New Music + Technology Festival to celebrate boundary-pushing composers
To elevate the breadth and power of music technology, the School of Performing Arts and the Institute for Creativity, Arts, and Technology will present the ninth consecutive New Music + Technology Festival Sept. 29-Oct. 2.
The festival features a series of new compositions from students, faculty, and friends of the festival that will be performed in the Cube at the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech and the Creativity and Innovation District living-learning community.
“As we celebrated the 10th anniversary of the Cube in 2023, I began thinking about the life of the pieces we create in this space,” said Kyle Hutchins, assistant professor of practice and curator of the festival. "We’ve been fortunate to build relationships with organizations and composers throughout the world through ArtX, but what does that mean for the life of the pieces?”
The festival begins Monday, Sept. 29, at 7:30 p.m. with a concert from the Galan Trio in the Creativity and Innovation District living-learning center. Hailing from Athens, Greece, the members of this classical piano trio have dedicated their musical life to premiering new compositions and collaborating with composers worldwide.
The program is entitled “Kinesis” and “offers a dynamic exploration of contemporary American music through a series of original compositions [as a result] of close collaboration between the ensemble and faculty composers from selected U.S. universities,” according to a media release from the Galan Trio. The collaborating composers include Charles Nichols, associate professor of music composition , who wrote a new piece titled “Voces Magicae.”
“Regarding the composition and collaboration with the trio, I asked each member what they wanted in a new music composition,” Nichols said. “The group shared an interest in exploring extended techniques, rhythmic grooves, and formal symmetrical structure, which all found their way into this piece. I also took inspiration from their name, which they explained means to enchant or cast spells, so I asked the players to dramatically incant their names while playing.”
The festival continues with a concert from Beyond This Point on Tuesday, Sept. 30. The trio is comprised of Chicago-based percussionists John Corkill, Adam Rosenblatt, and Rebecca McDaniel. “This trio performs with an immense theatricality,” Hutchins said. “Think Ikea lamps and motion tracking, a hammer and knife duo. They are expanding what we think of as percussion.”
Wednesday, Oct. 1, will feature two original works from 2025 Yee Commission winner, David Biedenbender: “Before the Red Sky Reaches Us” and an additional fixed-media work. The former will be performed by October Sky Ensemble, made up of School of Performing Arts faculty members Brian Thorsett, tenor; John Irrera, violin; Alan Weinstein, cello; and Annie Stevens, percussion. The Yee Commission is supported by chemistry Professor Gordon Yee.
A clarinet performance from Bryce Newcomer, who recently joined the School of Performing Arts as collegiate assistant professor of clarinet and music theory, will round out the performance.
The festival concludes on Thursday, Oct. 2, with the debut of a work from Nichols and Zach Duer, associate professor and chair of the Master of Fine Arts in creative technologies program. The work, created for saxophone performance, computer music, and interactive video, is a five-movement composition project called “Masks and Mirrors.” Performed by Hutchins on saxophone, the nearly hour-long composition features three rhythmic movements connected by two ambient pieces. The work is adaptable to accommodate available resources and concert lengths, and, for this version, it will be performed in the 140-speaker spatial audio system of the Cube.
“For this festival, and potentially moving forward, we’re interested in a more flexible repertoire and composition styles — works that are not tied to a specific instrumentation, length, or event venue,” said Hutchins. “We’re beginning to explore what groundbreaking compositions we might be able to present as easily in the Cube as we can in a basement.”
Tickets, parking, and other details
Performances are Sept. 29 at 7:30 p.m. in the Creativity and Innovation District living-learning community, 185 Kent St., and Sept. 30-Oct. 2 at 8 p.m. in the Cube at the Center for the Arts at Virginia Tech.
Tickets for the Sept. 29 performance are $15 general, $12 senior, or $10 student and may be purchased through the Center for the Arts ticket office in person, online, or by calling 540-231-5300. Tickets will also be available at the door.
All performances in the Cube are free, but advance registration is required, with rush tickets available at the door.
All university community members and visitors will need to display a parking permit, use the ParkMobile app, pay a fee, or pay using an hourly meter to park on the Blacksburg campus unless otherwise noted by signage. Additional parking information is available online.
If you are an individual with a disability or desire an accommodation, please contact Susan Sanders at susansan@vt.edu at least 10 days prior to the event.
Written by Ashley Cooper, a graduate student in arts leadership
