about columbia new music

Columbia New Music, formerly Works and Process, exists for student composers and performers to exhibit their talents and for listeners to enjoy the beauties of contemporary/new music. Columbia New Music supports all forms of new musical creativity, from classical composition to electronic music to noise to popular mediums. Please feel free to contact us for more information.

Founded in 1999 by Barnard College composers Nomi Epstein and Jenny Olivia Johnson, Columbia New Music (formerly Works and Process) set out to create a performance venue for the music written by undergraduate composers of both the Barnard and Columbia campuses. Epstein and Johnson, together with fellow composers Nissim J. Schaul and Jessica Feldman, established a performance series featuring one concert per semester of student works and one concert per year of standard 20th century repertoire. Through initial funding from Fred Lerdahl and the Reiner Fund, Works and Process hired performers from its neighboring conservatories, Manhattan School of Music and The Juilliard School, and upon securing funding from the Columbia University Music Performance Program (under the direction of Deborah Bradley-Kramer), the group began employing musicians primarily from the Columbia University campus.

In addition to its concert series, Works and Process hoped to expand the scope of their mission to include lectures, master classes, instrumental demonstrations, and colloquia given by fellow undergraduate, graduate, and faculty composers. In May of 2000, Jessica Feldman took over as president of Works and Process and continued to work towards creating an ensemble of composers and musicians dedicated to the performance and understanding of new music. In that same tradition, Tristan Perich took over the presidency in the Fall of 2001, and worked towards expanding the group to include new emergent music forms, including electronic music and collaborative works with the other arts. During this period the group oversaw an Inter-Arts Festival and bi-annual Electronic Music Festival, which were dedicated towards the integration of music with the other arts. In addition, Perich began Columbia New Music's tradition of holding regular listening sessions for the education of the community.

From 2004 to 2006, the group began to expand in a more performance- oriented way, and toward greater presence and permanence on campus, under the leadership of David Tam. By establishing a formal board of directors comprising Columbia and Barnard undergraduates, the group began a large-scale collaboration with the Collegium Musicum of Columbia (under the direction of Michel Galante), a project which culminated in two joint concerts at St. Paul's Chapel. A new collaboration was also forged between CNM and WKCR, in which new music from CNM was presented to millions of radio listeners in New York and over the internet. By working with these partners, and by bringing greater financial stability through Columbia's Music Department and Office of Student Development and Activites, CNM became more deeply integrated in the fabric of student life at Columbia.

Also during this period, the group began to see a new mission emerge: to produce professional-quality recordings. Under the guidance of recording engineer Tucker McClure, and with assistance from Deborah Bradley-Kramer of the MPP and Ben Young of WKCR, equipment and resources were pulled together to record CNM concerts and other events.

Today, president Joe Rubinstein and his board of directors continue the mission of providing undergraduate composers with performance and recording opportunities. We hope you'll join our mailing list and stay abreast of these remarkable opportunities!

Subscribe to receive announcements for concerts, listening sessions, and other events! Email columbia.new.music (AT) gmail.com.

Web design by Tristan Perich.