At the University of Northern Iowa, the School of Music is set to showcase the UNI New Music Festival, an immersive celebration of contemporary music brought to life by talented composers and performers.
Starting Feb. 26 through March 1, various concerts and events will highlight the future of music and the creatives innovating it.
“In my mind, we should be playing the music of our time,” said Daniel Swilley, assistant professor of music composition, theory, and technology at UNI. “While classical music gives us great insight into the history and what was going on at that time, it doesn’t tell us anything about ourselves. If you talk to a living, breathing artist, their aesthetics all vary wildly, but their work is a commentary on things happening today, which is far more relatable than the music from hundreds of years ago.”
The UNI music faculty as a whole is incredibly supportive of new music, “When we get into the music of the 20th and 21st centuries, we start to see a divergence and a lot of different practices,” says Swilley. “I think that’s something we like to showcase.”
This year marks the fifth annual New Music Festival, organized by a planning committee consisting of faculty members Daniel Swilley, Hannah Porter-Occeña, Erik Rohde, Maddy Tarantelli, and Will Yager. The festival features various ensembles and composers, as well as guest artists who are highly respected in their fields.
Libby Larsen, a Grammy Award-winning composer, is one of America’s most performed living composers. She has created more than 500 works, ranging from chamber music to massive orchestral pieces. She will be featured throughout the festival with performances by the Northern Iowa Symphony Orchestra, student performers, and faculty ensembles.
“We generally look for people we’d be able to perform a decent amount of their music at the festival,” Swilley said. “If they have music for a lot of different parts of the school, we can engage a lot of the student body.”
Alan Dunbar, a versatile vocal performer, is another featured artist at the festival. He has performed numerous solo recitals and large-scale works with orchestras across the U.S. and Europe. Dunbar will perform one of Larsen’s new compositions with the Northern Iowa Symphony Orchestra.
The guest ensemble performing will be the LGBTQuintet, a Wagner tuba quintet made up of five members, aiming for positive social change and representation for historically underrepresented groups. “I think they’re a great example of the kind of niche music-making we’re trying to showcase,” says Swilley.
In addition to musical guests, the festival will feature its first dedicated student concert. UNI music students will perform in solo and chamber settings, featuring works by composition students, Libby Larsen, and UNI alumni.
“We’re always wanting to include more students,” Swilley said. “And the idea of finding groups that can with the students is really effective. They’re giving students a chance to play with really high-caliber players on sometimes very challenging music. That’s really great insight and experience for them.”
The New Music Festival is free and open to the public, with the hope that students will attend, whether they have a background in music or not. “I think the variety of music ends up turning into a palette cleanser of sorts,” Swilley said. “Because of the variety, you should come with an open mind; one piece might sound very different from the next.”
“There’s a need for diversity, understanding, and experiencing all of these things,” Swilley said.
“I think that’s a great commentary on life in general: Embrace the differences and think about what these composers and performers might be trying to put forward.”
The festival will take place Feb. 26-March 1 and will consist of four concerts, along with presentations and readings by guest artists. Visit https://music.uni.edu/newmusicfestival for specific times and locations.
