Identity has always been something that I’ve treated as malleable in my personal and professional life. It’s one of the reasons I decided to become a composer. Part of this comes from having a highly diverse set of friends and loved ones, all of whose opinions I hold dear even if they drastically contrast my own. Another part of this stems from my commitment to the fight against stagnation and entropy – I constantly try to challenge who I am as a person and as a brand, and I take steps to deliberately ensure that I am never entirely comfortable with my routine or my life.
Practically all of the clocks in my house are set to different times. It’s serves as a background reminder that constants should never truly be considered constants.
The shape and identity of nienteForte has, perhaps unsurprisingly, undergone a similar malleable state of growth over the years – what started as a single Tulane University concert of mostly student musicians in 2011 eventually became a week-long festival of concerts between Tulane University and the University of New Orleans, featuring professional contemporary musicians and composers from across the globe. And while nienteForte had hit a steady and consistent stride, when it came time to reflect on our 2018 Festival, my co-director Max and I decided that we wanted to attempt to better serve our audience, musicians, and the music that we’re so passionate about, and thus wanted to give nienteForte a fresh approach.
As a result, I’m excited to announce that nienteForte Contemporary Music has pivoted away from a condensed week-long festival of concerts and is now embarking on a full concert season for the 2018/2019 academic year and beyond, featuring a wide array of amazing contemporary music performers and composers peppered throughout the year. Our debut season is packed, featuring concerts from Bent Duo, Ogni Suono, Andy Kozar, Promenade Sauvage, and more.
We can’t wait to share this next chapter with our audience and our community, and hope that you can join us as we explore this new journey and identity. Be sure to check out our schedule of events for the 2018/2019 season, and come celebrate the joys of contemporary music with us – an amazing form of art that relishes in its lack of definition, and is ever changing and evolving in the same way that we do.
Warm Regards,
Mendel Lee
founder, co-director
nienteForte Contemporary Music
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