Presented in New York, Iceland, and Denmark in alternating seasons, and home to members of the Emerson String Quartet, New Music for Strings is one of the most exciting new classical music festivals in recent years.
New Music For Strings (NMfS) is thrilled to announce the launch of its seventh annual season in August 2023. Hosted by the Royal Academy of Music Aarhus (RAMA), NMfS brings together performers and composers of contemporary classical music from across the Atlantic. The musicians work intensively during the festivals alongside acclaimed experts in their respective fields in order to spread awareness of diverse music in our local communities.
The mission of New Music for Strings is to foster an interdisciplinary space between the fields of string instrument performance and composition. Composers and performers will interact and inspire one another while working on the different aspects of creating and interpreting compositions for string instruments.
NMfS showcases a roster of world-class musicians alongside accomplished student participants, ranging from members of the Emerson String Quartet and faculty from Stony Brook University and Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus, among other institutions, to graduate students from top conservatories and universities in the U.S. and Europe.
Artistic Director and violinist Anne Sophie Andersen, cello faculty member Henrik Brendstrup and members of The Parhelion Trio perform Gérard Grisey's Talea at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall —NMFS 2017
As a bridge between America and Scandinavian classical music cultures, NMfS aims to highlight both American and Scandinavian musical traditions of performing and composing. In doing so, NMfS promotes a large number of works by living American and Scandinavian composers, including local graduate student and faculty composers. This intercultural element creates a juxtaposition of styles, leading to increased awareness and perspective on our respective traditions.
Led by Artistic Director Anne Sophie Andersen, faculty and resident artists in 2023 include Taïga String Quartet, Eco ArtLab, and composers Natasha Barrett, Nirmali Fenn, and Eivind Buene.
New Music for Strings takes place in Aarhus (Denmark), Stony Brook (NY), and Reykjavík (Iceland) in alternating years, hosted by The Royal Academy of Music Aarhus, Stony Brook University, and Iceland Academy of the Arts. The inaugural NMfS festival took place in Aarhus, Denmark August 2016.