Opening its 2027 programming, the organization will launch the annual Composers Now Festival on Thursday, January 14, 2027 at National Sawdust with the Composers Now Festival Kick-Off Concert. The concert will showcase cross‑genre innovations spanning classical, Latin, and jazz composition and beyond, culminating in the presentation of the Visionary Award to pioneering composer Annea Lockwood and Rio Sakairi, Artistic Director of The Jazz Gallery, in recognition of their extraordinary contributions to music and their steadfast support of living composers. First Commission awardee Andromeda Smith, a teenage composer, will premiere a new work for saxophone quartet, with additional performances by composers Tamar Muskal, Niloufar Nourbakhsh, Alexis Cuadrado, Yuhan Su and Daniel Prim.

On Friday, January 15, the Second Stage World Premieres at Americas Society will spotlight the next generation of musical innovators with new works by 2026 Second Stage Commission awardees Abby Harris, Maria Isabel Emiliano and Isabelle Tseng. Each awardee developed her work in close collaboration with an accomplished composer: Harris with Levy Lorenzo, Emiliano with David Virelles and Tseng with Du Yun. Supported by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation, the program encourages emerging composers to expand their creative practices and explore new genres, styles, instrumentation and technology.

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