Northwestern University New Music Conference April 24, 2021

One of the leading conferences for new music in the world, the Northwestern University New Music Conference (NUNC!) brings together composers, performing musicians, scholars, and other new music advocates for a day of workshops, panel discussions, and concerts.

“NUNC! has become an important fixture of the national and international new music scene. We are glad that we can present an online conference with exciting performances and new works, as well as talks, during a year that created extreme challenges. The level of enthusiasm I sensed among the participants and our guest composers and performers in the preparation for this event makes me very excited to have our first virtual NUNC! This year’s conference will present many new voices and will show, yet again, how much innovation and new developments are taking place in our field.”

NUNC! is coordinated by the Institute for New Music at Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music. Founded in 2012, the Institute for New Music functions as the nerve center of all Bienen School contemporary music activities. The Institute presents numerous events over the course of the academic year—from residencies of visiting ensembles and composers to workshops, lectures, and master classes.

Several critical assets make Northwestern an ideal site for a major new music initiative. These include a corps of talented performance students interested in new music; a strong composition program; the Michael Ludwig Nemmers Prize in Music Composition, which regularly brings world-renowned composers to campus; the Northwestern Music Library, which contains an unparalleled and internationally renowned archive of printed music composed since 1945; and proximity to Chicago’s vibrant new music scene.