Music by Bienen students Matthew Mailman and Jianing Yang receives world premieres. Also featured is splitting to collapse by Bienen professor Kelley Sheehan, a work “once becoming aware of itself, it collapses in, exhausted.” Concluding the evening is Frederic Rzewski’s Coming Together, a burning dive into the injustices of incarceration.

Contemporary Music Ensemble

Northwestern Bienen School of Music

EPSG:4326

Alex Nam, Piano

The Juilliard School

Cliburn Festival America 250: American Roots

Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth

To mark the 250th anniversary of the United States, Gustavo Dudamel — the Oscar L. Tang and H.M. Agnes Hsu-Tang Music and Artistic Director Designate — leads the World Premiere of a new orchestration of Frederic Rzewski’s The People United Will Never Be Defeated. Featuring orchestrations created by composers representing the dynamism of the American musical landscape, the work centers a Chilean protest anthem as a hymn to the power of communities to effect social change. The People United… echoes the defiant spirit of Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony, which opens the program.

Dudamel Conducts Eroica & The People United…

David Geffen Hall

Experience music of the late 20th and 21st centuries, including premieres, in the intimate setting of the Rose Studio at CMS.

Sonic Spectrum III

Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center

Hailed as “one of the most probing, intelligent and accomplished artists of the new generation” (The New York Times), Igor Levit returns to Washington Performing Arts with a recital of monumental variation that challenges and inspires, featuring two impressive works rooted in an epic series of themes and variations. He brings his breathtaking technique to Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations—an epic set of variations requiring impressive technical and musical breadth—and Frederic Rzewski’s revolutionary The People United Will Never Be Defeated!, a tour de force of virtuosic brilliance and political fervor. Washington Performing Arts co-commissioned Rzewski’s work in 1976, commemorating the 200th anniversary of United States independence. Levit’s performances are acclaimed for their emotional depth and intellectual rigor, promising an unforgettable evening of musical mastery.

Igor Levit, piano

Sixth & I

Chamber Concert Festival: Rezital Blai Gumí Roca

Munich Residence

Widely admired for her original and perceptive readings of new music and the standard repertoire, Ursula Oppens has premiered and/or commissioned works by John Adams, Luciano Berio, Carla Bley, Anthony Braxton, Elliott Carter, John Corigliano, Anthony Davis, Julius Hemphill, John Harbison, Laura Kaminsky, György Ligeti, Witold Lutosławski, Conlon Nancarrow, Tobias Picker, Charles Wuorinen, and many more.

Pianist Ursula Oppens Plays Rzewski’s The People United…

Bargemusic

Following her debut with The Philadelphia Orchestra at age 16, Indonesian pianist Janice Carissa has embarked on a whirlwind career, garnering praise at renowned concert halls and performing alongside some of the most distinguished musicians of today. A Gilmore Young Artist, Carissa’s program showcases her graceful agility and emotive style with works by Frederic Rzewski, Scarlatti, Scriabin, Prokofiev, Beethoven, and Bach on the Hayes Piano Series.

Janice Carissa, piano

John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

The Bulgarian pianist Emanuil Ivanov attracted international attention at the age of 21 after receiving the First Prize at the 2019 Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition. Known for his elegant performances of late Romantic music, he presents one of the most ambitious keyboard works of the 20th Century. The People United Will Never Be Defeated! builds its 36 glittering variations from a celebrated Chilean protest song, encompassing triumph and despair, intricate abstraction alongside jazzy improvisation – an unforgettable musical journey.

Emanuil Ivanov piano

Wigmore Hall

Frederic Rzewski’s soul-stirring work is widely regarded as a modern classic, and one of the most ambitious keyboard compositions of the 20th century.

Academy Piano Series At Wigmore Hall: Emanuil Ivanov

Since her debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra at age 16, Indonesian pianist Janice Carissa has gone on to study at Curtis Institute of Music with a full scholarship. She’s now undertaking her master’s degree at The Juilliard School, while playing at the world’s top concert halls with “the multicolored highlights of a mature pianist.” (Philadelphia Inquirer)  

Janice Carissa

Duke University

Here and Now Series: Celebrating Frederic Rzewski (1938-2021) / Bobby Mitchell

Masterworks Series: Schubert Rzewski Mozart Schubert / Ursula Oppens

A Gilmore Young Artist and winner of Salon de Virtuosi, pianist Janice Carissa will perform an exclusive solo recital on the top floor of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music's new state-of-the-art performing arts complex, a glimmering landmark in San Francisco's Civic Center district.

Frederic Rzewski

Events

Past events

May 23, 2026

Contemporary Music Ensemble · Northwestern Bienen School of Music

May 7, 2026

Alex Nam, Piano · The Juilliard School

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