Founded in 1977, the American Composers Orchestra (ACO) identifies, develops, and amplifies creative artists whose work expands the definition of American orchestral music. Now in its 45th season, ACO has performed music by 800 American composers, including more than 350 world premieres and newly commissioned works. ASCAP calls it “the orchestra that has done the most for new American music in the United States.” Through EarShot—the first ongoing, systematic program for developing relationships between composers and orchestras on the national level—ACO serves as a creative incubator for American orchestral music. EarShot includes orchestral readings, CoLABoratory fellowships, consortium commissions, and professional development. To showcase this work, ACO presents concerts at Carnegie Hall, Apollo Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center, and The DiMenna Center while also creating publicly available audio and video recordings of each new work the orchestra has read, commissioned, or performed. Through Sonic Spark educational programs in NYC public schools, ACO has positioned music composition and improvisation as a gateway to creative thinking and problem solving for more than 30 years.

Praised for her dynamic, passionate conducting style, Taiwanese American conductor Mei-Ann Chen is acclaimed for infusing orchestras with energy, enthusiasm, and high-level music making, galvanizing audiences and communities alike. Music director of the MacArthur Award–winning Chicago Sinfonietta since 2011, Ms. Chen has been named chief conductor of Austria’s Recreation Grosses Orchester Graz at Styriarte beginning last fall after two seasons as the orchestra’s first-ever principal guest conductor, making her the first female Asian conductor to hold this position with an Austrian orchestra. Since September 2019, she has served as the first-ever artistic partner of Houston’s ROCO (River Oaks Chamber Orchestra). Ms. Chen also has served as artistic director and conductor of the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra Summer Festival since 2016. Highly regarded as a compelling communicator and an innovative leader both on and off the podium, and a sought-after guest conductor, she has appeared with distinguished orchestras across the Americas, Europe, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and Scandinavia, and continues to expand her relationships with orchestras worldwide (more than 110 orchestras to date). Honors include being named one of the 2015 “Top 30 Influencers” by Musical America, the 2012 Helen M. Thompson Award from the League of American Orchestras, winner of the 2007 Taki Concordia Conducting Fellowship founded by Marin Alsop, winner of the 2005 Malko Competition, and ASCAP Awards for innovative programming.

Jeffrey Zeigler is one of the most innovative and versatile cellists of our time. He has been described as “fiery” and a player who performs “with unforced simplicity and beauty of tone” (The New York Times). Acclaimed for his independent streak, Mr. Zeigler has commissioned dozens of works, and is admired as a potent collaborator and unique improviser. As a member of Kronos Quartet, he is the recipient of the Avery Fisher Prize, Polar Music Prize, President’s Merit Award from the National Academy of Recorded Arts, Chamber Music America National Service Award, and Asia Society’s Cultural Achievement Award. This fall, Mr. Zeigler will release his next album, Houses of Zodiac: Poems for Cello with music by Paola Prestini. It will be a multimedia experience that combines spoken word, movement, music, and imagery into a unified exploration of love, loss, trauma, and healing. The project takes its title from the 12 houses of the zodiac as facets of the self, and draws inspiration from explorations of the subconscious, including Anaïs Nin’s House of Incest and the poetry of Pablo Neruda, Brenda Shaughnessy, and Natasha Trethewey. Filmed by Murat Eyüboglu at MASS MoCA and Studio Polygons in Tokyo, the digital experience will feature the performances and original choreography of New York City Ballet soloist Georgina Pazcoguin and Butoh dancer Dai Matsuoka, a member of the acclaimed Butoh troupe Sankai Juku.

The Grammy Award–winning Attacca Quartet, as described by The Nation, “lives in the present aesthetically, without rejecting the virtues of the musical past.” It is this dexterity to glide from music of the 18th century through the 21st that places Attacca as one of the most versatile and outstanding ensembles of the moment—a quartet for modern times. Passionate advocates of contemporary repertoire, Attacca is dedicated to presenting and recording new works. Touring extensively in the United States, recent highlights include Lincoln Center’s White Light Festival and Miller Theatre with Caroline Shaw, The Phillips Collection, Chamber Music Detroit, Red Bank Chamber Music Society, Austin Chamber Music, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, Banff Centre International String Quartet Festival, and other upcoming engagements at Dumbarton Oaks and Ojai Music Festival. Attacca Quartet has also served as quartet-in-residence at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, ensemble-in-residence at the School of Music at Texas State University, and Juilliard’s Graduate Resident String Quartet. Outside of the US, recent performances include the quartet’s debut in London at Kings Place and in Oslo at the Vertavo Haydn Festival as well as performances at Gothenburg Concert Hall, MITO September Music Festival in Italy, and Sociedad Filarmónica de Bilbao. Additional tour stops include Strijkkwartet Biennale Amsterdam, Prague’s Strings of Autumn festival, Thüringer Bachwochen, Sala São Paulo in Brazil, Fundación Beethoven in Chile, National Theatre of Panama, and Teatro Mayor in Colombia. The Attacca Quartet has engaged in extensive educational and community outreach projects, serving as guest artists and teaching fellows at the Lincoln Center Institute, Boston University Tanglewood Institute, and Bravo! Vail, among others. 

Described as “exhilarating” (The New York Times) and “utterly mesmerizing” (The Guardian), the Grammy-nominated Sandbox Percussion brings out the best in composers through its unwavering dedication to artistry in contemporary chamber music. Brought together by a love of chamber music and the simple joy of playing together, the members of Sandbox Percussion captivate audiences with performances that are both visually and aurally stunning. Sandbox Percussion’s 2021 album Seven Pillars was nominated for two Grammy Awards—Best Chamber Music / Small Ensemble Performance and Best Contemporary Classical Composition. The ensemble will perform Seven Pillars more than 15 times throughout the 2022–2023 season, with sold-out stops across the United States and Europe. In October, Sandbox Percussion performed the work live with the LA Dance Project and choreographer Benjamin Millepied at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. In addition to maintaining an international performance schedule, Sandbox Percussion holds the position of ensemble-in-residence and percussion faculty at the University of Missouri–Kansas City and The New School’s College of Performing Arts, where the members have created a curriculum with entrepreneurship and chamber music at its core. In 2016, Sandbox Percussion founded the annual NYU Sandbox Percussion Seminar, a weeklong seminar that invites percussion students from around the globe to rehearse and perform today’s leading percussion chamber repertoire. Sandbox Percussion endorses Pearl/Adams musical instruments, Zildjian cymbals, Vic Firth sticks and mallets, Remo drumheads, and Black Swamp accessories.