New Music/New Communities Initiative
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The Composers Conference is thrilled to announce its annual New Music/New Communities Initiative (NM/NC)— a project that utilizes the Conference’s role as an arts education organization to inspire and engage young musicians from underserved communities through collaborations with local music education organizations in the greater New England area. By providing these students with the tools to become composers and creators within a supportive environment, the New Music/New Communities Initiative seeks to unleash their personal artistry while fostering enduring creative relationships.
Students from local partner arts education organizations are selected and paired with Fromm Composer Fellow mentors during the academic year. Under the guidance of the Conference Directors, our Fromm Fellows worked directly with the students to create a new musical works that are performed and premiered at the summer Composers Conference.
Since its inaugural 2022 season, the NMNC partner organizations have included Boston String Academy in Massachusetts, Newport Strings Project in Rhode Island, and the Concord Community Music School in New Hampshire.
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All three areas of the Composers Conference (Fromm Foundation Composer and Contemporary Performance Institute Fellows, and the Chamber Music Workshop) participate with the young students, laying the foundation for greater opportunities for future generations of musicians in the new music community. Beginning in the 2022-23 season, the Conference is excited to be partnering with the Concord Community Music School in Concord NH.
The mission of the Concord Community Music School is to provide the widest array of music education, performance, and engagement opportunities to people of all ages, and to ensure that everyone can access these opportunities regardless of financial ability, ethnic or cultural heritage, age, physical ability, or other barriers to engaging in music. Toward that end, programs take place both at the School itself and throughout the community, and 15% of the School’s budget is dedicated to student financial aid. The Concord Community Music School was founded in 1984, modeled after the Settlement House tradition in which highly-regarded artists and community members came together to provide access to education, music, and the arts for people in under-served communities.
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New Music/New Communities Initiative was inaugurated during the 2021-22 season, in cooperation with the Boston String Academy and Newport Strings Project as partner organizations.
We have been in partnership since 2022 with the Concord Community Music School. Students are paired with Fromm Composer Fellow mentors. After 4 months of virtual mentorship sessions, each student will have their new work performed by a combination of Conference faculty and fellows during the Composers Conference.
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We believe that music can create a more compassionate, ethical, and equitable world. To this end, we seek to cultivate projects that encompass the full range of creative inclusivity and representation with a greater awareness toward benefiting the community at large. The NM/NC Initiative not only helps to provide new artistic opportunities for underserved communities, it also lays the foundation for the diversification of future generations in the new music community, while serving as a model of conscientious musicianship that taps current Conference participants’ broad range of expertise and talent.
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Our inaugural year of the NM/NC Initiative was funded through the generosity of composer/musician Eric Chasalow. He has donated the full sales of his new record Ghosts Of Our Former Selves. For more information about this important new work, visit https://www.ericchasalow.com to purchase a copy. The Conference thanks Eric Chasalow for his incredible gift to make this happen!
The goal of NM/NC Initiative is to provide students with the option of continuing with free composition lessons with Fromm Composer Fellows, allowing them to gain considerable composition experience through the Conference until they complete high school. For us to make this long term goal a reality, we need your financial help!
For more information about the New Music New Communities Initiative, please contact Kathryn Welter at welter@composersconference.org.
MEET OUR 2023 YOUNG COMPOSERS!
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Luke Zielinski
How old are you?
I recently turned eleven years old.
What instrument(s) do you play? How did you become interested in your instrument?
I play the piano and am starting the French horn. Beginning at age two, I would play music and copy what I heard around me using various child instruments around the house. Our family got an upright piano when I was five and I started to teach myself how to play. I have been taking piano lessons at the Concord Community Music School for the last nine months to further improve my playing and understanding of the instrument.
What music have you been listening to on repeat recently?
I have been listening to a lot of impressionistic music, such as Debussy, Ravel and Satie, and other twentieth century style pieces such as The Firebird by Stravinsky, and The Pines of Rome by Respighi. I like how Stravinsky incorporates dissonance along with elements of romantic music, how Respighi uses unique harmonies and techniques and how impressionistic composers can create beautiful atmospheres with their choice of chords rather than melodies.
What excites you the most about the idea of composing your own music?
I have been transcribing music for a few years now and am excited to test my ability by creating my own. I think it is cool to make music that will last forever and to imagine how people in the future will react to it.
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Judson West
How old are you?
11 Years Old
What instrument(s) do you play? How did you become interested in your instrument?
Viola. It was a random choice, but now I love it.
What music have you been listening to on repeat recently?
The Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack.
What excites you the most about the idea of composing your own music?
The fact that I get to make my own music instead of following the notes in a certain order. I love the idea of making up my own things.
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Gianna Cruz
How old are you?
I am currently 13 years old but will be fourteen in 2 months.
What instrument(s) do you play? How did you become interested in your instrument?
I have been playing the flute for three years and have just started playing the alto saxophone recently.
What music have you been listening to on repeat recently?
I am currently involved in many different groups, so I usually listen to all the songs I play so I can get familiar with the pieces.
What excites you the most about the idea of composing your own music?
I am very excited to start composing my own music! What I am most excited about is being able to make music that is fun but also challenging to play!
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Felix Gary
How old are you?
11 in fifth grade
What instrument(s) do you play? How did you become interested in your instrument?
Violin. At school there were a few different instruments to pick and I picked violin because it plays high notes.
What music have you been listening to on repeat recently?
I like to listen to nature sounds mixed with music when I'm falling asleep at night.
What excites you the most about the idea of composing your own music?
I don't know a lot about composing yet, but I'm excited to make a new song. I like to learn how music works.