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Cutting Edge Concerts kicks off 2026 spring season on March 23

Two-part recital at Symphony Space features pianist José López (Part I) and cellist Sarah Kim with guest cellist Alan Rafferty (Part II)

Season also features world premiere opera by Laura Schwendinger (April 28) and soprano-clarinet duo Whistling Hens (May 12)

Victoria Bond's Cutting Edge Concerts New Music Festival kicks off its 2026 season on Monday, March 23 at 7:30 pm with a two-part recital titled "Miami Comes to New York." The program - at Symphony Space's Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre (2537 Broadway at W. 95th St., Manhattan) - features pianist José López, who's on faculty at Florida International University in Miami, Florida, and Korean cellist Sarah Kim, on faculty at Miami University (in Ohio.) Tickets available at SymphonySpace.org.

Part I celebrates the centennial of Cuban American composer Aurelio de la Vega with three works from different stylistic periods: Prelude No. 1 showcases the early chromaticism influenced by European masters such as Karol Symanowski; Epigrama the continued development from the 1950’s prior to the Cuban Revolution; and the avant-garde spatial scores from the 1970’s as heard in Olep ed Arudamot, composed in the U.S. Also on the program are works by past recipients of the CINTAS Fellowship in Music Composition for composers of Cuban descent (de la Vega won a lifetime achievement award from CINTAS in 2008): Pulitzer Prize winner Tania León, Antonio Hernández Lizaso, Orlando J. García, and Ivette Herryman.

On Part II, Kim performs the world premiere of Victoria Bond's "Women of Note," a solo cello suite celebrating the lives of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, conservationist and author of Silent Spring Rachel Carson, composer Clara Schumann, Korean artist Shin Saimdang, and Anne Frank. The program also features a premiere by Kristin Kuster, recipient of the Charles Ives Prize and a professor of composition at University of Michigan, plus works by Kati Agócs and Ellen Harrison. Guest cellist Alan Rafferty joins Kim on the Agócs and Kuster.

Inspired by Pierre Boulez's series, "Perspective Encounters", the composer and conductor Victoria Bond founded Cutting Edge Concerts New Music Festival in 1998. Over its 28 year history, Cutting Edge Concerts has presented over 300 new works. Each program highlights the music of living composers, most of whom attend the concert. Along with performances by world-class ensembles and soloists, each program features on-stage discussions between host Victoria Bond and the composers. 

The Cutting Edge Concerts season continues on April 28 with the world premiere of Laura Schwendinger's opera "Margaret in Love and War," and the soprano-clarinet duo Whistling Hens on May 13. All concerts are at Symphony Space at 7:30 pm.