Bienen School hosts third biennial new music conference April 20-22

EVANSTON - Northwestern University’s Henry and Leigh Bienen School of Music and it’s Institute for New Music will host the third biennial Northwestern University New-Music Conference (NUNC! 3) on the Evanston campus Friday, April 20 through Sunday, April 22. The conference welcomes performers, composers, musicologists, theorists and new music enthusiasts for three days of performances, lectures, master classes and panel discussions.

All events are open to the public, and most are free. Tickets to performances with an admission charge are available from the Bienen School ticket office at 847-467-4000 or concertsatbienen.org.

Bienen Contemporary/Early Vocal Ensemble, University Chorale and Northwestern University Symphony Orchestra

Friday, April 20, 7:30 p.m.
Pick-Staiger Concert Hall
50 Arts Circle Drive
Tickets $12 for the general public and $6 for students with valid ID

Conducted by Grammy Award winner and Bienen professor of conducting and ensembles Donald Nally, the Bienen ensembles perform choral-orchestral works by three of today’s compositional luminaries. George Benjamin adapts Caliban’s dream speech from “The Tempest” in “Sometime Voices.” Thomas Adès takes a dramatic look at an American cataclysm that could happen again in “America: A Prophecy.” David Lang’s expansive elegy “the passing measures” invites contemplation and reflection. 

Claire Chase, flute

Friday, April 20, 10 p.m.
Galvin Recital Hall
70 Arts Circle Drive
Free admission

Flute soloist, collaborative artist, curator and new music advocate Claire Chase received a 2012 MacArthur Fellowship and a 2017 Avery Fisher Prize. She performs NUNC! 3 composer submissions by Miyuki Ito and Jessie Cox for solo flute, music of Northwestern alumnus composer Marcos Balter, plus Richard Beaudoin’s “Another Woman of Another Kind” for solo flute and eight voices, featuring Bienen School alumni conducted by Donald Nally. 

Roundtable Discussion

“Commitment Today: On the Musically Political”
Saturday, April 21, 10 a.m.  
Regenstein Master Class Room
60 Arts Circle Drive
Free admission

This roundtable discussion, moderated by Bienen assistant professor of musicology Ryan Dohoney. features University of Chicago associate professor of music and humanities Seth Brodsky, Northwestern Black Arts postdoctoral fellow Fumi Okiji and Harvard University James Edward Ditson Professor of Music Anne Shreffler. 

Call for Performances

Saturday, April 21, noon
Pick-Staiger Concert Hall
50 Arts Circle Drive
Free admission 

Guest pianists Ryan McCullough and Andrew Zhou perform Karlheinz Stockhausen’s “Mantra” for two pianos.

Call for Performances

Saturday, April 21, 2 p.m.
McClintock Choral and Recital Room
70 Arts Circle Drive
Free admission

Instrumentalists and vocalists selected from the NUNC! 3 call for performers, including Chicago’s Constellation Men’s Ensemble, F-PLUS, and award winning ~Nois saxophone quartet, will present various works in this marathon concert.

Call for Performances: Electronics Workshop Concert

Saturday, April 21, 5 p.m.
Ryan Opera Theater
70 Arts Circle Drive
Free admission

Performances by invited NUNC! 3 participants, including music of Hans Tutschku, Joshua Banks Mailman, Ted Moore and Nathan Corder. 

Contemporary Music Ensemble

Saturday, April 21, 7:30 p.m.
Galvin Recital Hall
70 Arts Circle Drive
Tickets $8 for the general public and $5 for students with valid ID

Conducted by Ben Bolter, Alan Pierson and graduate assistant conductor Ludwig Carrasco, the Contemporary Music Ensemble performs music by this year’s featured guest composers. Works include Ashley Fure’s “Albatross,” Derek Bermel’s “Canzonas Americanas” and Simon Steen-Andersen’s “Chambered Music,” plus a new work by Liza Sobel.

Saxophone Studio Concert

Sunday, April 22, noon
Regenstein Master Class Room
60 Arts Circle Drive
Free admission

Bienen School saxophone students, directed by Grammy Award winner and Bienen associate professor Taimur Sullivan, perform works from the NUNC! 3 call for scores, including music of Carolyn O’Brien, Eric Chasalow, Christopher Dietz, Joanne Metcalf and Baldwin Giang. 

JACK Quartet

Sunday, April 22, 5 p.m.
Regenstein Master Class Room
60 Arts Circle Drive
Free admission

Recipient of Lincoln Center’s Martin E. Segal Award, New Music USA’s Trailblazer Award and the CMA/ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming, the JACK Quartet has performed to critical acclaim at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and Wigmore Hall as well as the Lucerne Festival and the Venice Biennale. Quartet members include Christopher Otto and Austin Wulliman, violin; John Pickford Richards, viola; and Jay Campbell, cello.

This program features works from the NUNC! 3 call for scores by Christine Burke, Annie Hui-Hsin Hsie, Stefan Pohlit and Sam Scranton.

Closing Night Concert

Sunday, April 22, 7 p.m.
Galvin Recital Hall
70 Arts Circle Drive
Free admission

NUNC! 3 closes with compositions submitted by participants as well as music of Brian Ferneyhough and Amy Williams. Performers include the JACK Quartet, the Bienen Contemporary/Early Vocal Ensemble conducted by Donald Nally and other invited soloists and ensembles.

For more information about NUNC! 3 performances, visit concertsatbienen.org or call the Bienen School Concert Management Office at 847-491-5441. For more information about NUNC! 3 events, visit the NUNC! 3 conference website.

The Bienen School is a member of the Northwestern Arts Circle, which brings together film, humanities, literary arts, music, theater, dance and visual arts.