Bienen School hosts fifth biennial new music conference April 21-23

For the first time in five years, the Institute for New Music at Northwestern’s Bienen School of Music hosts its biennial Northwestern University New Music Conference (NUNC! 5) in person from Friday, April 21 to Sunday, April 23.

One of the leading conferences for new music in the world, the event welcomes composers, performing musicians, scholars and other new music advocates for workshops, discussions and concerts. Following a postponed 2020 NUNC! 4 that was hosted virtually in 2021, the conference returns to an in-person format in 2023.

> Learn more about NUNC! 5 and see the complete schedule of events.

This year’s featured composers are Julia Wolfe and Bienen School alumna Alex Temple ’17 DMA. Wolfe is Musical America’s 2019 Composer of the Year, a 2016 MacArthur Fellow and recipient of the 2015 Pulitzer Prize in Music. Temple has collaborated with performers and ensembles including Mellissa Hughes, Julia Holter, Wild Up, the Spektral Quartet and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. Wolfe and Temple will give presentations on April 23, and selected works by both composers will be performed throughout the weekend. 

“I am very much looking forward to seeing and hearing NUNC! return to an in-person conference,” said Institute for New Music director Hans Thomalla. “I am particularly excited about New York-based piano-percussion ensemble Yarn/Wire performing at NUNC! for the first time, as well as for alumna Alex Temple, whose recent release ‘Behind the Wallpaper’ made national and international headlines, returning as a featured guest composer.”

All events take place on the Evanston campus and are open to the public. Most are free. For event and ticket information, visit the NUNC! 5 schedule or call the Bienen School Ticket Office at 847-467-4000.