Musical creativity and innovation will be showcased over four days as the School of Performing Arts and the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology welcome guest and faculty artists for the 2025 New Music + Technology Festival. Performances will be held in the Cube of the Moss Arts Center on April 2-4 and in the Taubman Museum of Art in Roanoke on April 5.

“This semester, we are presenting our eighth iteration of the festival, and we are very excited to be branching out to Roanoke for the first time in partnership with the Taubman Museum of Art, who will feature the October Sky Ensemble on April 5,” said Kyle Hutchins, director of the festival. “October Sky will premiere three new pieces written for them by composers Michael Burritt, Edgar Girtain, and Jon Grier. 

“I am also excited to be working with The Honourable Elizabeth A. Baker, new renaissance artist, on the creation of 'HOLOGRAM,' a large-scale new work for bass saxophone and electronics. Elizbeth developed the work during a residency in summer 2024 in the Cube, funded by the Bruce C. Carver Multicultural Arts Grant. After performing her work at Virginia Tech in 2020, I was so happy we could continue our collaboration and create a new work especially designed for the Cube and bass saxophone, one of the lowest voices and a rarely performed member of the saxophone family, that was recently acquired by the university in 2023.”

Wednesday, April 2, will feature guests Wayne Horvitz and Sara Schoenbeck. Horvitz is a composer, pianist, and electronic musician who  received the American Prize in Orchestral Composition in 2019. Schoenbeck, a bassoonist, performs her own work and collaborates as an improviser, interpreter, and composer, using her instrument to explore new sounds and contemporary music.

Thursday, April 3, will feature The Honourable Elizabeth A. Baker, new renaissance artist. Baker embraces a constantly evolving practice. Ppast works include those that involve creating new systems of notation and building virtual instruments. Her practice also incorporates the exploration of sonic and visual elements.

Two pieces composed by Baker will be performed. “HOLOGRAM” for bass saxophone and electronics will make its world premiere, and “the possibilities before” for speaking string quartet — where the performers play and speak simultaneously — and electronics will be performed by Virginia Tech School of Performing Arts faculty members Kyle Hutchins, John Irrera, Molly Wilkens-Reed, Chris Campo-Bowen, and Alan Weinstein.

Friday, April 4, will feature Virginia Tech faculty and friends performing works by music faculty members Ico Bukvic and  Eric Lyon, and David Durant and Tomás Henriques. Performers include music faculty members Hutchins and Weinstein with Esther Lamneck and L2Ork, Virginia Tech's digital interactive sound and intermedia studio's Linux Laptop Orchestra.

On Saturday, April 5, the festival continues in Roanoke at the Taubman Museum of Art when October Sky premiers three new pieces written for them by composers Michael Burritt, Edgar Girtain, and Jon Grier. October Sky is a mixed-instrument quartet — tenor, violin, cello, and percussion — made up of Virginia Tech music faculty members Irrera, Weinstein, Brian Thorsett, and Annie Stevens.

Tickets, parking, and other details

Performances will be held April 2-4 at 8 p.m. in the Cube at the Moss Arts Center, 190 Alumni Mall, and on April 5 at 3 p.m. at the Taubman Museum of Art, 110 Salem Ave. SE in Roanoke. Admission is free for all events, but advance registration is required for performances in the Cube with rush tickets available at the door. Find registration links and other information online.

Parking information for the Virginia Tech campus may be found online.

If you are an individual with a disability and/or desire an accommodation, please contact Susan Sanders at susansan@vt.edu at least 10 days prior to the event

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