From September 6 to 8, the UMass Amherst Department of Music and Dance will once again play host to the Five College New Music Festival. This year’s event, titled “In A New Light,” will feature five programs of new and recent compositions by nineteen composers representing a range of contemporary music being created in our region, the U.S., and around the world. All five festival concerts will take place in Bezanson Recital Hall in the UMass Bromery Center for the Arts, and are free and open to the public.

The festival weekend will include nearly 40 performers and composers, primarily current and former Five College faculty but also current students and community musicians, performing works by Five College faculty composers and contemporary composers. The event will feature numerous world-premieres, including Antonio Sanz Escallón’s “Metropolitan Theatrics,” the winning piece from the festival’s composition competition.

2024 Festival schedule