For this year's 15th anniversary concert, Composers Now honors Visionary Award winners Rhiannon Giddens and Billy Childs for their extraordinary contributions to American art and features the music of Kavita Shah, Pauchi Sasaki, Ileana Perez Velazquez, Trevor Weston, Jake Blount, and Jessica Shand.

Tickets: https://liveatnationalsawdust.webflow.io/event/2026-composers-now-festival-kick-off-concert

Graduate student composers at Brown University present an evening of electronic and electroacoustic works at the Lindemann Performing Arts Center in its Ambisonic Cube formation.

Vocal ensemble Ekmeles premieres a new original piece for voices and lights, “The Flicker,” as part of a concert of new works by Brown University grad student composers.

Jessica Shand appears with quintet (flute—Shand, viola—Martine Thomas, harp—Charles Overton, bass—Devon Gates, drums—Eliza Salem) for a first workshop performance of “How to Break Almost Anything.” The evening-length performance features original compositions by Jessica Shand alongside an experimental narrative film written by Shand and film director J Wang.

We are currently searching for partner venues in the US & Canada to further develop this work in the 2026-27 season. Please reach out to jessica.shand@gmail.com for more information and to get in touch.