The Next Festival of Emerging Artists 2023

The 2023 Next Festival of Emerging Artists is a two-week experience consisting of performances, individual lessons, coachings and workshops for 30 participating string Fellows, composers, choreographers and dancers.

With residencies and performances in upstate New York (PS21/Performance Spaces for the 21st Century) and New York City (American Composers Orchestra’s SONiC Festival), Fellows collaborate with some of today’s most exciting composers, perform a program of all world premieres, participate in workshops and recording sessions of new works and explore multi-disciplinary collaboration and improvisation.

The 2023 Next Festival of Emerging Artists will celebrate its 10th Anniversary with a program of world premieres for string orchestra based on the theme of Interactivity, including by 2023 Guest Artist and guitarist/composer Yvette Young, 2022 Pulitzer Finalist Leilehua Lanzilotti, composer/violinist (and 2022 Festival alum) Che Buford, saxophonist/composer Matthew Evan Taylor and Peter Askim (The Next Festival’s Artistic Director).

As part of the 2023 Season, The Next Festival will be an American Composers Orchestra EarShot Partner Orchestra, supporting emerging composers and the creation of new music and will be presented by ACO as part of its 2023 SONiC Festival in New York City.

NYC programming:

Curtis Stewart — of Love / of time
June 1, 2023 @ 7:30 PM
Merkin Hall (129 W. 67th St.)
Featuring multi-Grammy nominated violinist/composer Curtis Stewart, The Next Festival of Emerging Artists, Kaufman Music Center Artist-in-Residence/pianist Aaron Diehl, Harlem Quartet, violin/vox/freestyle composition artist Mazz Swift and musicians from Kaufman Music Center’s Special Music School.

The Next Festival of Emerging Artists at SONiC Festival
In collaboration with American Composers Orchestra
June 3, 2023 @ 7:30 PM
New School Tishman Auditorium (63 5th Ave.)
The Next Festival of Emerging Artists celebrates its 10th Anniversary with a program of world premieres for string orchestra based on the theme of interactivity, including works by Guest Artist and guitarist/composer Yvette Young, 2022 Pulitzer Finalist Leilehua Lanzilotti, composer/violinist (and 2022 Festival alum) Che Buford, saxophonist/composer Matthew Evan Taylor and Peter Askim (The Next Festival’s Artistic Director).

Composer/Choreographer Workshop Showing
June 8, 2023 @ 7 PM
New School Tishman Auditorium (63 5th Ave.)
Under the guidance of composers Aaron Jay Kernis, Kamala Sankaram and Artistic Director Peter Askim and Choreographer Mentor Sidra Bell, the 2023 Choreographer, Composer and Performance Fellows collaborate on brand new works! Join The Next Festival for an informal, open workshop of these works-in-progress and the world premieres of new works for string orchestra by Next Festival Composer EarShot Fellows.

Upstate NY programming:

PS21 Final Concert
June 2, 2023 @ 7:30 PM
PS21/Performance Spaces for the 21st Century (2980 Route 66, Chatham, NY)
The Next Festival of Emerging Artists celebrates its 10th Anniversary with a program of world premieres for string orchestra, including works by Guest Artist and guitarist/composer Yvette Young, 2022 Pulitzer Finalist Leilehua Lanzilotti, composer/violinist (and 2022 Festival alum) Che Buford, saxophonist/composer Matthew Evan Taylor and Peter Askim (The Next Festival’s Artistic Director). PS21/Performance Spaces for the 21st Century is a state-of-the-art theater located on 100 acres of orchards, meadows and woodlands in the heart of the Hudson Valley.