The four-day New Music and Art Festival hosted by the College of Musical Arts will continue through Saturday Oct. 22, and is featuring performances by students, faculty, musical guests and the opening of a month-long art exhibition. 

For the past 37 years, the University has annually hosted the festival, which introduces students to new music in their fields and serves as a showcase for the University’s music program. 

“We do it as a public service to the community and the University,” Director of the New Music Festival Kurt Doles said. 

All of the concerts and events are free and open admission to all, except for the final performance which will be held on Saturday at 8 p.m. in Kobacker Hall. This concert will feature the University’s orchestra and wind ensemble. 

This year’s featured guests are composer Dai Fujikura and ensemble Spektral Quartet. Fujikura is an accomplished Japanese composer who lives in Europe. At age 39, he is the youngest composer ever to be featured at the festival. 

“Generally speaking, for the first 36 years of the festival, we’ve featured largely American composers,” Doles said. “He’s sort of the first really accomplished European slash Japanese composer that we’ve been able to have, and I’m very happy we were able to get him to come out.”

Faculty and students have prepared about ten of Fujikura’s pieces to perform during the festival, and Spektral Quartet will also perform one of his pieces. 

Fujikura will give a presentation about his work, which is open to all, on Thursday Oct. 20 at 1 p.m. in the Bryan Recital Hall. 

Spektral Quartet’s main event will be its Friday night concert at 8 p.m. in Kobacker Hall. 

They’re an “…up and coming really, really exceptionally talented group that I think is going to be one of the major American string quartets in the next few years,” Doles said. 

Music students can benefit in various ways by taking part in and attending the festival’s events. Students have the unique opportunity to interact with the featured composer, guest ensemble and alumni who return to the University for the festival. 

“It’s very fruitful to us because it gives us hope as emerging composers and artists that we also can make it into the profession because they themselves had to be innovated to make it to the top,” third year masters student Mikhail Johnson said. 

Music awards are also presented to students at the festival who have created musical works of their own. Emily Custer, who graduated in May with a masters in composition, won an award at last year’s festival for her orchestra piece she composed. As a prize, her piece will be performed at Saturday’s concert. 

“I’m very honored and thankful for the chance to have it performed,” Custer said. 

Before coming to the University in 2014, Custer didn’t have much exposer to new music. For her, the festivals served to introduce, stimulate and inspire her as she pursued her degree. 

Second year masters in composition student Adam O’Dell has also benefitted from the festivals. 

“Last year’s New Music Festival is my first time meeting so many people who are on the cutting edge of writing and creating new music,” O’Dell said. 

O’Dell met one of his compositional heroes, Jennifer Higdon, last year when she was the featured composer at the festival. When the opportunity to talk to her arose, O’Dell was too nervous to spark up conversation with his hero, but Higdon approached him and started conversing. 

“Everybody, no matter how successful they are, they all put their pants on one leg at a time, they’re all humans, they all have to go through the same process, the same rigors, the same challenges that we do, so it’s a really great thing to help us bridge the gap into the world of professional composition,” O’Dell said.

At this week’s festival, O’Dell hopes to make more connections and find new things that are happening in the sphere of new music.  

The festival is a line item in the dean’s budget in the college of musical arts.

“We accomplish a great deal with a somewhat limited budget,” Doles said. “It’s a year-round job, to have to coordinate all the people…it’s not one job, it’s about 3,000 little but very crucial jobs.” 

Some of the main tasks Doles completes are coordinating guests, PR work, ensuring parking is in order and printing programs for the concerts. 

“…I just appreciate all that goes into these festivals,” Custer said.  

For an up-to-date calendar of all the festival’s concerts and events, visit the College of Musical Arts’ website. Nearly all of the events are free and open to the public. 

“(The festival) really helps us to prepare for the world that’s ahead of us,” Johnson said. “I’m just hoping that it will go for another 37 years.”