Mission:

The Madison New Music Festival enriches the Madison community and cultural scene by supporting the creation and performance of contemporary music in Wisconsin with accessible performances, boundary pushing programming and collaborations.

Vision:

The festival aims to be much more than just another contemporary classical music festival. It works towards the diversification and decolonization of arts and culture, encouraging engagement with local issues, and fostering collaboration between communities.

About

For the past six years, Madison New Music Festival has filled a void in the local music community with its contemporary programming and focus on local talent.

While many performing arts organizations remain devoted to the "canon", (Beethoven, Bach, Brahms; and in the contemporary realm the three Johns; Adams, Williams, and Corigliano) Madison New Music Festival builds a better future for our field by supporting the diverse artists in our community at large, and through a commitment to equitable programming.

What does that look like for us? Well, our Wisconsin Composers Project is a good example of this in action. Launched in 2020, the project is both a community resource and an annual series.

At the end of our 2021 season, we will have in total profiled 10 different Wisconsin composers with interviews, performances of their work in both live and virtual settings, hosted a zoom Q&A with the composers and our audiences, and expanded our community database.

These composers are diverse in their ages, genders, styles, traditions, and ethnicity. While Madison, Wisconsin has serious problems with racial disparities in music, the arts, and well, everything else, Madison New Music Festival presents communities of color thriving in contemporary music.

From Co-Director Kristina
As a woman of color who grew up in Madison, I've seen first hand how much this community needs arts programming that prioritizes us, and showcases our excellence. With this festival, I hope to present the musical world I wish I grew up with. While it has always existed, it has often been hidden from view. 

From Co-Director Caitlin
I think that music allows us all to understand and feel more deeply. I've learned so much about my neighbors' perspectives and experiences through their music. How powerful is that? It is for this reason that I believe that classical music must nurture local arts and artists beyond the typical canon, as we do in our programming, in order to grow and thrive.

Why We Need You

We're raising money to support the production of the virtual season, which will include high quality video recordings, a virtual concert event streamed on YouTube, interviews with featured composers, and a zoom Q&A. We were thrilled to be able to bring our community together in a free live event this past July (pictured), and while accessibility was prioritized for this event as community gatherings have proven challenging with the pandemic, the lost revenue from ticket sales from the past two seasons have hurt us financially. If you have come across our free content, either live or in person, please consider supporting the festival with a small donation.

Our fundraising campaign on this platform will run from Aug 16th - 23rd. The Wisconsin Composers Project virtual concert will be edited and released in September.

We're so grateful for all of the support in our community and beyond for this work!