Photo courtesy of Present Music
Present Music
Present Music performs at the Milwaukee Art Museum
“It was one of our most active seasons in years,” says Eric Segnitz, Present Music’s co-artistic director. The internationally respected ensemble marked seven concerts and a street parade in Milwaukee, released two albums and performed at Knoxville’s Big Ears Festival during the 2024-25 season.
Present Music just announced a new five-concert season for 2025-26, starting with “All Souls Eve” (October 31). The concert honors the Mexican Day of the Dead with works by Latin-American composers Gabriela Ortiz and Miguel del Aguila, as well as Evan Chambers’ “The Old Burying Ground.” Segnitz describes Chambers’ contribution as “a song cycle based on epitaphs.”
Also for “All Souls Eve” is the premiere of Present Music’s commission for Vietnamese American composer Viet Cuong, “Music of the While.” Cuong is best known for writing concert band music, but “While” finds him marching to a different beat. “It’s based on a piece by Baroque composer Henry Purcell, written for electric guitar and saxophone,” Segnitz says. “He’s a lively composer who loves unusual instrumental combinations. It probably won’t sound Baroque.” “Music of the While” was originally intended for the 2024-25 season but the abrupt cancellation of an NEA grant by the current occupant of the White House forced Present Music to raise funds and reschedule.
The season continues with their annual Thanksgiving concert (Nov. 23). This year, Present Music will bring in Philadelphia’s four-time Grammy winning choir, The Crossing, as well as the Ho Chunk drum ensemble Little Priest Singers.
For the season’s second half, Present Music will present “Avant-Garden of Love” (Feb. 13-14) with a new commission from Corey Dargel; “Rituals, Spells and Charms” (March 20-21) built around Indian filmmaker Prashant Bhargava’s documentary Radhe, Rahde, Rites of Holi; and “Ki Moun Ou Ye” featuring Nathalie Joachim. Present Music’s album of work by Kamran Ince is scheduled for release during the season by Naxos Records.
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Segnitz says there was no plan in place when programming for the next season began, “but looking at it in retrospect, I can see it’s more international than past seasons and more interdisciplinary—it hits on film, dance, poetry, art and technology. The concerts will be very different from one another.”
For more information, visit presentmusic.org
