Carnegie Hall Presents the American Composers Orchestra in Hello, America: We Gather Here

Carnegie Hall Presents the American Composers Orchestra 

in Hello, America: We Gather Here

 

Tuesday, October 27, 2026 at 7:30 PM in Zankel Hall

 

Program Launches ACO’s Two-Season 50th Anniversary Celebration

 

Led by Kedrick Armstrong, Hello, America: We Gather Here Features 

World Premieres by Oswald Hu?nh, Alexander Timofeev, and Mali Irene;

a U.S. Premiere by Alex Weiser; a New York Premiere by Daniel Bernard Roumain;

and Thea Musgrave’s Song of the Enchanter

 

Featuring Soloists Tracy Silverman, Vân-Ánh Vanessa Võ, and Andrzej Cieplinski

 

October 22: An Evening with Alex Weiser and Andrzej Cieplinski 

YIVO Institute for Jewish Research | New York, NY

October 27: 50th Anniversary Gala & Creative Catalyst Awards at Carnegie Hall 

Honors Composer Thea Musgrave and Ralph Bumbaca, 

TD Bank, U.S. EVP, Regional President of Metro NY

“In an ideal musical world, there would be no need for an orchestra dedicated to performing new and recent works by American composers. That mission would be crucial to every American orchestra. But we don’t live in an ideal musical world.”
– The New York Times

 

"Exactly the band you want for complex new orchestral music."
– Classical Voice North America

 

“The American Composers Orchestra…[is] dedicated to championing a segment of creators whose work is often on the front lines of evolving political thought and sonic exploration."
– I Care If You Listen

 

www.americancomposers.org

 

New York, NY (October 6, 2026) – Hailed as an “essential organization” (The New York Times) with “an expansive vision of orchestral composition” (Represent Classical), the American Composers Orchestra (ACO) commences its two-season-long 50th Anniversary celebration with their first concert of the season presented by Carnegie Hall, Hello, America: We Gather Here, on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, at 7:30 PM at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall. Led by Kedrick Armstrong, the program features world premieres by Oswald Hu?nh, Alexander Timofeev, and Mali Irene; a U.S. Premiere by Alex Weiser; a New York Premiere by Daniel Bernard Roumain; and Thea Musgrave’s Song of the Enchanter.

Preceding the October 27, 2026 performance, American Composers Orchestra will host its 2026 Gala & Creative Catalyst Awards at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Terrace the same evening, honoring composer Thea Musgrave and Ralph Bumbaca, TD Bank, U.S. EVP and Regional President of Metro NY. Featuring a pre-concert dinner and post-concert dessert reception, the gala benefits ACO’s national EarShot composer advancement programs, orchestral performances, and educational initiatives.

Hello, America: We Gather Here features the ACO led by Kedrick Armstrong in the New York premiere of Daniel Bernard Roumain's America, To US for electric violin and orchestra with electric violinist Tracy Silverman; the world premiere of Oswald Hu?nh's ng? ngon for Vietnamese traditional instruments and orchestra with dàn b?u and dàn tranh player Vân-Ánh Vanessa Võ; the world premiere of Alexander Timofeev's Fantasme No. 2; the world premiere of Mali Irene's Deliverance for orchestra and community music-making; the US premiere of Alex Weiser's Tfiles for clarinet and orchestra with clarinetist Andrzej Cieplinski; and Thea Musgrave’s Song of the Enchanter. These works explore the ways in which music is designed to bring people together, from memorials and weddings to town halls and street dances. Music from these gatherings reframes the idea of a concert, offering a unique window into this nearly universal human experience.

Ahead of the Carnegie Hall premiere, YIVO Institute for Jewish Research and American Friends of POLIN Museum will host An Evening with Alex Weiser and Andrzej Cieplinski: A Celebration of Tfiles and its Carnegie Hall Premiere on Thursday, October 22, 2026, at 7:00 PM at the Center for Jewish History in New York City. The event will feature a conversation between composer Alex Weiser and clarinetist Andrzej Cieplinski, moderated by distinguished scholar Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, exploring the origins of Tfiles, its connection to the poetry of Kadya Molodowsky, and its journey from its world premiere at the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw to Carnegie Hall.

Thea Musgrave’s Song of the Enchanter is a short work, written in the winter and spring of 1990, was commissioned by the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra to honor the 125th anniversary of Sibelius' birth. It is based on an episode from the Kalevala, the great Finnish epic, where Väinämäinen, the hero-God, has fashioned a magical five-stringed instrument from the bones of a giant pike. Orpheus-like, he plays upon it and enchants the people. All listen, and all weep, their hearts melted. Even Väinämäinen weeps, and his tears, 'bigger than cranberries', fall into the clear waters of the deep blue sea. A sea bird dives down to retrieve his tears — they have ripened into pearls.

In Vietnamese, ng? ngon means “good night” or “sleep well.” Oswald Hu?nh says every time he hears those words, he is reminded of the haunting Vietnamese lullabies sung to him as a child, which inform the sound world of this piece. The sound of the two instruments used, dàn b?u and dàn tranh, fittingly elicit emotions of nostalgia, care, and melancholy. Growing up, Oswald listened to so much Vietnamese music through his mother’s bootleg CDs that this piece is somewhat of a love letter to his childhood, of what was and what should have been. The movement titles are derived from lines of poetry that resonate with the themes he explores. The first movement title—“i don't know how to speak tenderness in my first language”—comes from Kimberly Nguyen’s poem (and coincidentally has the same title) “ng? ngon.” The second movement—“you can't sleep except by forgetting, you can't love except by remembering” — is borrowed from Li-Young Lee’s “Restless.”

Alexander Timofeev describes how in the vast expanse of sound and time, we gather fragments of chaos, transforming them into form. Fantasme No. 2 travels through five unique spaces, each defined by its own atmosphere and momentum. Some invite us to linger; others compel us to escape—yet together, they enrich a larger whole. Weaving a multicultural fabric, Fantasme No. 2 mirrors the increasingly interconnected world we share.

In her three Yiddish-language poems titled ???????? Tfiles (Prayers), Kadya Molodowsky reimagines what a Jewish prayer can be. Molodowsky recasts the traditional collective Jewish ritual search for the divine as a personal, individual quest that sets aside the beliefs of orthodoxy. Drawing inspiration from Molodowsky’s three poems, Alex Weiser’s work of the same name, Tfiles, reimagines a clarinet concerto as a set of musical prayers. Following Molodowsky's poems, the first movement is a prayer for life and vitality against the storm of life’s trials; the second movement is a prayer that searches and yearns for knowledge of an absent, unknown God; and the final movement is a paean to nature, finding wonder in the earth and the sky.

Inspired by the African American Ring Shout, Mali Irene’s Deliverance reimagines the orchestra as a democratic, co-creative space. Blending voice, movement, and audience-generated text, the work invites participants to move beyond spectatorship and become active contributors to the performance. By transforming the concert hall into a site of shared authorship, Deliverance explores how participatory music-making can generate temporary worlds, offering a space where memory, ancestry, and future possibilities converge. Ultimately, the work asks: what worlds become possible when artistic creation is shared?

In America, To US, Daniel Bernard Roumain wanted to confront the complicated country he is living in—a deeply divided nation—and the many Americans and other humans within it. Written for violinist Tracy Silverman, the concerto places the soloist in the role of witness before an orchestra reflecting American culture in its embrace of and opposition to ideas. The music moves between volatility and intimacy, helplessness and hope, while “Town Hall Cadenzas” invite audience members to speak, sing, move, or share poetry in spontaneous collaboration with the musicians. This concerto is his offering to an America that has never truly been united, but remains an ever-shifting collection of plural, fragile, and unfinished states—a portrait of conflict, invention, loss, joy, and the ways we define and destroy ourselves in relation to one another. The hope is that listeners hear themselves in this music and glimpse a future America we build, restore, cherish, and imagine together.

 

Founded in 1977 by a collective of fearless New York City musicians, ACO remains an ensemble dedicated to the creation, celebration, performance, and promotion of orchestral music by American composers. Celebrating 50 years committed to artistry, creativity, community, and equity, ACO presents an expansive slate of programming that reflects ACO's growth into a national institution, cultivating the careers of living composers and providing a direct pipeline to partnerships with major symphony orchestras across the country. 

 

ACO’s monumental 50th anniversary season includes its annual series presented by Carnegie Hall, the continuation of its partnership with Platoon on the regular release of commercial recordings celebrating the orchestra’s commissioned works; the relaunch of VOX American Voices Opera Lab at Perelman Arts Center in partnership with six NYC-based arts organizations; a special appearance at Carnegie Hall with acclaimed composer and conductor Ray Chew and the sixth installment of A Night of Inspiration; National EarShot Readings, Tucson Symphony Orchestra, and Wisconsin Chamber Orchestra, as well as ACO itself; EarShot CoLABoratory Workshops with D-Composed and ACO; an 8-week residency at Kaufman Music Center Residency in NYC; and regional orchestral premieres of Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation Orchestral Commission works with partner orchestras nationwide.

Program Information

Thursday, October 22, 2026 at 7:00 PM

An Evening with Alex Weiser and Andrzej Cieplinski: A Celebration of "Tfiles" and its Carnegie Hall Premiere

YIVO Institute for Jewish Research | New York, NY

Link: https://yivo.org/Tfiles 

Tuesday, October 27, 2026 at 5:30 PM 

American Composers Orchestra 2026 Gala & Creative Catalyst Awards

Weill Terrace, Carnegie Hall | New York, NY

Link: www.americancomposers.org/performances-events/2026-gala-and-creative-catalyst-awards 

 

5:30 PM Cocktails and Dinner 

7:30 PM Hello, America: We Gather Here (Zankel Hall), Post-Concert Dessert Reception

‍RSVP by September 30, 2026. Proceeds benefit ACO EarShot composer advancement programs, orchestral performances, and educational initiatives.

Tuesday, October 27, 2026 at 7:30 PM

American Composers Orchestra Hello, America: We Gather Here

Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall | New York, NY

Link: www.carnegiehall.org/calendar/2026/10/27/american-composers-orchestra-0730pm

 

Program:

Daniel Bernard Roumain – America, To US for Electric Violin and Orchestra [NY Premiere]

Oswald Hu?nh – ng? ngon for Vietnamese Traditional Instruments and Orchestra [World Premiere]

Alexander Timofeev – Fantasme No. 2 [World Premiere]

Mali Irene – Deliverance for Orchestra and Community Music Making [World Premiere]

Alex Weiser – Tfiles for Clarinet and Orchestra [US Premiere]

Thea Musgrave – Song of the Enchanter

 

Tracy Silverman, Electric Violin

Vân-Ánh Vanessa Võ, Ðàn B?u and Ðàn Tranh

Andrzej Cieplinski, Clarinet

Kedrick Armstrong, Conductor

Mali Irene, Vocals

About American Composers Orchestra
In 1977, a collective of fearless New York City musicians came together to form the American Composers Orchestra (ACO), an ensemble dedicated to the creation, celebration, performance, and promotion of orchestral music by American composers. Now celebrating 50 years committed to artistry, creativity, community, and equity, ACO has blossomed into a national institution that not only cultivates and develops the careers of living composers, but also provides composers a direct pipeline to partnerships with many of America’s major symphony orchestras.

 

In addition to its annual season, presented by Carnegie Hall since 1987, the ACO serves as a New York City hub where the most forward-thinking experimental American musicians come together to hone and realize new art by developing talent, established composers, and underrepresented voices, increasing the regional, national, and international awareness of the infinite variety of American orchestral music.

 

ACO produces national educational programs for all ages, and composer advancement programs to foster a community of creators, audience, performers, collaborators, and funders – all dedicated to American composition. 

 

To date, ACO has performed music by over 1,200 American composers, including over 350 world premieres and newly commissioned works. Recent and notable commissioned composers include Aaron Israel Levin, Alexander Timofeev, Andy Akiho, Brittany J. Green, Carlos Bandera, Carlos Simon, Clarice Assad, Courtney Bryan, Dai Wei, Daniel Bernard Roumain (DBR), Du Yun, Edmar Castañeda, Elijah Daniel Smith, Ellen Reid, Gabriel Jenks, Horacio Fernández, inti figgis-vizueta, Joan La Barbara, John Luther Adams, Joseph C. Phillips, Jr., Kebra-Seyoun Charles, Kite, Laura Ortman, Malachi Brown, Mali Irene, Marcus Gilmore, Mark Adamo, Mazz Swift, Mendi Keith Obadike, Michael Frazier, Oswald Hu?nh, Patricia Leonard, Paul Novak, Paula Matthusen, Raven Chacon, Shelley Washington, Stephen Hartke, Steve Lehman, Tamar Muskal, Tania León, Tomàs Peire Serrate, Trevor New, Valerie Coleman, Vijay Iyer, Yvette Janine Jackson, and many more.

 

Now encompassing all of ACO’s composer advancement initiatives, EarShot is the first ongoing, systematic program for developing relationships between composers and orchestras on the national level. Through orchestral readings, CoLABoratory fellowships, consortium commissions, publishing, and professional development, EarShot ensures a vibrant musical future by investing in creativity today. Serving over 430 composers since inception, ACO Readings in NYC began in 1991, and since 2008, national Readings have been offered in partnership with orchestras across the country in collaboration with the League of American Orchestras, New Music USA, and American Composers Forum. EarShot Readings composers have gone on to win every major composition award, including the Pulitzer, Grammy, Grawemeyer, American Academy of Arts and Letters, and Rome Prizes.

 

ACO has received numerous awards for its work, including those from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and from BMI recognizing the orchestra’s outstanding contribution to American music. ASCAP has awarded ACO its annual prize for adventurous programming 35 times, singling out ACO as “the orchestra that has done the most for new American music in the United States.” ACO received the inaugural MetLife Award for Excellence in Audience Engagement and a proclamation from the New York City Council. Learn more at www.americancomposers.org. 

 

Photo Credit: Alfred Kan

 

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American Composers Orchestra is grateful to the many organizations that make its programs possible, including the Aaron Copland Fund for Music, Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University, Altman Foundation, Amphion Foundation, Arthur F. & Alice E. Adams Charitable Foundation, ASCAP Foundation, Bank of New York Mellon, BMI Foundation, BMI, Inc., Booth Ferris Foundation, CANVAS, Cheswatyr Foundation, Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation, Edward T. Cone Foundation, Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Ford Foundation’s Good Neighbor Committee, Francis B. Goelet Charitable Trust, Frank and Lydia Bergen Foundation, Frederick Loewe Foundation, Fromm Music Foundation, G. Schirmer/Wise Music Foundation, Give Lively Foundation, Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, Hearst Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, Jephson Educational Trusts, Jerome Foundation, Koret Foundation, League of American Orchestras, MacMillan Family Foundation, Mellon Foundation, Morris and Alma Schapiro Foundation, Neiman Marcus, New Music USA’s Organization Fund, New York Community Trust (Musical Arts Fund, Clara Lewisohn Rossin Trust, and Edward and Sally Van Lier Fund), Pacific Harmony Foundation, PayPal Giving Fund, Sphinx Venture Fund, Steven R. Gerber Trust, TD Charitable Foundation, Turrell Fund, UJA Federation New York, and Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation.

Public funds are provided by the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature.

Hello, America: We Gather Here is supported, in part, by UJA-Federation of New York's Jewish Arts & Culture: Strengthening Jewish Storytelling, Visibility, and Resilience initiative.

 

Alex Weiser’s Tfiles is supported by CANVAS, The Koret Foundation, and The Kosciuszko Foundation. 

Andrzej Cieplinski’s participation in this concert is generously supported by the Polish Cultural Institute New York, the American Friends of POLIN Museum (AFoPM) / Association of the Jewish Historical Institute (SZIH), and the Adam Mickiewicz Institute (IAM).