The North End Music & Performing Arts Center (NEMPAC) Winter Concert Series returns with a special program on Friday, January 15th, 2021, at 7 p.m. Hub New Music (HNM) and Christina Wright-Ivanova introduce “New Music from New England” as part of NEMPAC’s Winter Concert Series, presented virtually in partnership with Sparrow Live

During the month of December Hub New Music, NEMPAC Faculty Nicholas Brown, and Artistic Director Christina Wright-Ivanova rehearsed for this first concert of the year that will take place at the beautiful Boston Athenaeum—one of the oldest independent libraries in the United States founded in 1807 in the heart of Boston! 
 
The program will feature the contemporary works of living composers —originally from New England— full of vivid, vibrant, and emotional imagery depicting very relevant themes in today’s World.
  • “Apple Fantasy” (World Premiere) by Joseph Sowa | This piece depicts a 24-hour day on an orchard; and it was commissioned by the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition at Brigham Young University.
  • “Rogue Emoji” by Kati Agócs | A set of six miniatures for mixed quartet, with mercurial contrasts in texture and expressive character, performed as a continuous trajectory, the miniatures create a narrative of dissolution and regeneration; and it was commissioned by Ashmont Hill Chamber Music with support for the Cricket Foundation.
  • “Black Anemones” (flute and piano) by Joseph Schwantner | Unconventional sounds and sonorities that push the boundaries of traditional music, it expresses the migrant’s ominous dream, the dull pang of apprehension, the anxiety and disorientation that this journey conjures up.
  • “Crossings” (flute, clarinet, violin, cello and piano) by Pierre Jalbert | The inspiration for this work came from the idea of wandering peoples; crossing into new territories and strange lands. A migratory journey full of unexpected turns, trials and tribulations, reflective of states of mind, states of being. It was commissioned for Music from Copland House through Meet the Composer’s Commissioning Music/USA program; additional commissioning support was provided by the Friends of Copland House.
Featured Performers will include Michael Avitabile (flute), Nicholas Brown (clarinet), Alyssa Wang (violin), Jesse Christeson (cello), and Christina Wright-Ivanova, (Artistic Director and piano guest artist). Read more about the performers and our Winter Concert Series