Lobo & Eunmi Ko), among others.
Composers ranging from students to professional freelance and university professors will be in
attendance to hear their works performed at the festival. This is the fourth installment of this biennial
festival, which began in 2014, and a continuation of the long tradition of new music festivals at the
University of South Florida, with past festivals including the Bonk Festival and Robert Helps Festival.
The New Music Consortium is based in the Composition Department at the University of South
Florida’s School of Music and advised by Benjamin D. Whiting and Eunmi Ko. The goal of the New
Music Consortium is to produce concerts of new music not only at the university but also throughout
the local community. All concerts produced by the NMC over the year are free of charge, and feature
acoustic and electronic compositions that audiences have most likely never heard before.
Admission to all concerts of the festival is free and open to the general public. Barness Recital Hall
and the USF Concert Hall are both located at the USF School of Music, 3755 USF Holly Drive,
Tampa, FL 33620.
Festival Website: http://music.arts.usf.edu/content/templates/?a=6030&z=159 |