The Next Festival of Emerging Artists: Composer/Choreographer Workshop

The Next Festival is an immersive two-week experience for early-career artists, combining mentorship, performance, and multidisciplinary collaboration.

During the first week of the festival, String Fellows team up with cutting-edge composers to workshop and bring world premieres to life in upstate New York. In addition to regular workshops, lessons, and coachings, string players have the opportunity to engage with local public schools and to curate their own program for a concert embedded in the community.

During the second week, String Fellows take up residence in New York City, where they are joined by Composer and Choreographer Fellows. Between public-facing performances at locations such as Merkin Hall and Gibney Dance Center, Fellows spend the day improvising and crafting pieces that push the boundaries of music and movement. It's all about multidisciplinary collaboration — in a nurturing environment where artists feel fully empowered to take chances, to explore creative collisions and intersections, and to pursue work that aligns fully with their values.

We're committed to equity and access for all our fellows through our "pay-what-you-can policy – enabling every artist to attend at a price they can afford.

The Festival has featured guest artists Tony Arnold, Ashley Bathgate, Miranda Cuckson, Matt Haimovitz, Jennifer Koh, Nadia Sirota, Richard Thompson, Seth Parker Woods, Pamela Z, Jeffrey Zeigler, and the string quartet ETHEL, and the participation of composers including Aaron Jay Kernis, Derek Bermel, Lisa Bielawa, Liisa Hirsch, Pierre Jalbert, Phil Kline, Jessica Meyer, and Aleksandra Vrebalov, and choreographers Christopher D’Amboise, Sidra Bell, and S Ama Wray.

The Next Festival of Emerging Artists and Next Fest Connects are projects of Next Edge Arts, Inc., a not-for-profit organization supported by tax-deductible donations.

https://next-fest.org/