BGSU to host 3rd annual New Music Gathering

Hailed by the Wall Street Journal as “more than just another new music festival,” and “a joyous celebration of the art and craft, and yes, even the business, of making contemporary music” by I Care If You Listen, the New Music Gathering comes to campus May 11-13, hosted by BGSU’s MidAmerican Center for Contemporary Music (MACCM) and College of Musical Arts.

The New Music Gathering brings contemporary musicians, artists, administrators and musicologists together to meet, talk and foster relationships in the new music community.

“The College of Musical Arts is proud to host the 2017 New Music Gathering,” said Kurt Doles, MACCM director. “For over 35 years, Bowling Green has been a hotbed of new music activity; contemporary music is part of our DNA and part of the musical and educational lives of all our students and faculty.”

The conference features the “masterful percussionist” (The New Yorker), conductor, and author Steven Schick—who, for the past 40 years, has championed contemporary music by commissioning or premiering more than 150 new works. He is a Distinguished Professor of Music and holds the Reed Family Presidential Chair at the University of California San Diego, and is music director of the La Jolla Symphony and Chorus and artistic director of the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players. His keynote address will focus on the theme of support.

Headlining performers include the boundary-breaking International Contemporary Ensemble and New Music Detroit on May 11, Schick on May 12, and Michigan’s Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble on May 13.

Based in a different city each year, the New Music Gathering celebrates music internationally while focusing on a dedicated population in its hosting region. With concerts, lecture recitals, roundtable discussions, panels and one-on-one consultations with industry professionals, the gathering is not only a conference in the traditional sense, but also a collective place for creativity to grow, improve, solidify and, above all, get personal. Cofounded by five musicians—Lainie Fefferman, Daniel Felsenfeld, Mary Kouyoumdjian, Matt Marks and Jascha Narveson—the goal of the New Music Gathering is to offer a time and place to exchange ideas and to focus on the needs and desires within the new music community.

“We are honored to present the third annual New Music Gathering at the new music hub of Bowling Green, Ohio—to carry the overwhelming and awe-inspiring levels of support this community endeavor has thus far received to the Midwest,” said the cofounders. “Kurt Doles has already been a gatherer extraordinaire, and percussionist Steven Schick’s keynote address will no doubt be dazzling. We want to see you there, to hear your music, your ideas, your stories, because that is what makes the gathering what it is.”

The 2017 New Music Gathering is largely made possible by the generous support of flutist and MacArthur Fellow Claire Chase, champion of the gathering and of the larger new music community.

The New Music Gathering has announced reduced pricing this year to allow more attendees from the new music community. Advance tickets purchased by May 1 are $50 for a full-three-day conference pass, or $60 at the door; and $20 for a day pass. Tickets are free for current BGSU students, staff and faculty with a valid ID at the door. BGSU alumni are free with a reserved ticket online.