The Composer's Voice Concert Series is a concert series in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

which presents contemporary

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

. The series is produced by

Vox Novus Vox Novus is a New York City-based organization consisting of composers, musicians, and music enthusiasts which presents and supports new music. Vox Novus was founded by Robert Voisey to promote contemporary composers in 2000. This organization ...

and was founded in 2001 by the composer

Robert Voisey Robert Voisey (born 1969) is a composer and producer of electroacoustic and chamber music. He founded Vox Novus in 2000 to promote the music of contemporary composers and in 2001 created The American Composer Timeline, the first in-depth listi ...

. Currently directed by Voisey, Composer's Voice holds concerts at The Firehouse Space on the third Thursday of every month. John de Clef Pineiro, in ''New Music Connoisseur'', wrote, " ox Novus offersthe presentation of serious works by established and emerging composers. Those voices should be heard, and they can even be reheard on the Vox Novus website that generously offers complete audio recordings and even full scores of works presented by Vox Novus at its concerts." Called "One of the premier showcases for promising composers" by ''Time Out New York'', Composer's Voice is a venue for composers to have their work heard and to collaborate with other composers, musicians and artists. In the article "Composer’s Voice is fresh!", Brant Lyon describes a performance at Composer's Voice by the composer and performer

Gelsey Bell Gelsey Bell is an American singer, songwriter, and actress, best known for her experimental music and her portrayal of Mary in the 2016 Broadway musical '' Natasha, Pierre, & the Great Comet of 1812.'' Early life and education Bell was raised i ...

"...like putting one’s ear to the ground to hear what’s coming in the distance or snuggling the side of your head against a pregnant woman’s belly —except in reverse — for the dissipation, not anticipation. The sounds of her voice resonating with the piano’s had the opposite effect in me: to inspire movement forward. I was hearing something new." The Composer's Voice Concert Series has featured the works of hundreds of composers. Notable composers featured include:

Annea Lockwood Annea Lockwood (born July 29, 1939, in Christchurch, New Zealand) is a New Zealand-born American composer and academic musician. She taught electronic music at Vassar College. Her work often involves recordings of natural Musique concrète, found ...

Augusta Read Thomas Augusta Read Thomas (born April 24, 1964) is an American composer and professor. Biography Thomas studied composition with Oliver Knussen at Tanglewood; Jacob Druckman at Yale University; Alan Stout and Bill Karlins at Northwestern University ...

Liana Alexandra Liana Alexandra (born Liana Moraru; 27 May 1947 – 10 January 2011) was a Romanian composer, pianist and music educator. Biography Alexandra was born in Bucharest, Romania, on 27 May 1947. From 1965 to 1971, she studied at the Ciprian ...

, Dennis Bathory-Kitsz,

Eve Beglarian Eve Beglarian (born Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S., July 22, 1958) is a contemporary American composer, performer and audio producer of Armenian descent. Her music is often characterized as postminimalist.Woodard, Josef"A Bird’s Eye, a Wonderer’s E ...

, George Brunner,

Noah Creshevsky Noah Creshevsky (January 31, 1945 – December 3, 2020) was a composer and electronic musician born in Rochester, New York. He used the term hyperrealism to describe his work. Biography Trained in composition by Nadia Boulanger in Paris and Lucia ...

Emma Lou Diemer Emma Lou Diemer (born November 24, 1927 in Kansas City, Missouri) is an American composer. Diemer has written many works for orchestra, chamber ensemble, keyboard, voice, chorus, and electronic media. Diemer is a keyboard performer and over ...

Moritz Eggert Moritz Eggert (born 25 November 1965 in Heidelberg) is a German composer and pianist. Life Moritz Eggert began his studies in piano and composition in 1975 at Dr. Hoch's Konservatorium in Frankfurt (with Wolfgang Wagenhaeuser and Claus Küh ...

Daniel Goode Daniel Goode (born January 24, 1936) is an American composer and clarinetist. Daniel Goode was born in New York City. After graduating in 1957 from Oberlin College, he studied composition at Columbia University with Henry Cowell and Otto Luen ...

, Peri Mauer, Mike McFerron, Christian McLeer, David Morneau,

Marco Oppedisano Marco Oppedisano (born November 20, 1971 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American guitarist and composer whose compositions focus on the innovative use of electric guitar in the genre of electroacoustic music. His musique concrète/acousmatic music ...

Faye-Ellen Silverman Faye-Ellen Silverman (born October 2, 1947) is an American composer of contemporary classical music. She is also an author and an educator. Life and education Born in New York, New York, Silverman began studying music at the Dalcroze School of ...

Allen Strange Allen Strange (June 26, 1943 – February 20, 2008http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2008/feb/25/allen-strange-leader-in-electronic-music-dies/ ''Allen Strange, Leader in Electronic Music, Dies at 64'' By Rachel Pritchet, Kitsap Sun) was an American c ...

, and

Rodney Waschka II Rodney Waschka II is an American composer known for his algorithmic compositions and his theatrical works. Biography Waschka studied at Brooklyn College, at the Institute of Sonology, then newly part of the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, and e ...

. The series highlights performers who champion the work of living composers. Notable performers include

Robert Dick Robert Dick (January 1811 – 24 December 1866), was a Scottish geologist and botanist. Life He was born at Tullibody, in Clackmannanshire. His father was an officer of excise in nearby Alloa. At the age of thirteen, after receiving a good e ...

, Shiau-uen Ding, Oren Fader, Beth Griffith, Monica Harte, Craig Hultgren, Eva Ingolf, Face the Music, Conway Kuo, Margaret Lancaster, Agueda Pages, Patrica Strange,

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

Woodwind Quintet, and

Sophia Yan Sophia Yan (嚴倩君, pinyin: Yán Qiànjūn, b. October 8, 1986) is an American classical pianist, journalist and Beijing correspondent at The Daily Telegraph. Early life and education Yan was born to Taiwanese parents in Queens, New York. S ...

. Composer's Voice holds several annual concert celebrating themes. Composer's Voice 5th Annual Guitar Concert featured the guitarists Alturas Duo, Dan Cooper, Oren Fader and

William Anderson William Anderson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * William Anderson (artist) (1757–1837), painter of marine and historical paintings * William Anderson (theatre) (1868–1940), Australian stage entrepreneur * William Anderson (1911–1986), ...

playing the

tiple A tiple (, literally treble or soprano), is a plucked typically 12-string chordophone of the guitar family. A tiple player is called a ''tiplista''. The first mention of the tiple comes from musicologist Pablo Minguet e Irol in 1752. Although ma ...

. Composer's Voice also has an annual Japanese themed concert, an all-women concert celebrated in March for

Women's History Month Women's History Month is an annual declared month that highlights the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society. It is celebrated during March in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, corresponding with ...

, and an annual children's concert usually held in the fall. In 2014, Composer's Voice presented the themed concert "Exploring New Timbres" at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

which featured the guitarist Kenji Haba and the cellist Susan Davita Mandell of the ensemble Duo Anova, and Sandy Hughes, Conway Kuo, and Satoshi Okamoto of the Bateria Trio. Vox Novus has collaborated with several new music organizations to further its mission. The Composer's Voice Concert Series has been one of the company's vehicles for collaboration, including events with the Birmingham Art Music Alliance in 2003 and composer and the dance group Vision of Sound in 2012.

History

*In 2001, the Composer's Voice Concert Series was founded by

as the first concert series produced by

. *On May 10, 2001, Composer's Voice held its first performance at Elebash Recital Hall in the

CUNY Graduate Center The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York (CUNY Graduate Center) is a public research institution and post-graduate university in New York City. Serving as the principal doctorate-granting institution of the Ci ...

. Later that year, the series had its first collaboration concert with La Scala De San Telmo in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, and at Advent Lutheran Church in New York. *In 2002, Vox Novus partnered with the Living Music Foundation which became a collaborator and fiscal conduit for the Composer's Voice Concert Series. *In 2003, the Composer's Voice Concert Series collaborated with the Birmingham Art Music Alliance to present a concert in both New York City and

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of the U.S. state of Alabama. Birmingham is the seat of Jefferson County, Alabama's most populous county. As of the 2021 census estimates, Birmingham had a population of 197,575, down 1% fr ...

. *In 2006, there was no series. *In 2007,

met Monica Harte and Christian McLeer and together they revived the Composer's Voice Concert Series as co-directors in a joint production of the series with Vox Novus, Remarkable Theater Brigade and Jan Hus Presbyterian Church. *In 2009, composer Douglas DaSilva joined the series as

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the ...

. *In 2011, the Composer's Voice Concert Series started a new project of works called "Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame" promoting one-minute miniatures written from composers living around the world. *In 2015, two Composer's Voice concerts with Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame took place at

Symphony Space Symphony Space, founded by Isaiah Sheffer and Allan Miller, is a multi-disciplinary performing arts organization at 2537 Broadway on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Performances take place in the 760-seat Peter Jay Sharp Theatre (also called Pe ...

in New York City to celebrate 15 years of

producing and presenting new music. *In 2016, Composer's Voice moved to The Firehouse Space in Brooklyn with concerts on the third Thursday of every month.{{Cite web , url=http://thefirehousespace.org/event/robert-voisey-and-vox-novus/ , title=Composer's Voice | the Firehouse Space

Articles and reviews

* David Mecionis
"Composer’s Voice Concert Series May 19, 2016 at Brooklyn’s Firehouse Space"
''Sound Word Sight'', May 30, 2016
"Stony Brook Composers Concert in Brooklyn, April 21"
''SBU Happenings'', April 18, 2016
"Joseph Bohigian curates Composer’s Voice Concert"
''The Armenian Mirror'', March 24, 2016 * Seth Gilman, "Composer's Voice in miniatures", ''Examiner'', February 23, 2013 * Erin Bomboy

''Dance Musings'', August 28, 2012 *

Alan Hoskins Alan Hoskins is the American CEO of Energizer, and has been since July 2015. He has worked with the company in executive and other positions for 33 years. He began his career at Union Carbide. He also serves on the board of directors of the Retail ...

"KCKCC takes electroacoustic music to NYC"
''

Kansas City Kansan The ''Kansas City Kansan'' is an online newspaper that serves Kansas City and other communities in Wyandotte County, Kansas, United States. History Arthur Capper started the newspaper on January 31, 1921, when Kansas City, Kansas, did not have ...

'', July 10, 2012 * Brant Lyon
"Composer’s Voice is fresh!"
''Great Weather for Media'', March 26, 2012 * Julia Crowe
"Letter from New York"
''Classical Guitar Magazine'', September 2009 * John de Clef Pineiro, "October 20, 2002 Composer’s Voice Concert", ''New Music Connoisseur'', March 2003, vol. 11, no. 1 * Michael Huebner, "New York, Birmingham duel by using new compositions"

References

External links

Concerts in the United States