Music festival strives to spread ‘SONiC’ waves of new music in NYC

Any contemporary music enthusiast knows that New York has in recent years become a vibrant center for the creation and performance of new music. From Oct. 14 to 22, New York hosts the SONiC (Sounds of a New Century) Festival, which highlights the variety and diversity of the contemporary music genre with a showcase of the music of some of the best composing talents of today aged 40 and under.

The opening concert on Friday, Oct. 14, will take place at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall (881 Seventh Ave., at 57th Street). The nine remaining concerts will be held at various venues known for their commitment to presenting new works, including Miller Theatre. The festival will conclude with a free concert for New York at the World Financial Centre in Tribeca.

Derek Bermel, co-curator of the festival along with Stephen Gosling, said that the goal of the festival is to “present a snapshot of the music by this younger generation” ten years into the twenty-first century. The festival has been in the works for over a year. “We want to introduce people to the diversity of influence on composers,” said Bermel. “You have folks following classical and modern trends, but also folks who are using electronic, jazz, folk, video—all different approaches.” One of Bermel’s goals is to show people that “music like this is happening all over the city.”

Bermel noted the role of Columbia in this festival, which features music from several composers that are CU alums, including Richard Carrick, Steve Lehman, and Kate Soper. Carrick is the founder of the ensemble Either/Or, a group that focuses on performing music based on the avant-garde and experimental movements. Carrick received his B.A. at Columbia and is now co-teaching the graduate composition seminar. He will lead Either/Or in a performance at Miller Theatre on Monday, Oct. 17, at 7:30 p.m., which showcases his piece, “à cause du soleil.” The show also features free jazz grooves of Flow Trio as well as works by Raphaël Cendo, Hans Thomalla, Erin Gee, and Keeril Makan. The performance also serves the premiere of a composition by Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood.

“We’re really excited about the composers we’re presenting,” Carrick said. “These are all composers we’ve worked with before and we feel that we’re presenting their music in a very positive way.”

Composer Hannah Lash will also premiere a piece at Miller during a day-long “marathon concert” called Extended Play, which runs on Sunday, Oct. 16, from 12 p.m. until midnight.

“The SONiC Festival itself is like a huge marathon,” Lash said. “For any composer, it’s great to have a piece premiered in any context, but to be nestled within a lot of other pieces can potentially be very a exciting placement.” Her piece, “Filigree in Textile,” will be performed by the renowned JACK Quartet along with harpist Yolanda Kondonassis.

“I hope that some people come to the festival who don’t normally hear this kind of music, and that they come away wanting to hear more,” said Bermel, when asked about his hopes for what this festival will achieve. “People always want to see what’s the newest movie, the hottest new Broadway show—but then you go to the symphony and you only expect to see something from the 1800s. Why is that? Why are we always looking backwards?”

Tickets and a full listing of concerts and programming can be found online.