PS21 Opens Summer with Next Festival of Emerging Artists June 5

Friday, June 6, 7:30pm | Chatham, NY | Tickets required

PS21 in Chatham opens its 2026 season on Friday with the fourth annual Next Festival of Emerging Artists, a program that this year focuses specifically on women immigrant composers and their contributions to American music.

The centerpiece is the world premiere of "The Book of Signatures," a new double concerto by Grammy-nominated Spanish-American cellist and composer Andrea Casarrubios, performed by Dr. Tommy Mesa on cello and Garret Arney on percussion. Mesa, whose playing has been described as "commanding in every detail" by the New York Concert Review, was handpicked by Casarrubios to premiere the work. Casarrubios is a serious figure in contemporary classical music—her piece SEVEN, a tribute to essential workers during the pandemic, was nominated for a 2025 Grammy for best contemporary classical composition, and her work has been programmed by the Chicago Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and Carnegie Hall, among many others. She was born in a small Spanish mountain village, started piano at age two and cello at four, before moving to the US at 18.

The program also includes world premieres by Iranian-American composer Niloufar Nourbakhsh, whose orchestral work Knell was performed at the 2023 Nobel Peace Prize Ceremony by the Norwegian Radio Orchestra; Uzbekistan-born Tatar composer Adeliia Faizullina, praised by The Washington Post as one of "21 for '21: Composers and Performers Who Sound Like Tomorrow"; and Wang Lu, a Chinese-American composer whose work has been performed by the International Contemporary Ensemble and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. A work by Brazilian composer Clarice Assad and Serbian composer Aleksandra Vrebalov round out the evening.

The Next Festival was founded by conductor and composer Peter Askim, who leads the string orchestra for the performance. Askim is Music Director of the Wilmington Symphony Orchestra and Director of Orchestral Activities at NC State, and has commissioned and premiered over 40 new works since 2015. The festival fellows — early-career string players and composers from around the world — spend the week prior in residence at PS21, workshopping the pieces and conducting community engagements at Chatham Middle School.

The rest of PS21's summer season is worth putting on the calendar now. The Groundtone festival runs June 18–20, with Sō Percussion and Becca Stevens on June 18 and harpist Parker Ramsay, violinist Miranda Cuckson, and cellist Jay Campbell on June 20. The International Contemporary Ensemble returns July 25 for the Cheswatyr Incubator. And Annea Lockwood's year-long "Home Ground" sound-mapping project, which launched on the PS21 grounds in May, continues its community listening sessions through the season.

PS21, 2980 Route 66, Chatham, NY. Tickets at ps21chatham.org.