Slideshow: 2017 New Music Gathering at Bowling Green

After holding its first two events on opposite coasts — at San Francisco Conservatory of Music in January, 2015, and at Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore in January, 2016 — the third New Music Gathering touched down in the midwest. The MidAmerican Center for Contemporary Music at Bowling Green State University College of Musical Arts hosted NMG 2017 in Bowling Green, Ohio, May 11-13, 2017. Percussionist and educator Steven Schick delivered a stirring keynote address and a mesmerizing headlining performance.

Despite its small-town locale, BGSU is a generative force in mew music. Their highly regarded DMA program is focused exclusively on contemporary music, and in October they will host their 38th annual Bowling Green New Music Festival. Nearly 500 new music enthusiasts from near and far convened in Bowling Green for NMG 2017, three days of performances, demonstrations, panels, camaraderie, and boundless love for the music of right now and the people who make it. About half of the attendees took part in at least one event presentation.

After the festivities came to a close, local host Kurt Doles, Director of the MidAmerican Center, was still beaming. “It was an honor and a privilege to host the New Music Gathering at Bowling Green this year,” Doles enthused. “It was an incredible experience for our students and faculty to interact with some of the best minds and talents working in new music today, and I’m thrilled we were able to open more eyes and ears to Bowling Green’s outstanding level of commitment to contemporary music. NMG is such an overwhelmingly positive environment for the exchange of art and ideas, it should be on the bucket list for everyone working in new music today.”

The following image gallery is generously provided by New Music Gathering. All photos are by Tina Tallon of SALT Arts Documentation, who somehow managed to be in three or four places at once, all weekend long.