Shawn Okpebholo, one of five composers new to CNM concerts, composes music both direct and surprising, and CryptOlogiE, his hypnotic evocation of coded messages, via Morse Code, is no exception. New works by Lingbo Ma (Collage’s 2022-23 Fellow) and Rodney Lister, as well as Eric Moe’s riveting, madcap invention promise great contrast to each other. With Tableaux I, one of our favorite commissions by the very special Peter Child, our celebratory season comes to an exhilarating close.

We revisit a very special CNM commission, A Sibyl, by James Primosch (whom, along with David Froom, the world lost very recently) in a performance that features the awe-inspiring soprano who premiered it, Mary Mackenzie. A new work for piano trio by the ever riveting Richard Festinger, an invigorating fantasy by the young Jihyun Kim (who now teaches at Oberlin), and a new composition by Marti Epstein, whose music is always filled with subliminal mystery, help create this rich and probing program.

Scott Lindroth’s astonishingly fresh Cadences and a brand-new work by the always exhilarating Joan Tower surround two very different compositions: Marjorie Merryman's lyrical and personal Duomo, as well as the brilliantly hyper-kinetic Brushstrokes of Laura Schwendinger.

The premiere of John Harbison’s penetrating setting of Louise Gluck’s poems, for soprano and six instruments, sung by the silvery-voiced Kendra Colton, anchors our first program. Luke Blackburn’s airborne oboe concerto, with the immensely musical Peggy Pearson, contrasts sharply with the Harbison, and captivating, uncommonly optimistic works by Augusta Read Thomas and David Froom frame this first program of our 50th year.