For nearly two decades, the New Music New College series has been holding contemporary music concerts in Sarasota. It’s featured works from artists ranging from John Cage and John Luther Adams, to pieces composed by New College students.
Series director Stephen Miles said the goal is to foster “a conversation about contemporary music and performance” between the artists and the audience. And it’s distinct from what classical music fans might see in a performance from the Sarasota Orchestra or the Florida Orchestra.
“All organizations are in one sense engaged in some kind of educational programming. But for New Music New College this is especially important because the music we present is often questioning what music is itself,” Miles said. “And so we do want to investigate that. But it’s important that we do that with audiences as a conversation.”
New Music New College series producer Ron Silver said they realize not everyone will love each performance.
“We do all kinds of different types of music over our five concerts series. And our regulars know that it’s not all going to be the same. So they might come to a concert and say, “well, that wasn’t my favorite New Music New College concert, but I know the next one is going to be totally different,” he said.
“We don’t try to please every audience member with every concert, but we do try to intrigue every audience member with every concert.”
New Music New College will present its next concert, "dis/embodied,” three times this weekend in Sarasota at New College’s Black Box Theater: Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 8 p.m., and Sunday at 3 p.m. Pre-concert talks begin 30 minutes prior to each performance.
