2025 Composers Now Festival

The 2025 Composers Now Festival highlights performances of the music of living composers throughout the month of February 2025. For the first time, the Festival is expanding from its home in New York, adding multiple cities across the US.

For the first time, The 2025 Composers Now Festival is expanding from its home in New York, adding multiple cities across the US: Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, and Twin Cities

Partner organizations for this national expansion are The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) (Chicago), Miami Light Project (Miami), American Composers Forum (Twin Cities), and Wild Up (Los Angeles).

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The 2025 Composers Now Festival Opening Event will take place on January 29th at National Sawdust in Brooklyn, NY. The concert features performances that capture the breadth and scope of music today, as well as the presentation of the Composers Now Visionary Award and the First Commission initiative. 

2025 Visionary Awards

Celebrate those who shape our culture with creative excellence and advocacy for others. The 2025 Composers Now Visionary Award honors George Lewis and Paola Prestini for their extraordinary contributions to the arts.

First Commission - World Premiere

The 2025 First Commission Award was presented to Sophia Kunxu Dou, nominated by Daniel Felsenfeld, and her composer mentor, Eve Beglarian.

Witness the debut of groundbreaking work by an emerging composer. Our First Commission program supports the next generation of artists, nurturing innovation and growth. This year’s recipient and mentor will be revealed soon.

Live Performances

Experience the vibrant diversity of contemporary music with works by Daniel Blake, Geo Suquillo, Kirsten Childs, and Jennifer Curtis.

Wednesday, January 29, 2025 - 7:30 pm

2025 Composers Now Festival Opening Event

National Sawdust, 80 N 6th St, Brooklyn, NY 11249

Join us as we launch the 2025 Composers Now Festival with an electrifying evening hosted by Tania León, the visionary Founder and Artistic Director of Composers Now. This event kicks off a month-long celebration spotlighting the voices of living composers across the nation.

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ALl festival Events

2025 Composers Now Festival
New York City

02/01/2025

TJG: Caroline Davis' "Portals"

Caroline Davis’ Portals is an immersive sound and haptic experience, drawing upon the idea of mourning and ancestral communications as textural entities.

The Jazz Gallery
1158 Broadway, New York, NY 10001 - 7:30 pm & 9:30 pm
2025 Composers Now Festival
New York City

02/02/2025

Double Feature: Tasman & Noizepunk With SOUND LIBERATION

Composers Concordance presents a Double Feature with the electro acoustic duo Tasman & Noizepunk and the eclectic ensemble Sound Liberation.

Silvana
300 W 116h St, NYC​
2025 Composers Now Festival
Miami

02/05/2025

New Music Miami ISCM Festval alumni composers concert

The music of FIU Alumni Composers takes center stage performed by the members of the NODUS Ensemble.

Jewish Museum of Florida - FIU
301 Washington Avenue Miami Beach, FL - 7:30 pm
2025 Composers Now Festival
New York City

02/05/2025

TJG: Jerome Sabbagh Quartet

Saxophonist and composer Jerome Sabbagh was born in Paris in 1973 and has been living in Brooklyn since 1995. A prolific forward-thinking composer, as well as a musician with a deep connection to the well of the jazz tradition, he has recorded eleven albums as a leader, and was one of Paul Motian's last saxophone players.

The Jazz Gallery
1158 Broadway, New York, NY 10001 - 7:30 pm & 9:30 pm
2025 Composers Now Festival
New York City

02/08/2025

Composers Concordance: Pizza Pizzicato

On Saturday, February 8th, 2025, at 7 PM, Composers Concordance presents Pizza Pizzicato at St. John's in the Village. The event will feature the virtuosic saxophonist Todd Rewoldt alongside the CompCord String Quartet, performing newly written compositions for this unique sonic combination.

St. John's in the Village
218 W 11th St, NYC, 10014
2025 Composers Now Festival
New York City

02/08/2025

The City Reliquary Museum: Falling in Time

Join us to celebrate NYC nostalgia and music composer Concetta Abbate's 10 year anniversary of her debut album FALLING IN TIME (Waterbug Records © 2015).

The City Reliquary Museum
370 Metropolitan Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11211- 7:30 pm
2025 Composers Now Festival
Los Angeles

02/08/2025

Bridge to Everywhere Presents: Seasonal Rituals

Welcome to Seasons Rituals, featuring soloists from Bridge to Everywhere, plus a new composition by Kian Ravaei performed by Rachel Iba (violin) and Kate Myers (dancer) with choreography by Annie Kahane.

Mount Saint Mary's University Los Angeles (Chalon Campus Plaza)
12001 Chalon Road Los Angeles, CA 90049 - 4:00 pm
2025 Composers Now Festival
New York City

02/09/2025

THCP: Black History Month Concert at Brooklyn Public Library

Members of The Harlem Chamber Players -- violinists Ashley Horne and Claire Chan, violist William Frampton, and cellist Wayne Smith -- will perform a concert of works by past and living Black composers as well as a European classic.

Brooklyn Public Library - Central Library
10 Grand Army PlazaBrooklyn, NY, 11238 - 4 pm
2025 Composers Now Festival
New York City

02/11/2025

The New York Philharmonic: Lunar New Year Gala

To celebrate the Lunar New Year 2025, the New York Philharmonic will be led by the Chinese-born woman conductor Tianyi Lu, featuring the Korean violinist Inmo Yang, in a program featuring compositions, among others, the Chinese-American woman composer Chen Yi's violin concerto Chinese Folk Dance Suite, and the Korean woman composer Unsuk Chin's Prologue from A Mad Tea-Party, from her opera Alice in Wonderland.

Wu Tsai Theater, David Geffen Hall
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, New York - 7 pm
2025 Composers Now Festival
New York City

02/12/2025

TJG: Tivon Pennicott Quartet

Learn for life. Our group truly believes in this idea that we're all lifelong students of the music and have an extreme desire for growth. Come hear the new year's version of how we've been evolving and growing with our sound.

The Jazz Gallery
1158 Broadway, New York, NY 10001 - 7:30 pm & 9:30 pm
2025 Composers Now Festival
New York City

02/13/2025

TJG: Roy Hargrove Big Band Monthly Residency

Originally started in the rehearsal space that would later become The Jazz Gallery, the Roy Hargrove Big Band had its inaugural performance at the Greenwich Village Jazz Festival in 1995. Since then, the band has toured domestically and internationally and has played everywhere from the Blue Note Tokyo to the Hollywood Bowl.

The Jazz Gallery
1158 Broadway, New York, NY 10001 - 7:30 pm & 9:30 pm
2025 Composers Now Festival
New York City

02/13/2025

THCP: 17th Annual Black History Month Celebration

The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture presents The Harlem Chamber Players’ 17th Annual Black History Month Celebration. The featured guest artist are cellist-composer Akua Dixon and soprano Candice Hoyes. This concert will include the New York premiere of the jazz cellist-composer Akua Dixon's We The People, the last movement of which will be a world premiere, thanks to a generous grant from the Cheswatyr Foundation.

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture
515 Malcolm X BoulevardNew York, NY, 10037 - 6:30 pm
2025 Composers Now Festival
New York City

02/14/2025

TJG: Sachal Vasandani

Sachal Vasandani is recognized for his singular voice, with a tone and unique phrasing that mark him as one of the most compelling artists on the scene today.

The Jazz Gallery
1158 Broadway, New York, NY 10001 - 7:30 pm & 9:30 pm
2025 Composers Now Festival
New York City

02/14 & 02/15/2025

New Chamber Ballet: VOX

New Chamber Ballet presents the world premiere of Vox, choreographed by Miro Magloire to music by Elizabeth Gartman, along with The Density of Bones, to music by Ya-Lan Chan.

Two Ballets by Miro Magloire to music by Elizabeth Gartman and Ya-Lan Chan
Mark Morris Dance Center, 3 Lafayette Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11217
2025 Composers Now Festival
New York City

02/15/2025

Composers Concordance: Octogenarians

Composers Concordance presents Octogenarians at Gallery MC in Hells Kitchen.

Gallery MC
549 W 52nd St, NYC - 7 pm
2025 Composers Now Festival
Los Angeles

02/15 - 8 pm / 02/16 - 2 pm

New Performance Traditions: Both Eyes Open

New Performance Traditions is proud to present a gripping new production of Both Eyes Open, an experimental electroacoustic opera by Brooklyn-based composer Max Giteck Duykers and Berkeley- based librettist and playwright Philip Kan Gotanda.

Zellerbach Playhouse
2413 Bancroft Way, Berkeley, CA
2025 Composers Now Festival
New York City

02/19/2025

Beyond Duo-Robert Dick & Cheryl Pyle

Beyond Duo - Robert Dick & Cheryl Pyle,  Explorations and Improvisations for two flutes.

Jazz at Jefferson Market Library
Jefferson Market Library, 425 6th Ave at 9th Street NY, NY 10011
2025 Composers Now Festival
New York City

02/20/2025

Composers Concordance: The Painters

Composers Concordance presents 'The Painters at Westbeth.

Westbeth
55 Bethune St, NYC - 7 pm
2025 Composers Now Festival
Miami

02/20/2025

North Beach Social: Gilmar Gomes

A Brazilian-inspired festa, to bring Miami Beach into Carnival season. Gilmar Gomes, the Brazilian percussionist and multi-instrumentalist best known for his decades-long work with Enrique Iglesias, will be joined by special guests for an evening of electic jazz-world music vibes.

Miami Beach Bandshell
7275 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach FL. 33141 - 7 pm
2025 Composers Now Festival
New York City

02/22/2025

KeyedUp Music Project: Fantasy Worlds

Pianists Marc Peloquin and Roberto Hidalgo present a concert of works for solo piano and piano four-hands.

The program will include David Del Tredici’s “Ode to Music”, Philip Wharton’s “Water-Lore”, selections from Francis Poulenc’s “Nocturnes” as well as the complete Maurice Ravel ballet “Ma mère l’Oye” for piano four-hands, including Marc Peloquin’s arrangements of the five interludes.

Tenri Cultural Center
43A West 13Th St, New York, NY 10011
2025 Composers Now Festival
New York City

02/23/2025

Composers Concordance: PRISM

Composers Concordance presents 'Prism,' a concert event inspired by Tango music and more.

Steel Wig Music
939 8th Ave (56th St) Suite 502, NYC - 7 pm
2025 Composers Now Festival
New York City

02/23/2025

Da Capo Chamber Players: Elements

Elements​: Composers thinking about nature​​

Greenwich House
46 Barrow St, NYC - 8 pm
2025 Composers Now Festival
New York City

02/26/2025

L'Embarqement pour Cythère

Douglas Dunn + Dancers will present the world premiere of L'Embarqement pour Cythère, an evening-length work for 12 dancers.

Judson Memorial Church
55 Washington Square South, New York, NY 10012 - 8 pm
2025 Composers Now Festival
New York City

02/27 - 02/28/2025

Paracademia: Secret City - Live

Secret City is turning five! For the first time in over two years—and under its new, enchanting administration—we open the gates to a world where dreams whisper and magic dances.

The portal opens in Harlem, but its exact location will be revealed only when the time is right. Mark February 27, 28, and March 1 on your calendar and keep your heart attuned to the signs. Stay close, stay curious, and be ready to claim your key to the magic.

Secret Location in Harlem
2025 Composers Now Festival
New York City

02/28/2025

TJG: Mary Halvorson: Canis Major

Guitarist, composer and MacArthur fellow Mary Halvorson has been described as “a singular talent” (Lloyd Sachs, JazzTimes), ”NYC’s least-predictable improviser” (Howard Mandel, City Arts), “one of the most original jazz guitarists of our time” (Peter Margasak, Bandcamp Daily), and “one of today’s most formidable bandleaders” (Francis Davis, Village Voice).

The Jazz Gallery
1158 Broadway, New York, NY 10001 - 7:30 pm & 9:30 pm

RELATED NEWS

2025 First Commission Award Presented to Sophia Kunxu Dou
November 19, 2024

2025 First Commission Award Presented to Sophia Kunxu Dou

The 2025 First Commission Award - Sophia Kunxu Dou and her mentor, Eve Beglarian.

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