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Frank J. Oteri

ASCAP Foundation Announces 2023 Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award Recipients

The ASCAP Foundation has announced the recipients of the 2023 Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Awards. Jazz composers up to the age of 30 are eligible to apply to these annual awards.

Articles
John Schaefer

I Am The Gatekeeper (And That’s Okay)

AI and algorithms work on logic.  Music, and discovery, work beyond logic, in the realm of intuition and inspiration and chance. 

Articles
Vanessa Reed

Minding the Gap: Why Targeted Action is Still Needed

I want to mark this year’s International Women’s Day with reflections on what we’ve learnt from the gender equity programs I’ve led in the UK and the US over the past 12 years. I also want to use this opportunity to celebrate the incredible women and gender-expansive creators these initiatives have supported. Back in 2011… Read more »

How-Tos
Cayla Bellamy

Diversifying Curriculum: Representation, Risks, and Responsible Pedagogy

Increasing diverse representation in our programming with student musicians can be an intimidating bar for those who speak, teach, and make art from a place of privilege. Oftentimes, we run into issues of concern that we are “doing it wrong.” We worry that our errors will make us seem ignorant, uncaring, or the “bad people.” To move forward, I have outlined a five-step process that includes what I consider to be several steps to “doing it the least wrong.”

Podcasts and Discussions
Frank J. Oteri

Kevin Puts: Keeping Secrets

Composer Kevin Puts takes pride in keeping secrets, both by being understated in his interactions with people and by never initially giving away all the goods in his music, preferring, as he says, “to keep something in reserve so that there’s a payoff for the attentive listener.” But in this in-depth conversation he reveals some of the secrets about his Metropolitan Opera debut The Hours, his Pulitzer Prize-winning opera Silent Night, his symphony inspired by Björk’s album Vespertine, Contact (his triple concerto for Time for Three which just won the 2023 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Classical Composition), and much more.

Articles
Frank J. Oteri

Going Beyond the Headlines from the 65th Annual Grammy Awards

The big headlines from the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, which were announced yesterday in Los Angeles, are mostly either about Beyoncé now being the recipient of the greatest number of awards in Grammy history (a total of 32) or the surprise win of Harry Styles (beating out Beyoncé) for “Album of the Year.” But there are many other significant wins from last night.

Catherine Joy

Standing Tall, Still To Be Seen

The Oscar nominees were announced this last week and while the shortlist was full of promise, featuring both Chanda Dancy and Hildur Guðnadóttir for best score, the actual nominee list featured only men.

Guest Editor series
Jonathan Hepfer

dublab -- Notes from the Archipelago

I wanted to offer this playlist as an intentionally unkempt, unruly, sprawling overview of works that have made an impression on me over the past twenty-five years of research in this field. I have preserved works I loved as a teenager, works I loved as a graduate student, works I loved while I was studying in Germany, works I have learned to love in the past seven years, works I continue to investigate, and works I perhaps myself may not love, but think are nonetheless deserving of recognition.

Guest Editor series
Multiple Authors

dublab -- The Current Landscape in Composition, Film Scoring and Publishing

Warp Composers’ Sen Moreira is joined by producer and composer Casey MQ in a conversation about the current landscape in the world of composition, film scoring, and publishing in an ever changing music industry.

Frank J. Oteri

Composer Advocacy Notebook: In Search of the New "Normal"

What keeps me coming back to the Midwest Clinic and the Chamber Music America conference year after year is their amount of focus on new music and that both attract a wide range of people involved in the music: interpreters, publishers, advocates, and–most importantly–composers from diverse backgrounds who have a very wide range of stylistic inclinations. This means there are always tons of new music-specific conversations, plus there are tons of exciting live performances of new works.

Guest Editor series
Multiple Authors

dublab -- Colloboh live performance at dublab for NewMusicBox

A live performance captured on video by Los Angeles based composer, Colloboh. This performance took place at the dublab studios and features new compositions utilizing modular synthesizers.

Guest Editor series
Chandler Poling

dublab -- Staying True in the Film Industry

Dublab Radio DJ Chandler Poling of Studio Soundtracks interviews film composer Chanda Dancy about her musical upbringing, her inspirations, and her creative contributions to the Sony Pictures’ feature film Devotion.  Together they discuss the public perception of what a composer is and how Chanda’s work challenges that perspective.

Guest Editor series
BAE BAE

dublab -- BAE BAE - Hood Rave Mix

The mix is the kind of set you will hear at Hood Rave, the underground party BAE BAE curates in LA. The hyperbolic black femme, she translates her empathy to the decks, blending r&b, house, club, jungle, garage, dancehall and more, foregrounding black music genres and sensuality.

Podcasts and Discussions
Frank J. Oteri

Tania León: The Rhythm of Life

The new music community has been impacted, inspired and transformed by Tania León as a musical creator–as well as an interpreter, educator, and organizer–for decades.

Guest Editor series
Angela Rose Brussel

dublab -- The Future of Composition: From the Ivory Tower of Academia to the Basement of Electronic Sound

Max Alper, more commonly known by his handle “la meme young” is without a doubt singularly unique even if just with regards to his maverick pedagogic tendencies. But he’s not a sonic arts anomaly. He belongs to a whole confederation of deep listeners and practitioners who inhabit a virtual landscape of infinite (and infinitesimal) proportions. That is to say, no sound is too simple or small. No composition, too unintelligible or unorthodox.

Articles
Anna Pidgorna

Artists in Occupation

Trying to learn more about Yurii Kerpatenko, the conductor of the Kherson Philharmonic Orchestra who was murdered for refusing to participate in a twisted propaganda concert meant to demonstrate that peaceful life had returned to the city the Russians were occupying, I interviewed a number of artists who lived through months of occupation before finally fleeing. Though none of them were targeted for being artists, their stories weave a chilling narrative of survival and resistance in a region the Russians came to “liberate” from bogeymen of their own creation.

Guest Editor series
Qur'an Shaheed

dublab -- Qur'an Shaheed: live performance at dublab for NewMusicBox

A live performance by Qur’an Shaheed, a pianist, poet, singer and songwriter based in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles, CA. Shaheed has been playing piano since the age of four, trained extensively in classical and contemporary music. Since 2012 she has been developing her practice as a songwriter alongside her solo piano and ensemble work.

Articles
Multiple Authors

Different Cities Different Voices - Omaha

For our latest edition of Different Cities Different Voices, a series from NewMusicBox that explores music communities across the United States through the voices of local creators and innovators, we are putting the spotlight on Omaha, Nebraska. The series is meant to spark conversation and appreciation for those working to support new music in the… Read more »

dublab: Samora and Elena Pinderhughes
Guest Editor series
Samora Pinderhughes

dublab -- Samora and Elena Pinderhughes in conversation exploring the boundaries of creation

Samora and Elena Pinderhughes in conversation around the blurred boundaries between composer, musician, instrumentalist, producer and songwriter. The musical multi-hyphenates dive deep into anecdotes, personal narratives and a bit of philosophy around their processes, their truths and the ways they’ve evolved as creators. They converse with a depth only collaborators who are also siblings can reach.

Articles
Kate Amrine

How to Commission New Works and Where to Find New Pieces

I’m very passionate about encouraging my students and friends to find new repertoire for their instrument. If you have never commissioned a piece before, this article should be a good place for you to start. If you are already commissioning new pieces as a part of your musical practice, perhaps you will learn something new that you can incorporate next time.

Guest Editor series
Beatie Wolfe

dublab -- Compositional Curiosities

Listen to Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh and visionary artist Beatie Wolfe talk about the art of composition and other creative curiosities their worlds collide with, including their viral campaign Postcards for Democracy.

Guest Editor series
Elyn Kazarian

dublab - Composing for Film: A Conversation with Emily Rice

For this edition of dublab x New Music USA, join Elyn Kazarian and film composer Emily Rice as they discuss the process behind composing, collaborating with directors, finding your own voice, and ways to build a strong financial foundation. The first hour of the program will include a 30 minute mix of songs from various film scores composed by women.

Articles
Tana Yonas

dublab - Composing to the Tempo of Time: The Philosophy of Musical Transcendence in the Ancient Griot World 

The implications of the surge in interest in West African traditional griot music in the United States, Europe, and throughout Africa in the past decade offer much in this analysis of how these cultures intersect and relate to the study and experience of music.

SoundLives
Frank J. Oteri

Elena Ruehr: Turning Emotion Into Sound

Elena Ruehr’s prolific output is a by-product of her maintaining a consistent composing schedule (five hours every day from Noon to 5:00pm) as well as her never-ending inspiration from the visual arts and her constant reading (four books a week), plus her desire to communicate with listeners.

Funders

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NewMusicBox receives major support from the Francis Goelet Charitable Lead Trusts and The ASCAP Foundation.

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NewMusicBox is funded in part by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and with support from The Aaron Copland Fund for Music and The Amphion Foundation, Inc. Support for New Music USA and its many programs and activities is provided by foundations, corporations, government agencies, and hundreds of individual contributors.

NewMusicBox receives major support from the Francis Goelet Charitable Lead Trusts and The ASCAP Foundation. NewMusicBox is funded in part by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and with support from The Aaron Copland Fund for Music and The Amphion Foundation, Inc. Support for New Music USA and its many programs and activities is provided by foundations, corporations, government agencies, and hundreds of individual contributors.