‘WORLDS WITHIN’:
COMPOSERS EXPLORE INNER WORLDS AT
HEAR NOW MUSIC FESTIVAL
Los Angeles — Celebrating its 15th year presenting the Festival of New Music by Los Angeles Composers, Hear Now Music Festival announces its four-concert program beginning March 21. From electroacoustic and chamber music to an orchestra concert with the UCLA Philharmonia, the festival’s program includes music by eighteen LA composers performed by such luminous soloists and new music groups as Peabody Southwell, Moves Pogossian, Anoush Pogossian, the Lyris Quartet, Brightwork Ensemble, and the vocal ensemble HEX among many other musicians. Concert previews precede each concert an hour beforehand with a panel of the composers presented. Tickets are $15-25, and are now available at hearnowmusicfestival.com.
The concerts
Leading off the festival, the electroacoustic concert is presented in collaboration with People Inside Electronics, an organization that brings together the imaginative sounds of electronics with live acoustic instruments. Composers Jennifer Bewerse, Anuj Bhutani, Cristina Lord, Fahad Siadat, and João Pedro Oliviera embrace the potentials of the electronic medium while exploring a variety of acoustic instruments including voice, flute, cello, violin, percussion and other members of HEX and Brightwork Ensemble in a wide-ranging program at 2220 Arts + Archives on March 21 at 8:00pm.
Saturday, April 18 brings a double bill: two chamber music concerts take place in the warm acoustic environment of the First Lutheran Church of Venice at 3:00 and 8:00pm. Lyris Quartet, Brightwork Ensemble, HEX and an array of soloists perform new works in the afternoon by Tom Flaherty, Vera Ivanova, Liviu Marinescu, Ania Vu, and Hugh Levick; and in the evening, works by Peter Knell, Sean Heim, Bryan Chiu, and Jordan Nelson.
Thursday, April 30, at 8:00pm, the festival closes with the UCLA Philharmonia, conducted by Neal Stulberg at Schoenberg Hall, UCLA. The Philharmonia has partnered with the festival every other year since 2016. Soloists Movses Pogossian, violin, and Anoush Pogossian, clarinet, perform Ian Krouse‘s Double Concerto for violin, clarinet and orchestra. Orchestral works by Patrick O’Malley, Haihui Zhang, and Xavier Muzik complete the program.
About Hear Now Music Festival
Los Angeles has long been a city of artists — an extraordinary nexus of invention, risk, and imagination — but for the composers who live and work here, visibility has never been guaranteed. Since its founding in 2011, the Hear Now Music Festival has served as the primary platform dedicated to those voices: a place where the city’s composers are heard, celebrated, and connected with the performers and audiences who bring their work to life; Hear Now is the city’s forum for living composers, a space where artistic experimentation and human connection meet. Over the past 15 years, Hear Now has presented 324 works by 203 individual Los Angeles composers.
The Hear Now Music Festival is supported by the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture, the Department of Cultural Affairs of the City of Los Angeles, the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, the Amphion Foundation, by various donor advised funds, and by individual contributions.
Programs
Following is the complete program for the festival:
HEAR NOW MUSIC FESTIVAL 15th ANNIVERSARY
March 21, April 18, April 30, 2026
March 21 at 8:00pm (Concert preview at 7pm)
Electroacoustic Concert
In collaboration with People Inside Electronics and Brightwork Ensemble
2220 Arts + Archives — 2220 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles
Tickets: $25 General, $15 Students with ID Click here
- Jennifer Bewerse: Lunation – for voice, alto flute and electronics
- Anuj Bhutani: On Letting Go – for solo cello and live electronics
- Cristina Lord: Is It Me? – for amplified flute, clarinet, violin, cello and electronics
- Fahad Siadat: Harmonic Recurrence – for voice and electronics
- João Pedro Oliviera: Timshel – for mixed ensemble and tape
April 18 at 3:00pm (Concert preview at 2pm)
Chamber Concert I
First Lutheran Church of Venice — 815 Venice Blvd., Venice
Featuring Lyris Quartet, Brightwork Ensemble, HEX
Tickets: $25 General, $15 Students with ID Click here
Discount available for this date – both concerts for $45 (purchased in advance)
- Tom Flaherty: Recess – for string quartet
- Vera Ivanova: The Firebird’s Feather – for flute solo
- Liviu Marinescu: String Quartet No. 1
- Ania Vu: Small Tenderness – for vocal ensemble and string quartet
- Hugh Levick: No Pasaran – for brass quintet
April 18 at 8:00pm (Concert preview at 7pm)
Chamber Concert II
First Lutheran Church of Venice — 815 Venice Blvd, Venice
Featuring Lyris Quartet; Brightwork Ensemble; Peabody Southwell, mezzo-soprano
Tickets: $25 General, $15 Students with ID Click here
Discount available for this date – both concerts for $45 (purchased in advance)
- Peter Knell: Canciones de Agua – for mezzo-soprano and violin
- Sean Heim: there is no such thing as time – for mixed ensemble
- Bryan Chiu: Anthology – for piano and horn
- Jordan Nelson: Join – for string quartet
April 30 at 8:00pm (Concert preview at 7pm)
Orchestra Concert
Schoenberg Hall, UCLA
Featuring UCLA Philharmonia; Neal Stulberg, conductor; Moves Pogossian, violin; Anoush Pogossian, clarinet
Tickets are free, thanks to our partnership with UCLA
- Patrick O’Malley: Obliviana
- Haihui Zhang: Four Rhymes
- Xavier Muzik: Strange Beasts
- Ian Krouse: Double Concerto for violin, clarinet and orchestra
