The Next Festival of Emerging Artists

Thank you to everyone who helped to make our 2022 Season a success!

Celebrating our 10th anniversary in 2022, The Next Festival of Emerging Artists provides young performers and composers (ages 20-30) with an immersion into 21st century music. Designed to cultivate the next generation of 360° artists, the Festival focuses on contemporary music, entrepreneurship, interdisciplinary collaboration, and developing artist citizens.

At the forefront of supporting artists since the early days of the pandemic, the Next Festival has presented more than 75 free virtual workshops, talks and collaborations, creating a worldwide community of like-minded artists. The 2022 Festival returns to in-person activities for its 10th season.

Five World Premieres from Next Festival at Music Mountain (The Millbrook Independent, 6/5/22)
“This was the tenth year of the Next Festival for Emerging Artists, a venue that has produced many new, exciting compositions, and has helped to season the careers of many young performers in their early twenties. Next is a national treasure, a tipping point into what is around the next bend of musical history.”

Marshall Miles Interviews – Peter Askim: Next Festival Returns to Music Mountain and The Stissing Center (Robin Hood Radio, 5/27/22)

NEXT is coming with World Premieres and Pamela Z! (The Millbrook Independent, 5/24/22)

The Festival is a multi-week experience comprised of performances, individual lessons, coachings, workshops and masterclasses for 20 participating string players. With residencies and performances in Connecticut and New York, Fellows create their own programs of study, participate in workshops and recording sessions of new works, and explore multi-disciplinary collaboration and improvisation with composers, choreographers and dancers.

Our 2022 Festival features renowned guest artists, masterclasses, workshops and in-person and virtual collaborations. String players collaborate and perform alongside Guest Artist composer/vocalist Pamela Z, and perform world premieres by composer/violist and Resident Entrepreneurial Artist Jessica Meyer, hornist Jeff Scott (Imani Winds, Oberlin Conservatory), composer/pianist Liliya Ugay and Peter Askim (The Next Festival’s Artistic Director).

Other activities include collaborative sessions led by dancer/choreographer Darshan Singh Bhuller and composer Aaron Jay Kernis, career workshops with Alecia Lawyer (ROCO, oboist), a composer workshop, mentorship with social media/marketing consultant Jamie Benson, and more!

Support the Festival

The Next Festival of Emerging Artists was founded on the idea that deserving artists can participate, regardless of financial circumstances. We’re committed to supporting our community of young artists through our unique “pay-what-you-can” model and through more than 75 free virtual events focused on equipping young artists with the tools they need to succeed. We’re grateful to you, our audience and supporters, for helping make this commitment a reality. Your continued support will help us make our resources available to all.

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