Four new compositions have been commissioned for the 2021 Micro Composition Project, a signature program of Classical Music Indy. The works will premiere at the Indianapolis Propylaeum’s Porch Concert Series on Aug. 13 at 8 p.m. in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Micro Composition Project was created to produce engaging new works that disrupt the traditional classical music listening experience. This concert, which premieres the 2021 Micro Composition Project works, will provide Indianapolis residents with an opportunity to expand preconceived notions of the classical music genre through expert interpretation and performance of these new works.

Indianapolis’ music scene has a diverse ecosystem of musical talent, but contemporary compositions written in the classical style receive minimal attention on concert stages or radio. Indianapolis residents’ devotion to home-grown assets is unparalleled, and Classical Music Indy wants to leverage that local pride to create genre bending works that anyone can enjoy. With the Propylaeum’s Porch Concert Series, this provides an opportunity to engage a supportive community to showcase the strong composer and performance talent in Indianapolis.

The Indianapolis-based group Forward Motion will be the ensemble premiering the 2021 Micro Composition Project composers’ works. The four composers selected for the 2021 Micro Composition Project include Dr. Caroline KyungA Ahn, Xavier Beteta, Matthew Bridgham, and Nicole DeMaio.

Performance Schedule

Dr. Caroline KyungA Ahn

Embracing a wide spectrum of musical styles, Dr. Ahn writes music inspired by the natural world. Her music is described as ‘entirely delicate and lyrical’ yet has a strong power that grabs audience’s attention. Her recent style shows using a more minimalistic approach to music but still greatly focusing on timbre using a lot of repeating and perpetuating motions.

Born in Seoul, Korea, Caroline KyungA Ahn holds degrees from Yonsei University (BM in composition), Eastman School of Music (MM and MA in composition and pedagogy of theory) and Indiana University (DM in composition). Her compositions include orchestral, chamber, and theatrical works that have been widely performed in South Korea, the United States, Europe and South America.

Dr. Ahn currently works as an Assistant Professor and Artist in Residence at Anderson University where she teaches music composition, music theory and piano. She works as a director at the Anderson University Piano and Composition Summer Camp. She also serves as member of the Cultural Inclusion Committee at College Music Society, as a chair for Opus Composition Festival and a chair of the Commissioned Composer program at IMTA. Dr Ahn serves as a president of the non-profit community serving group, Sound of Hope.

Xavier Beteta

Born in Guatemala City, Xavier studied piano at the National Conservatory of Guatemala with Consuelo Medinilla. At age 18, he was awarded the first prize at the Augusto Ardenois National Piano Competition and third-prize at the Rafael Alvarez Ovalle Composition Competition in Guatemala. He continued his piano studies in the United States with Argentinian pianist Sylvia Kersenbaum and with Russian pianist Sergei Polusmiak. He also attended masterclasses with pianists Massimiliano Damerini and Daniel Rivera in Italy. Xavier has performed in different venues in the United States, Europe and Latin America and has been a soloist with the Guatemalan National Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra Augusto Ardenois, and the Camellia Symphony in Sacramento.

As a composer, Xavier did most of his studies privately with Rodrigo Asturias. In 2013 he won the Silver Medal at the fourth International Antonin Dvorak Composition Competition in Prague. Xavier studied music theory at the University of Cincinnati where his thesis was ranked no. 4 in the National Best-Seller Dissertation List. He obtained his Ph.D. in composition at the University of California San Diego with Roger Reynolds.  At UCSD he also studied with Philippe Manoury and Chinary Ung. His compositions have been performed in diverse festivals such as Festival Musica in Strasbourg, France, Darmstadt Composition Summer Courses in Germany, June in Buffalo, SICPP in Boston, Opera Theater Festival of Lucca, Italy and by ensembles such as Accroche Note, Ensemble Signal, UCSD Palimpsest, Mitvos Quartet and the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players under Steven Schick.

Xavier also holds a law degree from Salmon P. Chase College of Law and his diverse interests include art law, copyright, poetry, and tango. He is currently on the board of New Music Chicago.

Matthew Bridgham

Matthew has worked with William Bolcom Martin Bresnick Aaron Jay Kernis Hannah Lash Gabriela Lena Frank Derek Bermel Joan Tower and Libby Larsen. His music has been performed as part of the American Music Festival, Colorado Music Festival, New York Festival of Song, the Shandelee Music Festival, the Midwest Composers Symposium, Westben Composer-Performer Residency, and the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival where his Sonata for violin and piano (2016-17) was premiered for an intimate audience of peers and colleagues.

Matthew’s music has garnered attention from composers and critics alike. Bolcom wrote him a shining recommendation letter to Master’s programs. Bresnick praised the first movement of his Violin Sonata as one of the best student works he had heard in his time teaching at Yale. And longtime Indy critic Jay Harvey called Avon Yard “the most intimate subdued evocation of railroad matters ever attempted in music.”

In his free time when he isn’t writing original music teaching or performing Matthew arranges music from video games. His hour-long studio album of Stardew Valley piano arrangements debuted at #11 on Billboard’s Classical Charts.

Nicole DeMaio

Nicole DeMaio (she/her) is a Jersey City-based musician, composer, music educator, and arts administrator. Her piece “Solo for Bassoon Alone” was selected as repertoire for the 2021 Meg Quigley Vivaldi Competition, and she has won the “Fifteen Minutes of Fame ” and “Pictures” composition competitions. Infrasound, Yale University, The Rivers School, and numerous soloists have all commissioned her work. As a performer, Nicole specializes on flute, clarinet, saxophone, and bassoon. In January of 2021, she performed with The Broadway Sinfonietta to record “Ratatouille: The Tiktok Musical.” Previously, Nicole was a member of the orchestra for the 2020 National Tour of “An American in Paris” and played in the pit for several seasons at Surflight Theatre in New Jersey. As a teacher, she most recently taught 7th to 12th grade at Boston College High School, where she created new courses such as Music Makers, a class focusing on music technology, science, and instrument building. Nicole is one of the founders and current Director of Black Sheep Contemporary Ensemble. BSCE focuses on interdisciplinary collaboration, commissioning and performing new works, and educating audiences about contemporary music. 

She graduated with a Master in Music degree in Composition from The Boston Conservatory, a Bachelor of Music degree from Montclair State University where she double-majored in Music Education and Music Theory & Composition. Currently she is enrolled in the Master in Music degree in Multiple Woodwind Performance at New Jersey City University where she studies flute, clarinet, saxophone, and bassoon with Mark Thrasher and Andrea Herr.

Read about the 2020 Micro Composition Project here.

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