Jan
27
Sun
Sonoran Storm on KUSC SundaysLive with Crossroads EMMI Orchestra @ LACMA Bing Theater
Jan 27 @ 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm

Hear Nokuthula Ngwenyama celebrate an honorary high school diploma by performing Sonoran Storm for Viola and Orchestra with the Crossroads EMMI Orchestra and conductor Alexander Treger live or via live stream: mixlr.com/sundayslive

Feb
15
Fri
Composer’s Choice @ ASU/Kerr Cultural Center
Feb 15 @ 7:30 pm – 9:45 pm

The annual co-production of the Phoenix Chamber Music Society, ASU/Kerr Cultural Center and PMP curated by Nokuthula Ngwenyama features contemporary composers Koto Kono, David Serkin Ludwig, Penka Kouneva and Jonathan Bailey Holland in the chamber setting of anything from video games and visual art to film and television. This is not a typical classical music concert, it’s an engaging peek into the craft of working musicians today.

Mar
18
Mon
In session with Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra @ Ostrava, Czech Republic
Mar 18 – Mar 19 all-day

Ngwenyama rejoins the ‘lucid support’ (New York Times) of the Janacek Philharmonic Orchestra.

Jul
15
Mon
@ Curtis Institute of Music
Jul 15 – Jul 20 all-day
Jul
19
Fri
Summerfest Faculty Recital @ Field Hall, Curtis Institute of Music
Jul 19 @ 8:00 pm – 10:00 pm

Performance of Duo for Violin and Viola with violinist Rebecca Harris.

Aug
27
Tue
Brahms Sextet Recording Session @ Guilford Sound
Aug 27 – Aug 30 all-day
Oct
7
Mon
Masterclass on Harbison Viola Concerto @ Juilliard School
Oct 7 @ 4:00 pm – 6:30 pm
Oct
13
Sun
Linton Chamber Series @ First Unitarian Church of Cincinnati
Oct 13 @ 4:00 pm – 6:30 pm
Nov
6
Wed
Viola Competition Juror @ Julliard School
Nov 6 – Nov 7 all-day
Jan
4
Sat
Sexageismal Celebration Premiere @ Central United Methodist Church
Jan 4 @ 7:30 pm – 9:30 pm

Happy Birthday Phoenix Chamber Music Society!  As composer in residence I am honored to present Sexagesimal Celebration commemorating sixty years of world class performances in the Valley of the Sun.  Many thanks for the opportunity to join fellow sexteters Jaime Laredo, Pamela Frank, Milena Pajaro van de Stadt, Sharon Robinson, and Keith ‘Robby’ Robinson in wishing this community a very happy anniversary with many, many more.  

Sixty is important.  As a base evenly divided into 12 factors, time management is exposed as a 5 millennium old Sumerian relic.  Their cuneiform show transaction catalogs and praise poetry.  Their recorded lives demonstrate that our concerns as a species have not changed that much.

Base 60 easily pervades patterns of sound, rhythm and intervals, allowing ideas based on any of them to develop into a fantasy.  Melodies are inspired by the landscape throughout Arizona, with a nadir of wind gusting across fields toward the Verde River on the Biggs’ Farm to anticipate.

Deep and loving thanks go to the Biggs and Clements families for supporting one of the few composer in residence positions for chamber music in the country.  Thanks also to president of the Phoenix Chamber Music Society board Michael Maas, the entire board, and executive director Janet Green for encouraging this work to be heard tonight.