Composer

Julius Eastman was a composer, pianist, singer, and provocateur who rejected rigid artistic and social boundaries. Black, gay, and unapologetically radical, he infused minimalism with raw energy, improvisation, and the pulse of Black American music. His 1974 work Femenine, which spent decades in obscurity before its recent reemergence, embodies his vision of music as alive, communal, and ever-changing.

EPSG:4326

Eastman’s Feminine

The DiMenna Center for Classical Music

As the nation approaches the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Ruckus and Davóne Tines invite us to reflect: What is your hand in this? Through a bold reimagining of songs, hymns, and ballads spanning four centuries, this arresting program confronts the tensions and aspirations at the heart of the American experiment. With Ruckus—“the world’s only period-instrument rock band” (San Francisco Classical Voice)—and the “immense power and fervor” (Los Angeles Times) of boundary-breaking vocalist Davóne Tines, the performance channels the spirit of revolution to pose timeless questions of justice, compassion, and community.

Ruckus Davóne Tines, bass-baritone

Sixth & I

Mendelssohn’s travels through Italy inspired a burst of creativity; his much-loved "Italian" Symphony vividly evokes his experiences, from the coronation of a pope to rambles through picturesque countryside and the sun-burnished Mediterranean.

Mendelssohn’s “Italian” Symphony

Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts

This boundary-breaking concert will celebrate Eastman's art within the greater context of his life, creativity, and humanity. Woods and Tines are joined by soloists Conor Hanick, Richard Valitutto, and Adam Tendler (pianos) and JIJI (guitar) for a programme that includes Prelude and The Holy Presence of Joan D'Arc, Touch Him When, Piano 2, and Gay Guerilla.

Julius Eastman: A Power Greater Than

Barbican Centre

Hub New Music gives a glimpse into the exciting world of contemporary composition in a program of short works. The program is a musical tasting menu of sorts, in which audiences can sample a variety of styles and influences that make up today's musical palette.

Hub Mixtape (Brainerd)

Lutheran Church of the Cross

Hub New Music gives a glimpse into the exciting world of contemporary composition in a program of short works. The program is a musicatasting menu of sorts, in which audiences can sample a variety of styles and influences that make up today's musical palette.



Hub Mixtape (Minneapolis)

The Woman's Club Of Minneapolis

GRAMMY-nominated orchestral collective Wild Up and GRAMMY-nominated cellist, scholar, and Wild Up member Seth Parker Woods present an evening of works by maverick composer Julius Eastman. Woods performs The Holy Presence of Joan d’Arc–a live performance of one of the ten cello parts of the piece atop his recording of the other nine parts. This work is accompanied by Eastman’s seminal works Prelude to The Holy Presence of Joan d’Arc and is followed by a new transcription of That Boy by Seth Parker Woods, composed by Eastman in 1973, with oboe, percussion, voice, and clarinet.

Julius Eastman: The Holy Presence

Walt Disney Concert Hall

Join us for an unforgettable evening at the Walt Disney Concert Hall as we present "To the Fullest: The Music of Julius Eastman and Arthur Russell" as part of the Green Umbrella New Music Series. This special performance is scheduled for Tuesday, March 4, 2025, at 8:00 PM.

Dive into the profound and personal sounds of Julius Eastman and Arthur Russell, two legendary collaborators whose music transcends boundaries. Their work, described as expansive and quintessentially queer, invites performers and audiences alike to explore every moment filled with choice, merging into the notes and rhythms, and emerging wholly committed to self. This performance is not just a concert but an intrapersonal journey matched with musical structures that foster a profound sense of belonging within a group.

The evening will feature the multi-Grammy nominated experimental orchestral collective Wild Up, under the direction of music director and conductor Christopher Rountree. Together with notable guest artists, they will celebrate Arthur Russell's avant-minimalist disco compositions through a new series of collaborative arrangements: The Arthur Russell Songbook. This will be paired with Julius Eastman's kaleidoscopic post-gospel minimalism, featuring performances of Eastman’s masterworks "Evil N" and "Gay Guerrilla," showcasing the organic music where phrases and multiple layers ebb and flow with time.

This performance is a part of the Green Umbrella GU1 Series, which includes other notable events such as Doug Aitken's Lightscape, LA Phil Etudes with John Adams, Vocal Dimensions, and New Voices from Korea.

Don't miss this opportunity to experience the singular and boundless music of Julius Eastman and Arthur Russell, brought to life by Wild Up and guest artists in a night of entrancing melodies and intimate moments. Programs, artists, dates, prices, and availability are subject to change. All sales are final.

To the Fullest: The Music of Julius Eastman and Arthur Russell

Violinist Rakhi Singh performs works by Edmund Finnis, Julia Wolfe, Julius Eastman, Alex Groves, and more from her debut solo album, ‘Purnima’. A leading artist in the UK’s exciting contemporary classical music scene, Singh has firmly established her reputation touring with cutting-edge artists such as Phillip Glass, Abel Selaocoe, and the London Contemporary Orchestra. She is also the co-founder and Artistic Director of Manchester Collective, the award-winning ensemble known for its daring collaborations and engaging performances in spaces ranging from concert halls to warehouses, nightclubs to festivals.

Sounds of Now: Purnima Eastman, Wolfe & Singh

Portsmouth Guildhall

One day in 1983, the troubled American composer Julius Eastman presented his ex-boyfriend with a rolled-up score – that of his Symphony No. 2. The music, which wasn’t seen again or performed until 2018, tells of their love and its disintegration in an orchestral language all of its own – part drone piece, part thematic symphony.

Prom 45: Dalia Stasevska conducts Sibelius’ Fifth Symphony

Royal Albert Hall

One day in 1983, the troubled American composer Julius Eastman presented his ex-boyfriend with a rolled-up score – that of his Symphony No. 2. The music, which wasn’t seen again or performed until 2018, tells of their love and its disintegration in an orchestral language all of its own – part drone piece, part thematic symphony. The BBC Symphony Orchestra’s Principal Guest Conductor Dalia Stasevska follows this remarkable work with Gustav Mahler’s songs on love, loneliness and withdrawal, sung by the inimitable Jamie Barton, and Sibelius’s most awe-inspiring symphony, the Fifth – his testament to nature’s capacity to embolden and console.

Join us for an unforgettable evening at Fellow Fridays IV, hosted by the prestigious Music Academy of the West. This special event is set to take place at the iconic Hahn Hall on Friday, August 2nd, starting at 7:30 pm. As part of the celebrated Fellow Fridays Series, this concert promises an eclectic mix of chamber works curated by the Academy's talented fellows, showcasing their favorite pieces across a variety of instrument combinations, genres, and styles.

The program for the evening includes approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes of music with one intermission, featuring compositions by Sergei Rachmaninoff, Nico Muhly, and Julius Eastman. Highlights include Rachmaninoff's emotive "Trio élégiaque No. 1 in G Minor," Muhly's intricate "Measured to Fit," and Eastman's compelling "Stay On It."

In addition to the concert, attendees are invited to a pre-concert picnic, making for a perfect summer evening of music and relaxation. This event not only offers a platform for emerging musicians on the cusp of their careers but also provides a unique opportunity for the community to experience the future of classical music.

Tickets are available now, with early access starting on April 22nd and individual ticket sales beginning on May 1st. For those interested in supporting the Music Academy of the West and enjoying early ticket sales access, consider joining the Vivace Donor Society.

Don't miss this opportunity to branch out with fellow faves and enjoy a night of exceptional music at Fellow Fridays IV. For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit the Music Academy's website or contact the Carsey Ticket Office at 805-969-8787.

Fellow Fridays IV

Music Academy of the West

AMOC* is honored to perform in Gerard & Kelly’s GAY GUERRILLA at the Centre Pompidou in Paris June 29 – July 1, 2023. Founding members JULIA EICHTEN, CONOR HANICK, COLEMAN ITZKOFF, and DAVÓNE TINES join dancers from the Paris Opera Ballet (Samuel Akins, Guillaume Diop, Germain Louvet, and Awa Joannais), musicians from Wild Up (Richard Valitutto and Seth Parker Woods), pianist Adam Tendler, and performer Soa de Muse in a series of performances channeling Eastman’s singular voice and celebrating queer resistance.

Gay Guerrilla

The Centre Pompidou

The programme includes the exciting dancing textures created by pioneering multi-layered tape pieces such as Steve Reich’s Violin Phase and Vermont Counterpoint. Richly complex patterns create compelling listening in Julius Eastman’s Joy Boy and modern New York icon Julia Wolfe’s East Broadway. We’ll look to the British version of the movement with Michael Nyman’s captivating In C Interlude while the weaving melodies hypnotise in Anna Clyne’s Just as they are. The concert will close with a performance of Gavin Bryars’ extraordinary Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet, in celebration of the composer’s strong links to Portsmouth in his highly experimental ensemble the Portsmouth Sinfonia.  

Minimalism

The third concert of the Curtis Presents series builds upon the school’s longstanding tradition of innovation, inspiration, and artistic excellence as it celebrates eight of its distinguished composition alumni. As Curtis looks to its centenary in 2024, this retrospective program highlights iconic Curtis composers Jennifer Higdon (’88), Leonard Bernstein (Conducting ’41), David Serkin Ludwig (’01), Samuel Barber (’34), Ned Rorem (’44), Julius Eastman (’63), and recently appointed composition faculty member, Jonathan Bailey Holland (’96), in an evening of boundary-pushing chamber works and early-career classics that shaped the landscape of contemporary classical music.

Curtis Composers

Curtis Institute of Music Lenfest Hall

Perspectives: Wild Up

Cleveland Institute of Music

“Few string quartets can command the stage like the Calder Quartet,” declared The Washington Post of this versatile and vibrant ensemble that excels equally at composer collaborations and standard-setting performances of classics. They set out to do just that with two programs mixing it up with chamber music milestones and thrilling new voices. In this program, Antoine Hunter, a superbly gifted dancer/choreographer, founder of Urban Jazz Dance Company, and advocate for the Deaf community, expresses his experience in a hearing world through dance.

Calder Quartet

War Memorial and Performing Arts Center

Julius Eastman’s ecstatic, jubilant, hypnotic music pulses, surges, recedes, and eventually blossoms with an organic energy best expressed by only the most cohesive and committed ensembles. Wild Up, the acclaimed Los Angeles contemporary music collective performs the composer’s glittering Femenine (1974), part of a multiyear project to perform and record Eastman’s daring, original scores. In the New York contemporary music scene of the 1970s and ’80s, Eastman was both an outsider and provocateur—his motto was “to be what I am to the fullest: Black to the fullest, a musician to the fullest, and a homosexual to the fullest.” He died in obscurity and poverty in 1990 at age 49; decades later, Eastman’s music is enjoying a renaissance as his scores have been unearthed and enterprising performers have devoted themselves to realizing his uncompromising vision. “Wild Up’s new rendition of Femenine takes a page from Eastman’s personal playbook: It’s exuberant, a bit in your face, sometimes capricious, and always surprising” (NPR Music).

Wild Up

University of California, Berkeley

In this thrilling collaboration by the imaginative Calder Quartet and dancer, choreographer, and Deaf artist and advocate, Antoine Hunter, audiences are offered an immersive and joyful journey into chamber music and dance – and a special insight into Beethoven’s Op. 130 String Quartet and Grosse Fugue, written toward the end of his life, when his hearing loss had a profound impact on his life and work.

Calder Quartet + Antoine Hunter

Stanford University

Julius Eastman was an American maverick and radical who challenged the exclusionary foundations of European classical music and organized his compositions as tools for social change. Eastman was also an activist who deployed his life experiences as a gay African American as the impetus to question what it means to be American and an artist, and the ideals of United States and western classical music. Wild Up Artistic Director Christopher Rountree launched the ensemble in 2010 with a vision that rejected outdated traditions and threw classical repertoire into the context of pop culture, new music, and performance art.

Wild Up: The Music of Julius Eastman

MAP Wind Ensemble, String Ensemble, Orchestra

The Juilliard School

The New Series: Vox Celli

Hub New Music marks its 10th anniversary with new and rarely heard music by contemporary composers including a premiere by Jessica Meyer, co-commissioned with the Williams Center for the Arts in recognition of our 40th year. This Grammy-nominated, trailblazing quartet continues to usher in a fresh and culturally relevant body of work for its distinct combination of flute, clarinet, violin, and cello, and its ambitious commissioning projects celebrate the rich diversity of today’s chamber music landscape. “Next time Hub New Music offers a concert, go, listen, and be changed” (Boston Globe).

Hub New Music

Lafayette College

View the performance of Gerard & Kelly’s GAY GUERRILLA at the Centre Pompidou in Paris online. Founding members JULIA EICHTEN, CONOR HANICK, COLEMAN ITZKOFF, and DAVÓNE TINES join dancers from the Paris Opera Ballet (Samuel Akins, Guillaume Diop, Germain Louvet, and Awa Joannais), musicians from Wild Up (Richard Valitutto and Seth Parker Woods), pianist Adam Tendler, and performer Soa de Muse in a series of performances channeling Eastman’s singular voice and celebrating queer resistance.

Gay Guerrilla / Digital Stream

Following last season’s successful digital presentation of Femenine, OSL returns to the music of Julius Eastman, the late gay, Black composer “now experiencing a dizzying posthumous renaissance” (The New Yorker), in celebration of Pride Month and queer artistry.

Visionary Sounds

Boston Conservatory at Berklee’s contemporary music ensemble, contraBAND, presents an evening of works by Sarah Hennies, Julius Eastman, and guest artist Annika Socolofsky.

contraBAND: Don't Say a Word

Boston Conservatory at Berklee

Join us for an electrifying evening of contemporary music with the NEW WAVE 2 concert presented by the Esprit Orchestra. This remarkable event is set to take place on Sunday, April 16, 2023, at 7:00 pm in the prestigious TD Music Hall, located at the Allied Music Centre, 178 Victoria St. 

Under the baton of the esteemed conductor Alex Pauk, the concert will feature an array of groundbreaking compositions. The program includes works by Misato Mochizuki, Julius Eastman arranged by Jessie Montgomery, Andrew Staniland, Julia Mermelstein, Stephanie Orlando, and Steve Reich. These pieces showcase a variety of instruments and styles, from the dynamic "Chimera 2000" for 11 players to the innovative "Orion Constellation Theory 2014" for snare drum and electronics, performed by the talented Ryan Scott. 

The evening will be a celebration of new music, including world premieres and Canadian premieres, commissioned by Esprit with the generous support of the Ontario Arts Council. This event is a must-attend for music enthusiasts eager to experience the cutting-edge of contemporary orchestral music.

Don't miss this opportunity to support and enjoy the vibrant talent of composers and musicians from Canada and beyond. Secure your tickets now and be part of a memorable night that pushes the boundaries of orchestral music.

New Wave 2

Allied Music Centre

American composer, pianist, vocalist, and dancer Julius Eastman was young, gay, and Black when it was even more difficult to be young, gay, and Black in America. He died in 1990 at age 49, less than a decade after the New York City Sheriff’s Department evicted him and threw most of his scores and belongings into the winter snow of the East Village.

Julius Eastman’s Femenine

University of Michigan

Minimalist master Steve Reich returns to his New York arts scene roots in this bright and rhythmically agile piece, written and performed alongside painter Gerhard Richter’s film Moving Picture. The film starts with a two-pixel pulsating, colour-shifting line, which becomes four pixels, then sixteen, then 32 and so on. The music starts with a two-note oscillation that expands equally but then becomes liberated from the structure of the forms on film, allowing notes to escape and create their own destiny in this cool and elegant piece. Music by two other masters of the New York scene complement Reich’s music, while the London Sinfonietta, with Sound Intermedia, re-create Nunu, its commission from the late and sadly missed Mira Calix.

Reich/Richter

Southbank Centre

Los Angeles-based ensemble Wild Up creates mind-bending and theatrical contemporary music experiences by playing with place, structure, the relation of artist to audience: any aspect of the concert experience is up for reinvention at any time.

Somerville Theatre

The world premiere of Angélica Negrón’s Pedazos intermitentes de un lugar ya fragmentado is sponsored by Boyer Rickel.

Tucson Convention Center

Sō Percussion, Princeton’s Edward T. Cone Performers-in-Residence, invites student musicians to participate in two large works by Julius Eastman: Stay on It and Gay Guerrilla. These sprawling and electrifying works of 1970s minimalism involve groove, improvisation, and creative decision making.

The Music of Julius Eastman with Sō Percussion

Richardson Auditorium

A multi-dimensional performance piece, EASTMAN reflects the performers’ consideration of Julius Eastman’s art and the larger context of his life, creativity, and humanity. The program will include performances of some of Eastman’s most affecting works, including Buddha, Prelude to the Holy Presence of Joan d’Arc, and his epic, joyous Stay on It.

Eastman

Libbey Bowl

AMOC closes out the 2022 Festival with a culminating concert focused on pieces that showcase the company’s full ensemble, including Julius Eastman’s indomitable Stay On It and Anthony Roth Costanzo singing his trademark renditions of the music of Philip Glass. AMOC’s dancers make a Libbey Bowl cameo in a choreographed rendition of Schubert’s “Ständchen.” The program also features Costanzo and the early-music ensemble Ruckus in a vibrant array of Baroque music, ranging from Vivaldian virtuoso fireworks to a rarely-performed gem by Sigismondo d’India.

Finale Concert

Countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo, our 2021–22 season Artist-in-Residence, is the soloist in two song cycles: Berlioz’s glorious <em>Les Nuits d’été</em> and the premiere of Gregory Spears’s setting of Tracy K. Smith texts. Jaap van Zweden conducts this examination of identity that opens with music from Beethoven’s opera about a woman who disguises herself as a man to save her husband and closes with an expansive expression of love by 1980s underground icon Julius Eastman.

Authentic Selves: The Beauty Within. Anthony Roth Costanzo Sings Berlioz

Lincoln Center

Join NWS Fellows and alumni in tracing the evolution of American chamber music from 18th century colonies to a tribute to Ellis Island. 

Ives, Monk, Cage & Eastman

New World Center

The Chamber Music Society of Salt Lake City presents SANDBOX PERCUSSION—known for their innovative performances and dynamic artistry—on Tuesday, May 19, 2026, at Libby Gardner Concert Hall on the University of Utah campus. This performance concludes the Society’s 60th Anniversary Season.

SANDBOX PERCUSSION & 60th Annual Meeting

University of Utah

The Holy Presence of Joan d’Arc with Abel Selaocoe

University of Minnesota

Ordway Center for the Performing Arts

The American cellist Seth Parker Woods and the Ensemble Resonanz bring six voices to life that connect with each other across time and borders. They tell of struggle and loss, of rebellion and hope, of fractures and the attempt to heal them. Memory is their common foundation.

Composer

Julius Eastman

Events

Upcoming events

Mar 22, 2026

Ives, Monk, Cage & Eastman · New World Symphony

May 19, 2026

SANDBOX PERCUSSION & 60th Annual Meeting · Chamber Music Society of Salt Lake City

22 - 24 May, 2026

The Holy Presence of Joan d’Arc with Abel Selaocoe · Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra

17 - 18 Jun, 2026

Ensemble Resonanz / Seth Parker Woods · Elbphilharmonie

Past events

Feb 4, 2026

Eastman’s Feminine · Orchestra of St. Luke's

Jan 28, 2026

Ruckus Davóne Tines, bass-baritone · Washington Performing Arts

About

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