Aaron Alter's "Intestinal Fantasy on Liszt's Les Préludes will be premiered in New York by Composers Concordance at the 14th Annual CompCord Festival – Comedy.

Sht Lszt Deconstructing Franz Liszt: Virtuosity Unraveled and Reimagined


Composers Concordance launches its 14th Annual CompCord Festival – Comedy with Sht Lszt, a daring, humorous, and genre-bending concert that takes apart the myth, spectacle, and excesses of Franz Liszt. Through inventive new works, spoken word, and fearless performance, the program reimagines Romantic virtuosity with wit, irreverence, and bold creativity.

Composers: Aaron Alter, Lynn Bechtold, Dan Cooper, Tom Lehrer, Leo Genovese, Audrey Morse, Daniel Palkowski, Gene Pritsker, Emiliano Revert, David Wolfson

Performers: Leo Genovese & Daniel Palkowski (piano), Sara Paar (soprano), Charles Coleman (baritone), Audrey Morse (violin/viola), Gene Pritsker (guitar) The Red Microphone: Laurie Towers (bass) & John Pietaro (poet/percussion)

Poets: Peter Christian Hall, Kat Georges, Peter Carlaftes, Robert C. Ford, Ruthie Adamson (Wonky Wordsmith)

A playful collision of music, text, and theatricality, Sht Lszt turns classical tradition inside out. The concert will also be live-streamed on Composers Concordance's Facebook Page.

Aaron Alter's "Trio of Jade" for Tuba, Cello and Piano will be played on the "Classical Discoveries" radio program on WPRB FM 103.3 radio and https://wprb.com .

I'm honored that my little one-minute HammerKlavierOlaLola for solo piano will be performed at the VICKY STYLIANOU INTERNATIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL in Patras, Greece on March 31 at 8:30pm Eastern European Time. HammerKlavierOlaLola has as its inspiration, the first movement of Beethoven's monumental Op.106 piano sonata, mixing in an early 1960s Rock and Roll flavor. Even though the work is only one minute long, I manage to squeeze in quotes from three themes and the coda.

VICKY STYLIANOU INTERNATIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL

The festival is dedicated to the memory of the exceptional pianist Vicky Stylianou (1959-2024), a valuable collaborator of the Union of Greek Composers and the Greek Contemporary Music Ensemble, always tireless and willing to collaborate, with patience and special kindness.

Vicky always persistently supported the cause of Contemporary Music Creation. She always had a good word and a smile for all of us.

Thanks to the family of Vicky and Alkis Baltas, the piano of the deceased was donated to Patras, creating a new hangout for virtuosos and music lovers.

The organizer - the multi-award winning Phasma-Music foundation - contributes significantly not only to the promotion and support of today's musical creation but also to the familiarization of the public with classical music.

The New Mexico Performing Arts Society is preparing to kick off the spring half of the 2025-2026 season with a chamber concert spotlighting its top-notch featured artists. Audience members are invited to St. Stephen’s United Methodist Church on Friday, March 27 at 7 p.m. to enjoy a program of romantic and contemporary chamber music for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, and piano. Featured artists include three long-time NMPAS musicians—Carla Kountoupes on violin, Sally Guenther on violin, and Natasha Stojanovska on piano—and two emerging artists—Hyorim Kim on flute and Jerry Weimer on clarinet. The program includes classic works by Philippe Gaubert and Bohuslav Martinů, as well as more contemporary pieces by Michael Heizler, Astor Piazzola, and NMPAS composer Aaron Alter. The full program includes: Trois Aquarelles for Flute, Cello, and Piano by Philippe Gaubert Madrigal Sonata for Flute, Violin, and Piano by Bohuslav Martinů Lied ohne Worte / Song without Words by Michael Heizler Libertango for Clarinet and Piano by Astor Piazzola First Time Meeting for Clarinet, Violin, Cello, and Piano by Aaron Alter

Aaron Alter's entire 42-minute Cantata of Praise for Chorus and Chamber Orchestra (a setting of Psalms 118 and 150), will be broadcast on Classical 95.5 KHFM and streaming online https://khfm.org at 1:00pm Mountain Daylight Time (12 noon Pacific Daylight Time) as part of the Sunday Afternoon program with host Brent Stevens. The broadcast of Cantata of Praise was from its world premiere in Albuquerque on March 23, 2025 by The New Mexico Performing Arts Society under the direction of Maestro Franz Vote.

Harpist Vanessa Fountain and flutist and saxophonist Emanuel Esparza will be playing a varied program including Aaron Alter's Introspective Blues #1 for Flute and Harp as part of the Music by the Sea Concert Series at the Encinitas Library.

A full house! The March 20 Music by the Sea concert featuring harpist Dr. Vanessa Fountain is now SOLD OUT.

On Saturday, March 14th at 7pm at Rhythmic Arts Center NYC, Composers Concordance presents an exhilarating evening of new music spotlighting the viola in all its expressive, volatile, and unexpected glory. The event, entitled 'Timbre Tantrum - Violas' features world-class performers and a diverse roster of composers exploring the viola’s rich timbral possibilities—from gritty textures and extended techniques to lyrical intensity and explosive ensemble interplay.

The program brings together strings, rhythm, and amplified textures in a dynamic concert experience that challenges traditional roles of the viola while embracing its raw emotional power. Featured composers include: Aaron Alter, Lynn Bechtold, Natasha Bogojevich, Graciela Carriqui, Marvin Camacho, Dan Cooper, Artie Dibble, Moppa Elliott and Gene Pritsker. Performers for the evening are: Artie Dibble, Carol Gimbel, Ema Tufekčić, & Mark Zaki - violas; Gene Pritsker - guitar; Moppa Elliott - bass; and Max Pollak - percussion. As part of Composers Concordance’s ongoing mission to present innovative voices in contemporary music, 'Timbre Tantrum: Violas' promises an evening of risk-taking, collaboration, and sonic discovery.

Featured compositions include Gene Pritsker's 'Always Try To Keep A Patch Of Sky Above Your Life,' Graciela Carriqui's 'Father-Daughter Dance,' Aaron Alter's 'Taste of the 7th Movement (Finale) of Cantata of Praise,' and Lynn Bechtold's 'Congruent Affect.'

Aaron Alter's Introspective Blues #1 for Flute and Harp will be performed by flutist Emanuel Esparza and harpist Vanessa Fountain at the Desert Hot Springs Classical Concerts. Also on the very diverse program are works by Jacques Offenbach, Josef Molnar, Jacques Bondon, Ernesto Lecuona, Gerald Marks, Joe Henderson, Erroll Garner, Georges Bizet and George Michael. Admission is FREE.

Aaron Alter's La Joie de Vivre (inspired by the painting by Picasso) for Flute and Piano will be broadcast on the "Classical Discoveries" radio program on WPRB 103.3 FM in Princeton, NJ and online on https://wprb.com/ .

On Dec. 27th at 7pm, Composers Concordance presents The Centuries Trio at Steel Wig Music. Departing from the traditional violin–cello–piano setup, The Centuries Trio reimagines the classic piano trio for the 21st century with a vibrant instrumentation of electric guitar, cello da spalla, and piano. True to their name, the ensemble performs music spanning the entire musical timeline — from Renaissance and Baroque works to Classical and Romantic repertoire, early and late 20th-century pieces, mid-century jazz, and contemporary 21st-century compositions

The trio features Artie Dibble on cello da spalla, Jai Jeffryes on piano, and Gene Pritsker on electric guitar

For the December 27th program, the group will perform music by J. S. Bach (1685–1750), W. A. Mozart (1756–1791), Thelonious Monk (1917–1982), as well as works by living composers Aaron Alter, Seth Boustead, Jai Jeffryes, Gene Pritsker, Carolyn Steinberg, and the winner of Composers Concordance’s 2nd Annual Sean Satin Guitar Composition Prize.

Premieres for the evening include Pritsker’s Inspired By Gnawa, Carolyn Steinberg’s Laudatio, Aaron Alter’s Fantasy on Arioso from Cantata of Praise and 'Green Mountain by the Winner of the 2nd Annual Sean Satin Guitar Composition Prize Parames Pipattanasuporn . Mozart’s Andante cantabile from the Piano Trio No. 5 in C major, K. 548 will also receive a fresh, adventurous new interpretation.

Composers Concordance The Centuries Trio

Saturday, Dec. 27th, 2025 at 7pm Steel Wig Music 939 8th Ave. (56th St.) Suite 502, NYC

TICKETS $30 at the door, $20 in advance Facebook Live Stream

Composers Aaron Alter, J. S. Bach, Seth Boustead, Jai Jeffryes, Thelonious Monk, W.A.Mozart, Gene Pritsker, Carolyn Steinberg ​Featuring the Winner of the 2nd Annual Sean Satin Guitar Composition PrizeParames Pipattanasuporn

Performers Artie DIbble - cello da spalla Gene Pritsker - electric guitar Jai Jeffryes - piano

Special Guest Tim Dibble - poet

Location Steel Wig Music, 939 8th Ave. (56th St.) Suite 502, NYC

The 7th movement (Finale) of Aaron Alter's "Cantata of Praise" for Chorus and Chamber Orchestra (a setting of Psalms 118 and 150) will be broadcast on the "Viva 21st Century" Marathon on WPRB 103.3 FM in Princeton, NJ and https://wprb.com this Saturday, December 27th in the 9:00pm-midnight (Eastern Time) timeslot. The recording that will be broadcast is from the World Premiere performance by The New Mexico Bach Society Chorale and Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Franz Vote. Thank you very much, Marvin Rosen, for your hard work in creating this annual event and for your support of living composers!

Aaron Alter's Introspective Blues #1 for Flute and Harp will be performed by flutist Beth Ross-Buckley and harpist Elena Mashkovtseva as part of a concert by Camarada entitled "Submerged."

Submerged inspired by water, color, and the world beyond Saturday, November 8, 2025, 7:30 PM

flute, violin, cello, double bass, piano, harp, featured artist, featured composers

Submerged invites audiences to immerse themselves in a wide spectrum of tone colors and textures. Composers Aaron Alter, Andés Martín, and Miguel del Águila will all be in attendance to discuss their works featured on the program. Additionally, visual artist Hugo Crosthwaite will unveil his Camarada Composers Circle 2025 commission, inspired by Andrés Martín’s Tango Bajo el Agua.

Aaron Alter's Solar Rays for Piano, Violin and Cello will be performed in Krakow, Poland by the Trio Legend on October 21, 2025 at 7:30pm as part of the 12th Krakow Musical Autumn Festival. Also on the program are piano trios by Beethoven and Robert Schumann.

Program Notes by Silvia Bruni: The piano trio, a form that originated in the Classical era and flourished in Romanticism, continues to inspire contemporary composers and constitutes one of the most intimate spaces for encounter between composer, performers and listeners.

Ludwig van Beethoven, writing the Trio in B flat major, Op. 97, gave this form a monumental dimension. Archduke Rudolf – the composer's student and friend, and the gifted pianist to whom the work is dedicated – participated in its performances. The "Archduke Trio," representing a synthesis of classical balance and pre-Romantic expression, was composed in 1811, contemporaneously with the publication of the Bonn master's Seventh and Eighth Symphonies. Contemporaries recognized it as a model for the genre – not only for its scale and the architectural logic of the whole, but also for its deepening means of expression and the perfect balance of the roles of piano, violin, and cello. The composer, who was increasingly experiencing his hearing loss, retained in this music a radiance and faith in the power of music – an art that begins where words end (Heinrich Heine).

Aaron Alter's work, Solar Rays (2015), transports the listener to a world of contemporary sounds, open to inspiration from nature. Born in 1955, the Californian composer employs a musical language saturated with jazz and minimalism, in which the rhythmic energy and luminous harmony evoke the experience of immersion in the pulse of the universe. The clear, yet colorfully varied texture creates a vision brimming with dynamics and vitality. The image of radiant sunlight, encompassing the work's sonic space with its radiance, rises to the level of a metaphor for musical expansion—illuminating, penetrating, and constantly expanding the horizon of perception.

Robert Schumann's Piano Trio in D minor, Op. 63, is one of the most personal testaments to the Romantic imagination. It was written in 1847, during one of the most difficult periods in the composer's life. The work combines dramatic expression with lyrical warmth – from the tense Allegro ("With energy and passion"), through the melodious and dance-like middle movements ("Lively, but not too fast"; "Slowly, with deep feeling"), to the stormy finale ("With fire"). Clara Schumann, the distinguished pianist and the composer's wife, wrote of this piece in her correspondence: "It is full of life, full of spirit and incredible beauty." For Schumann, music was the language of the soul, and the Trio in D minor remains one of those pieces in which her voice resonates most fully, expressing what words cannot.

Enjoy an evening of music with Camarada Ensemble with Beth Ross-Buckley (flute), Ruslan Biryukov (cello), Elena Mashkovtseva (harp), and Dana Burnett (piano).

"A World of Sound - from bluesy reflections to Spanish architecture and beyond"

Tuesday evenings bring outstanding professional musicians from the SoCal area to Rancho Bernardo. Expect excellence in musical expression and a wide range of artists with genres from early music, classical chamber ensembles, solo recital and jazz. Come and listen to beloved performers who return season after season as well as musicians new to our series.

*Open seating until capacity is reached. Admission is FREE. Concert is in the Bill & Marcia Collins Community Room.

For additional information, contact rbconcerts@friendsoftherblibrary.org or visit www.friendsoftherblibrary.org

A program of contemporary music with B3+ and CompCord Ensemble. This new-music showcase returns to the Howland for its sixth annual sonic celebration! Join us for an evening where bold brass meets boundary-pushing composition, all in a space that resonates with history and artistic soul. This genre-blurring event features the innovative CompCord Ensemble and the dynamic brass trio B3+. They team up with Beacon musicians and poets for a night of vibrant new music, poetic musings and collaborative energy.

Composers: Aaron Alter, Benjamin Louis Brody, Madelyn Byrne, John Clark@, Dan Cooper, Brad Hubbard, Debra Kaye, Dary John Mizelle, Ginka Mizuki, Daniel Palkowski, Gene Pritsker, David Taylor, Marina Vesic Performers: B3+ and CompCord Ensemble Franz Hackl - trumpet John Clark - horn David Taylor - bass trombone Michiyo Suzuki- clarinet Brad Hubbard - baritone sax Debra Kaye, Daniel Palkowski - piano Roger Aplon - poet / recitation Robert C. Ford - poet / recitation Peter Christian Hall- poet / recitation

On May 21, in Szczecin, Poland, the ÉxQuartet will play an exciting program of music by Philip Glass, Dorothee Eberhardt, Greg Steinke and Aaron Alter's "String Theory for String Quartet", which they recorded on their award winning album, "New Music for String Quartet Vol. 1" on the Phasma Music label and have performed it many times.

ÉxQuartet is a string quartet created by outstanding musical personalities of the Szczecin Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, who uniquely specialize in performing the latest music. The ensemble's achievements include world premieres and as many as six albums with works by contemporary composers.

On Saturday, May 3rd, 2025, at 7pm at Kostabi World, Composers Concordance presents Michael Hall and Kathleen Supové, performing new compositions for viola and piano. Featured on the program are the premieres of 'So I Flee The Death In Me' by Gene Pritsker, 'The American Dream is Coming to Get You' by Douglas Knehans, Kathleen Supové's 'Marlisa' (dedicated to Marlisa Monroe and Scott Johnson), and a performance of 'A Boy and A Makeshift Toy' by Mary Kouyoumdjian, as well as music by Aaron Alter, Seth Boustead, Sean Hickey, Mark Kostabi, and Clare Shore.

On Sunday, April 6th, 2025, at 5PM, two renowned organizations—Erick Hawkins Dance Company and Composers Concordance—will join forces to present an electrifying concert of brand-new choreography set to original music at the world-famous St. Mark's Church in-the Bowery in the East Village. Both groups have been at the forefront of artistic innovation for over four decades, and for this special event, they will collaborate on ten fresh, dynamic pieces composed specifically for the occasion.

The program will feature works by an impressive lineup of composers, including Aaron Alter, Dan Cooper, Charles Coleman, Carlos Castro, Lucia Dlugoszewski, Melanie Mitrano, Ginka Mizuki, Gene Pritsker, and David Taylor, with choreography by the visionary Katherine Duke. Highlights of the evening include 'Down Bleecker Street' by Melanie Mitrano, 'Echoed Ecstasy' by Gene Pritsker, 'Gustav's Groove' by Charles Coleman, and 'Unwilling Entrainment' by Ginka Mizuki.

Prepare for an evening of groundbreaking music and movement, pushing artistic boundaries in an unforgettable setting!

Aaron Alter's "Cantata of Praise", a 40-minute work for Chorus and Chamber Orchestra will be premiered by The New Mexico Bach Society Chorale and Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Franz Vote. Also on the concert is Bach's Cantata BWV 21, "Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis." Cantata of Praise was commissioned by The New Mexico Performing Arts Society.

Aaron Alter's "Cantata of Praise", a 40-minute work for Chorus and Chamber Orchestra will be premiered by The New Mexico Bach Society Chorale and Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Franz Vote. Also on the concert is Bach's Cantata BWV 21, "Ich hatte viel Bekümmernis." Cantata of Praise was commissioned by The New Mexico Performing Arts Society.