The Composer's Voice Concert Series is a concert series in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

which presents contemporary

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

. The series is produced by

Vox Novus Vox Novus is a New York City-based organization consisting of composers, musicians, and music enthusiasts which presents and supports new music. Vox Novus was founded by Robert Voisey to promote contemporary composers in 2000. This organization w ...

and was founded in 2001 by the composer Robert Voisey. Currently directed by Voisey, Composer's Voice holds concerts at The Firehouse Space on the third Thursday of every month. John de Clef Pineiro, in ''New Music Connoisseur'', wrote, " ox Novus offersthe presentation of serious works by established and emerging composers. Those voices should be heard, and they can even be reheard on the Vox Novus website that generously offers complete audio recordings and even full scores of works presented by Vox Novus at its concerts." Called "One of the premier showcases for promising composers" by ''Time Out New York'', Composer's Voice is a venue for composers to have their work heard and to collaborate with other composers, musicians and artists. In the article "Composer's Voice is fresh!", Brant Lyon describes a performance at Composer's Voice by the composer and performer

Gelsey Bell Gelsey Bell is an American singer, songwriter, and actress, best known for her experimental music, as well as her portrayal of Princess Mary in the 2016 Broadway musical '' Natasha, Pierre, & the Great Comet of 1812'' and her performance in the ...

"...like putting one's ear to the ground to hear what's coming in the distance or snuggling the side of your head against a pregnant woman's belly —except in reverse — for the dissipation, not anticipation. The sounds of her voice resonating with the piano's had the opposite effect in me: to inspire movement forward. I was hearing something new." The Composer's Voice Concert Series has featured the works of hundreds of composers. Notable composers featured include:

Annea Lockwood Annea Lockwood (born July 29, 1939, in Christchurch, New Zealand) is a New Zealand-born American composer and academic musician. She taught electronic music at Vassar College. Her range is vast and often includes microtonal, electro-acoustic soun ...

Augusta Read Thomas Augusta Read Thomas (born April 24, 1964) is an American composer and University Professor of Composition in the Department of Music at the University of Chicago, where she is also director of the Chicago Center for Contemporary Composition. B ...

Liana Alexandra Liana Alexandra Septefrati (born Liana Moraru; 27 May 1947 – 10 January 2011) was a Romanian composer, pianist, and music educator. Biography Alexandra was born in Bucharest, Romania, on 27 May 1947. From 1965 to 1971, she studied at th ...

, Dennis Bathory-Kitsz,

Eve Beglarian Eve Beglarian (born Ann Arbor, Michigan, U.S., July 22, 1958) is a contemporary American composer, performer and audio producer of Armenian descent. Her music is often characterized as postminimalist.Woodard, Josef"A Bird’s Eye, a Wonderer’s E ...

, George Brunner,

Noah Creshevsky Noah Creshevsky (January 31, 1945 – December 3, 2020) was a composer and electronic musician born in Rochester, New York. He used the term hyperrealism to describe his work. Biography Noah Creshevsky was born Gary Cohen in Rochester, New York, ...

Emma Lou Diemer Emma Lou Diemer (November 24, 1927 – June 2, 2024) was an American composer. Biography Diemer was born in Kansas City, Missouri, on November 24, 1927. She wrote many works for orchestra, chamber ensemble, keyboard, voice, chorus, and electron ...

Moritz Eggert Moritz Eggert (born 25 November 1965 in Heidelberg) is a German composer and pianist. Life Moritz Eggert began his studies in piano and composition in 1975 at Hoch Conservatory, Dr. Hoch's Konservatorium in Frankfurt (with Wolfgang Wagenhaeu ...

Daniel Goode Daniel Goode (born January 24, 1936) is an American composer and clarinetist. Daniel Goode was born in New York City. After graduating in 1957 from Oberlin College, he studied composition at Columbia University with Henry Cowell and Otto Luening ...

, Peri Mauer, Mike McFerron, Christian McLeer, David Morneau,

Marco Oppedisano Marco Oppedisano (born November 20, 1971, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American guitarist and composer whose compositions focus on the innovative use of electric guitar in the genre of electroacoustic music. His musique concrète/acousmatic music ...

Faye-Ellen Silverman Faye-Ellen Silverman (born October 2, 1947) is an American composer of contemporary classical music. She is also an author and an educator. Life and education Born in New York, New York, Silverman began studying music at the Dalcroze eurhythmic ...

, Allen Strange, Robert Voisey, and

Rodney Waschka II Rodney Waschka II is an American composer known for his algorithmic compositions and his theatrical works. Biography Waschka studied at Brooklyn College, at the Institute of Sonology, then newly part of the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, and ...

. The series highlights performers who champion the work of living composers. Notable performers include Robert Dick, Shiau-uen Ding, Oren Fader, Beth Griffith, Monica Harte,

Craig Hultgren Craig Hultgren is an American cellist and improvisor. Hultgren graduated from the University of Iowa and at Indiana University. He has taught at Birmingham-Southern College, the University of Alabama Birmingham and the Alabama School of Fine ...

, Eva Ingolf, Face the Music, Conway Kuo, Margaret Lancaster, Agueda Pages, Patrica Strange,

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

Woodwind Quintet, and Sophia Yan. Composer's Voice holds several annual concert celebrating themes. Composer's Voice 5th Annual Guitar Concert featured the guitarists Alturas Duo, Dan Cooper, Oren Fader and

William Anderson William Anderson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * William Anderson (artist) (1757–1837), painter of marine and historical paintings * William Anderson (theatre) (1868–1940), Australian stage entrepreneur * William Anderson (1911–1986 ...

playing the

tiple A tiple (, literally treble or soprano), is a particular type of guitar, typically with 10 or 12 strings but sometimes fewer, and is built in several distinct regional styles. A tiple player is called a ''tiplista''. The first written mention of ...

. Composer's Voice also has an annual Japanese themed concert, an all-women concert celebrated in March for

Women's History Month Women's History Month is an annual observance to highlight the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society. Celebrated during March in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, corresponding with Internationa ...

, and an annual children's concert usually held in the fall. In 2014, Composer's Voice presented the themed concert "Exploring New Timbres" at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

which featured the guitarist Kenji Haba and the cellist Susan Davita Mandell of the ensemble Duo Anova, and Sandy Hughes, Conway Kuo, and Satoshi Okamoto of the Bateria Trio. Composer's Voice also featured pianist Mathew McCright in 2019 at Weil Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall presenting the works of living composers: Kirsten Broberg, Kyong Mee Choi, Christopher Coleman, Sean Friar,

Dorothy Hindman Dorothy Hindman (born March 13, 1966) is an American composer and music educator. Early life and studies Born in Miami, Florida on March 13, 1966, Hindman had intense early exposure to classical music from her mother, Dorothy Hindman Lyon, a gi ...

, Mike McFerron,

Ingrid Stölzel Ingrid Stölzel (; born 14 January 1971) is a German composer of contemporary classical music who has lived and worked in the United States since 1991. Biography Ingrid Stölzel was born in Karlsruhe, Germany in 1971. She holds degrees in music ...

, and Robert Voisey Composer's Voice featured the Chatterton-McCright Duo at the Mary Cary Flagler Hall in the DiMenna Center in 2021. In 2021 Composer's Voice transitioned from a chamber concert series into the Television medium. Composer's Voice became a 30 minute TV show airing on

cable access Public-access television (sometimes called community-access television) is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is narrowcast through cable television special ...

TV in Manhattan on the

Manhattan Neighborhood Network Manhattan Neighborhood Network (MNN) is an American non-profit organization that broadcasts programming on five public-access television cable TV stations in Manhattan, New York City. MNN operates two community media centres – in midtown Manhat ...

. The show has featured many musicians including Argus Quartet, Joseph Bohigian, Monica Chew, Deux Saisons, Robert Dick, Linda Chatterton, Mary Hubbell,

, Joe LaRocca,

Thomas Piercy Thomas Piercy is an American clarinetist, and hichiriki player based in New York City, USA and Tokyo, Japan. Although he studied in the United States, his playing style is heavily influenced by the English school of clarinet playing by his exten ...

, Matthew McCright, Mary Beth Orr, Jakub Polaczyk, Keri Lee Pierson, Charlie Rauh, Alyssa Reit, Belinda Reynolds, Christopher Schoelen, Talla Rouge, Stas Venglevski, Andrew White. "Composer's Voice, spotlights composers and performers, and a recent interview with guitarist and composer Charlie Rauh caught my attention." - Eunmi Ko Vox Novus has collaborated with several new music organizations to further its mission. The Composer's Voice Concert Series has been one of the company's vehicles for collaboration, including events with the Birmingham Art Music Alliance in 2003 and composer and the dance group Vision of Sound in 2012.

History

*In 2001, the Composer's Voice Concert Series was founded by Robert Voisey as the first concert series produced by

. *On May 10, 2001, Composer's Voice held its first performance at Elebash Recital Hall in the

CUNY Graduate Center The Graduate School and University Center of the City University of New York (CUNY Graduate Center) is a public research institution and postgraduate university in New York City. Formed in 1961 as Division of Graduate Studies at City University ...

. Later that year, the series had its first collaboration concert with La Scala De San Telmo in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

, and at Advent Lutheran Church in New York. *In 2002, Vox Novus partnered with the Living Music Foundation which became a collaborator and fiscal conduit for the Composer's Voice Concert Series. *In 2003, the Composer's Voice Concert Series collaborated with the Birmingham Art Music Alliance to present a concert in both New York City and

Birmingham, Alabama Birmingham ( ) is a city in the north central region of Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Jefferson County, Alabama, Jefferson County. The population was 200,733 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List ...

. *In 2006, there was no series. *In 2007, Robert Voisey met Monica Harte and Christian McLeer and together they revived the Composer's Voice Concert Series as co-directors in a joint production of the series with Vox Novus, Remarkable Theater Brigade and

Jan Hus Presbyterian Church Avenue Church NYC, formerly known as Jan Hus Presbyterian Church, is a Christian congregation on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City, associated with the Presbyterian Church USA. It is the oldest historically Czech Republic, Czech ...

. *In 2009, composer Douglas DaSilva joined the series as

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogu ...

. *In 2011, the Composer's Voice Concert Series started a new project of works called "Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame" promoting one-minute miniatures written from composers living around the world. *In 2015, two Composer's Voice concerts with Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame took place at

Symphony Space Symphony Space, founded by Isaiah Sheffer and Allan Miller, is a multi-disciplinary performing arts organization at 2537 Broadway on the Upper West Side of Manhattan in New York City. Performances take place in the 760-seat Peter Jay Sharp Theat ...

in New York City to celebrate 15 years of

producing and presenting new music. *In 2016, Composer's Voice moved to The Firehouse Space in Brooklyn with concerts on the third Thursday of every month.{{Cite web , url=http://thefirehousespace.org/event/robert-voisey-and-vox-novus/ , title=Composer's Voice | the Firehouse Space * The summer of 2020 marked the place where Composer's Voice resumed production as and online performance * April 2021 Composer's Voice transitioned into the Television medium and became a 30 minute TV show airing on

TV in Manhattan on the

Articles and reviews

''Music and Healing''
by Eunmi Ko - Eunmak Journal, Volume 426 June 2025 * David Mecionis
"Composer's Voice Concert Series May 19, 2016 at Brooklyn's Firehouse Space"
''Sound Word Sight'', May 30, 2016
"Stony Brook Composers Concert in Brooklyn, April 21"
''SBU Happenings'', April 18, 2016
"Joseph Bohigian curates Composer's Voice Concert"
''The Armenian Mirror'', March 24, 2016 * Seth Gilman, "Composer's Voice in miniatures", ''Examiner'', February 23, 2013 * Erin Bomboy

''Dance Musings'', August 28, 2012 * Alan Hoskins
"KCKCC takes electroacoustic music to NYC"
''

Kansas City Kansan The ''Kansas City Kansan'' is an online newspaper that serves Kansas City and other communities in Wyandotte County, Kansas, United States. History Arthur Capper started the newspaper on January 31, 1921, when Kansas City, Kansas, did not hav ...

'', July 10, 2012 * Brant Lyon
"Composer's Voice is fresh!"
''Great Weather for Media'', March 26, 2012 * Julia Crowe
"Letter from New York"
''Classical Guitar Magazine'', September 2009 * John de Clef Pineiro, "October 20, 2002 Composer's Voice Concert", ''New Music Connoisseur'', March 2003, vol. 11, no. 1 * Michael Huebner, "New York, Birmingham duel by using new compositions"

References

External links

Concerts in the United States