54th Annual John Donald Robb Composers' Symposium Series
2025-2026 Season Finale
the [Switch~ Ensemble]
Wed 6 May 2026
7:30-9:00pm
6 World Premieres
7 New Mexico-based Composers
1 Visiting Composer-in-Residence
UNM Keller Hall free admission
203 Cornell Dr, Albuquerque, NM 87106
Directions
Wed 6 May 2026
7:30-9:00pm
6 World Premieres
7 New Mexico-based Composers
1 Visiting Composer-in-Residence
UNM Keller Hall free admission
203 Cornell Dr, Albuquerque, NM 87106
Directions
poster by Emilio Méndez Rizo
Program
All composers are in attendance at tonight's performance.
Roberto De León-Ortiz (b. 1994)
The rest is unrest 2026 *
Nicholas Daniel López (b. 1985)
Variations on a Lebanese Lullaby 2024; rev. 2026 *
Emilio Méndez Rizo (b. 1998)
Always Beginning 2026 *
Peter Gilbert & Karola Obermüller
in die Zeit vergangen
(eine Malina-Suite) 2026 *
intermission
Jason Thorpe Buchanan (b. 1986)
soliloquios del viento 2016; rev. 2017
Carlos Santiago Medina (b. 2003)
Homage to Lugosi and Bartók 2026 *
Kelly Feng // 冯重瑞 (b. 2002)
Glitch Refuses 2026 *
All composers are in attendance at tonight's performance.
Roberto De León-Ortiz (b. 1994)
The rest is unrest 2026 *
Nicholas Daniel López (b. 1985)
Variations on a Lebanese Lullaby 2024; rev. 2026 *
Emilio Méndez Rizo (b. 1998)
Always Beginning 2026 *
Peter Gilbert & Karola Obermüller
in die Zeit vergangen
(eine Malina-Suite) 2026 *
intermission
Jason Thorpe Buchanan (b. 1986)
soliloquios del viento 2016; rev. 2017
Carlos Santiago Medina (b. 2003)
Homage to Lugosi and Bartók 2026 *
Kelly Feng // 冯重瑞 (b. 2002)
Glitch Refuses 2026 *
* world premiere
Program Notes
The rest is unrest
for mixed ensemble
Roberto De León-Ortiz (b. 1994)
world premiere
The music centers on a constant state of instability, where overlapping and interweaving lines move between stillness and varying degrees of motion, rarely settling together. Clear pitch is gradually pushed toward noise as part of a continuous shift. This constant sense of unrest drives the music forward.
Throughout, pitch material expands and contracts, stretching outward and folding back into itself. Moments of precise alignment only emerge as brief coloristic events rather than structural pivots.
for mixed ensemble
Roberto De León-Ortiz (b. 1994)
world premiere
The music centers on a constant state of instability, where overlapping and interweaving lines move between stillness and varying degrees of motion, rarely settling together. Clear pitch is gradually pushed toward noise as part of a continuous shift. This constant sense of unrest drives the music forward.
Throughout, pitch material expands and contracts, stretching outward and folding back into itself. Moments of precise alignment only emerge as brief coloristic events rather than structural pivots.
Variations on a Lebanese Lullaby
(2024 rev. 2026)
Nicholas Daniel López (b. 1985)
world premiere
Originally composed in the fall of 2024 amid escalating violence in Lebanon, this trio for piano, flute, and cello is a response to the mobile-device bombings whose signals and aftershocks permeate the score’s sonic field. At its core is a dialogue between Lebanese singer Fairuz’s “Yalla Tnam Reema” and Lebanon’s terrifying ambient soundscape of the time—tender lyric fragments suspended in horror. I updated the score’s gestures to reify the violence and ballistic concatenation that has returned to the Levant recently. The work’s first iteration was premiered May 2025 at Paul Hall in New York City.
(2024 rev. 2026)
Nicholas Daniel López (b. 1985)
world premiere
Originally composed in the fall of 2024 amid escalating violence in Lebanon, this trio for piano, flute, and cello is a response to the mobile-device bombings whose signals and aftershocks permeate the score’s sonic field. At its core is a dialogue between Lebanese singer Fairuz’s “Yalla Tnam Reema” and Lebanon’s terrifying ambient soundscape of the time—tender lyric fragments suspended in horror. I updated the score’s gestures to reify the violence and ballistic concatenation that has returned to the Levant recently. The work’s first iteration was premiered May 2025 at Paul Hall in New York City.
Always Beginning
Emilio Méndez Rizo (b. 1998)
world premiere
I. Prim
II. Aloof
III. Gemas en la Casa de los Espejos
IV. Ritual Atónito
V. This River Shouldn't Be Here
VI. ... y las ninfas se perdieron
Emilio Méndez Rizo (b. 1998)
world premiere
I. Prim
II. Aloof
III. Gemas en la Casa de los Espejos
IV. Ritual Atónito
V. This River Shouldn't Be Here
VI. ... y las ninfas se perdieron
in die Zeit vergangen (eine Malina-Suite)
Peter Gilbert & Karola Obermüller
world premiere
Ingeborg Bachmann’s landmark feminist novel Malina has occupied our last four years as we composed a 90-minute opera recently premiered in Germany of which this piece is a kind of echoing memory.
Peter Gilbert & Karola Obermüller
world premiere
Ingeborg Bachmann’s landmark feminist novel Malina has occupied our last four years as we composed a 90-minute opera recently premiered in Germany of which this piece is a kind of echoing memory.
- heute. The protagonist, a sensitive author, is overwhelmed by 1960s Vienna but also by troubling memories that arise causing confusion
- erinnerung. The (unnamed) protagonist navigates her life with a projected alter ego “Malina” with whom she debates philosophy and identity
- sprung. A hole in her wall seems to beckon from beyond and its siren song of fate mixes with voices from the author’s escapist fairy tale come to life.
- abgewöhnen. The author’s relationship with a single father brings her anxiety to a boiling point as does her complex feelings for his two children. She ultimately chooses her artistic life over these attachments.
- schlafen. Throughout the novel we see her addiction to sleeping pills become a real problem as her projected alter ego becomes increasingly worried.
- morgen. The final morning she awakens, as light pours through the apartment, we see that the hole in the wall has grown into a large fissure.
- durch. The novel ends as the author chooses to go through the wall disappearing forever. Malina remains behind.
soliloquios del viento
(2016; rev. 2017)
Jason Thorpe Buchanan (b. 1986)
soliloquios del viento was commissioned by Royaumont Académie Voix Nouvelles, written in August of 2016 and premiered by the Talea Ensemble & EXAUDI on September 9, 2016, conducted by James Baker. This fifteen-minute work is a meditation on eight poems of Pablo Neruda, reflecting love, distance, and despair. Six singers are set against eight instrumentalists whose fragile and often voiceless sonorities gently color and obscure the murmuring of the text and pointillistic vocal material. The Spanish text is predominantly unintelligible, with the content of Neruda's words instead conjured by the composite texture. He writes of two lovers, their romance characterized by abrasion – a rendezvous between two scorched, ascetic souls, who consume and destroy one another, entangled yet divided by both sublime transfiguration and inexorable chaos. The revised versions for sextet/septet and electronics was completed in 2017 for Ensemble Interface’s premiere at the 2017 VIPA Festival in Spain and the Hong Kong New Music Ensemble’s premiere at the 2019 TICF Academy and Festival in Thailand, respectively, redistributing vocal parts to the electronics and ensemble, alongside instrumental samples and other sources.
Neruda’s texts evoke not only the conflict between darkness and light in both persons, but through this lens, the experience of being confronted with the subjectivity of another’s consciousness. That otherness is manifest in lurid, destructive passions, revealing mutual incoherence, frailty, and sophism beyond endurance. Each poem seems to present discrete, parallel scenarios, some in which each person is awoken by their confrontation rather than destroyed – in others suffering to the point of intolerable anguish and desolation. Eroticism and sunderance run throughout Neruda’s powerful imagery, his lover depicted as an enemy with whom he pleads for voice – who has disgraced their love. For the poet, love is the sole means with which two people may “weather” one another. A source of both euphoria and utter devastation, there is a vastness that is evoked in his texts, an attempt to span immeasurable time and distance. Each braves the other, an intimacy and corrosive embrace that both breaks and absolves each person.
(2016; rev. 2017)
Jason Thorpe Buchanan (b. 1986)
soliloquios del viento was commissioned by Royaumont Académie Voix Nouvelles, written in August of 2016 and premiered by the Talea Ensemble & EXAUDI on September 9, 2016, conducted by James Baker. This fifteen-minute work is a meditation on eight poems of Pablo Neruda, reflecting love, distance, and despair. Six singers are set against eight instrumentalists whose fragile and often voiceless sonorities gently color and obscure the murmuring of the text and pointillistic vocal material. The Spanish text is predominantly unintelligible, with the content of Neruda's words instead conjured by the composite texture. He writes of two lovers, their romance characterized by abrasion – a rendezvous between two scorched, ascetic souls, who consume and destroy one another, entangled yet divided by both sublime transfiguration and inexorable chaos. The revised versions for sextet/septet and electronics was completed in 2017 for Ensemble Interface’s premiere at the 2017 VIPA Festival in Spain and the Hong Kong New Music Ensemble’s premiere at the 2019 TICF Academy and Festival in Thailand, respectively, redistributing vocal parts to the electronics and ensemble, alongside instrumental samples and other sources.
Neruda’s texts evoke not only the conflict between darkness and light in both persons, but through this lens, the experience of being confronted with the subjectivity of another’s consciousness. That otherness is manifest in lurid, destructive passions, revealing mutual incoherence, frailty, and sophism beyond endurance. Each poem seems to present discrete, parallel scenarios, some in which each person is awoken by their confrontation rather than destroyed – in others suffering to the point of intolerable anguish and desolation. Eroticism and sunderance run throughout Neruda’s powerful imagery, his lover depicted as an enemy with whom he pleads for voice – who has disgraced their love. For the poet, love is the sole means with which two people may “weather” one another. A source of both euphoria and utter devastation, there is a vastness that is evoked in his texts, an attempt to span immeasurable time and distance. Each braves the other, an intimacy and corrosive embrace that both breaks and absolves each person.
Homage to Lugosi and Bartók
Carlos Santiago Medina (b. 2003)
world premiere
Two Hungarian people have become heavy influences in my music and art. Bela Lugosi, the actor who played Count Dracula in the 1931 movie adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, and Bela Bartók, the composer famous for his spiky aesthetic and musicological research. My homage is simply a love letter to both artists, and to the creations they have left behind for me to enjoy.
Carlos Santiago Medina (b. 2003)
world premiere
Two Hungarian people have become heavy influences in my music and art. Bela Lugosi, the actor who played Count Dracula in the 1931 movie adaptation of Bram Stoker's novel Dracula, and Bela Bartók, the composer famous for his spiky aesthetic and musicological research. My homage is simply a love letter to both artists, and to the creations they have left behind for me to enjoy.
Performers
the [Switch~ Ensemble] is
Artistic Statement
the [Switch~ Ensemble] is
- Daria Binkowski, flutes
- Michiko Ogawa, clarinets
- Andrew Tholl, violin
- TJ Borden, cello
- Megan Arns, percussion
- Mari Kawamura, piano
- Wei-Han Wu, conductor
- Jason Thorpe Buchanan, Artistic Director / electronics
Artistic Statement
A new music ensemble for the 21st Century, the [Switch~ Ensemble] is dedicated to the creation of new works for chamber ensemble: we bring bold new acoustic, electroacoustic, and multimedia projects to life. At the core of each performance is our commitment to the total integration of technology and live musicians. We strive for compelling artistry achieved through the seamless creation, production, and execution of new music, and believe that working directly with composers—in a medium where the score is a point of departure rather than a finish line—allows for new and thrilling musical possibilities.
[Switch~] contributes to the future of the genre by strongly advocating for and commissioning the music of a new generation of emerging young composers. We have enjoyed fruitful collaborations with both emerging and established composers, with commissions and premieres of works by composers including Anna-Louise Walton, Alican Çamci, Igor Santos, Katherine Young, Stefano Gervasoni, Stefan Prins, Wojtek Blecharz, Anthony Vine, Rand Steiger, Philippe Leroux, Timothy McCormack, Tonia Ko, James Bean, Matt Sargent, Marianthi Papalexandri-Alexandri, Esaias Järnegard, Sivan Eldar, Julio Zúñiga, Zeynep Toraman, Alexander Schubert, Adrien Trybucki, Elvira Garifzyanova, Santiago Diez-Fischer, Lisa Streich, Anthony Pateras, and many others.
Recent engagements include performances and residencies at Cornell, Bard College, University of Chicago, Ithaca College, Buffalo State, UC Berkeley, the VIPA Festival (Spain), Eastman School of Music, and Avaloch Farms Music Institute, as well as concerts at the Image/Sound Festival, San Francisco Center for New Music, MATA Interval Series, NYCEMF, Vanguard New Music Series at Kent State University, the Queens New Music Festival, the CD release of Christopher Chandler’s Smoke and Mirrors on the SEAMUS label, and more.
2019-20 season highlights include a workshop and performance at UC San Diego for a new commission by Katharina Rosenberger; the premiere of her work at the DiMenna Center in New York City; a return engagement at Eastman Audio Research Studio; and residencies with Harvard Group for New Music, Miami’s Frost School of Music, and the SPLICE Institute.
Here's the [Switch~ Ensemble] performing the world premiere of Hard columns you within (2022) by Victoria Cheah, Chatham, New York, November 18, 2022. Laura Cocks-flutes, Madison Greenstone-clarinets, Lauren Cauley-violin, T.J. Borden-cello, Megan Arns-percussion, Jason Thorpe Buchanan-electronics, Audio and Video mixed and edited by Jason Thorpe Buchanan.
[Switch~] contributes to the future of the genre by strongly advocating for and commissioning the music of a new generation of emerging young composers. We have enjoyed fruitful collaborations with both emerging and established composers, with commissions and premieres of works by composers including Anna-Louise Walton, Alican Çamci, Igor Santos, Katherine Young, Stefano Gervasoni, Stefan Prins, Wojtek Blecharz, Anthony Vine, Rand Steiger, Philippe Leroux, Timothy McCormack, Tonia Ko, James Bean, Matt Sargent, Marianthi Papalexandri-Alexandri, Esaias Järnegard, Sivan Eldar, Julio Zúñiga, Zeynep Toraman, Alexander Schubert, Adrien Trybucki, Elvira Garifzyanova, Santiago Diez-Fischer, Lisa Streich, Anthony Pateras, and many others.
Recent engagements include performances and residencies at Cornell, Bard College, University of Chicago, Ithaca College, Buffalo State, UC Berkeley, the VIPA Festival (Spain), Eastman School of Music, and Avaloch Farms Music Institute, as well as concerts at the Image/Sound Festival, San Francisco Center for New Music, MATA Interval Series, NYCEMF, Vanguard New Music Series at Kent State University, the Queens New Music Festival, the CD release of Christopher Chandler’s Smoke and Mirrors on the SEAMUS label, and more.
2019-20 season highlights include a workshop and performance at UC San Diego for a new commission by Katharina Rosenberger; the premiere of her work at the DiMenna Center in New York City; a return engagement at Eastman Audio Research Studio; and residencies with Harvard Group for New Music, Miami’s Frost School of Music, and the SPLICE Institute.
Here's the [Switch~ Ensemble] performing the world premiere of Hard columns you within (2022) by Victoria Cheah, Chatham, New York, November 18, 2022. Laura Cocks-flutes, Madison Greenstone-clarinets, Lauren Cauley-violin, T.J. Borden-cello, Megan Arns-percussion, Jason Thorpe Buchanan-electronics, Audio and Video mixed and edited by Jason Thorpe Buchanan.
Composers
Roberto De León-Ortiz (b. 1994)
Roberto De León-Ortiz (b. 1994)
is a Mexican composer and pianist currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Composition and Collaborative Piano at the University of New Mexico, under the guidance of Dr. José-Luis Hurtado and Pamela Viktoria Pyle.
His works have been premiered and recorded by performers such as the JACK Quartet, Laura Cocks, Ángel Flores, Ben Roidl-Ward, TRAMAS collective, Siqueiros Trio, Francisco Alcocer, and the University of Guanajuato Symphony Orchestra. He was a recipient of the 2020 PECDA grant (Artistic Creation and Development Funding Program, awarded by the government of Mexico), for which he composed a largescale work for piano and percussion, which he premiered as pianist.
Here is Roberto's composition "Bounce" selected piece of Sonit's Call for Scores 2020 for solo double bass, performed by Francisco Alcocer, produced by Enrique Mendoza, Jonathan Figueroa, and Axel Retif, May 2022. Visit Roberto's Soundcloud channel to hear more of his music.
His works have been premiered and recorded by performers such as the JACK Quartet, Laura Cocks, Ángel Flores, Ben Roidl-Ward, TRAMAS collective, Siqueiros Trio, Francisco Alcocer, and the University of Guanajuato Symphony Orchestra. He was a recipient of the 2020 PECDA grant (Artistic Creation and Development Funding Program, awarded by the government of Mexico), for which he composed a largescale work for piano and percussion, which he premiered as pianist.
Here is Roberto's composition "Bounce" selected piece of Sonit's Call for Scores 2020 for solo double bass, performed by Francisco Alcocer, produced by Enrique Mendoza, Jonathan Figueroa, and Axel Retif, May 2022. Visit Roberto's Soundcloud channel to hear more of his music.
Nicholas Daniel López (b.1985)
is an emerging composer whose work lies at the intersection of culture and history. Drawing on his Hispanic heritage—alongside classical and cinematic traditions—he creates emotionally resonant works driven by a sense of inevitability and storytelling. López earned his Bachelor of Music in Composition as a Presidential Scholar from the USC Thornton School of Music and holds Certificates in Composition from The Juilliard School Extension Division and in Harmony & Counterpoint from the European American Musical Alliance at the Schola Cantorum in Paris.
A laureate of the Young Composer’s Competition in Barcelona for his setting of Federico García Lorca’s Romance de la pena negra, López continues to explore vivid, culturally informed sound worlds. He recently returned home to pursue dual Master of Music degrees in Theory & Composition and Musicology at UNM, integrating interdisciplinary research and studies in opera to explore the stories of his homeland.
Here's a performance of López's composition Grey Glass Panes performed by Cello Fourum: Marc Moskovitz, Peng Li, David Meyer, and Nathaniel Yaffe, Dec 2014.
A laureate of the Young Composer’s Competition in Barcelona for his setting of Federico García Lorca’s Romance de la pena negra, López continues to explore vivid, culturally informed sound worlds. He recently returned home to pursue dual Master of Music degrees in Theory & Composition and Musicology at UNM, integrating interdisciplinary research and studies in opera to explore the stories of his homeland.
Here's a performance of López's composition Grey Glass Panes performed by Cello Fourum: Marc Moskovitz, Peng Li, David Meyer, and Nathaniel Yaffe, Dec 2014.
Emilio Méndez Rizo (b. 1998)
was born in Simi Valley, California. He moved to Mexico City, where he was raised, shortly after birth. He began his musical studies in 2006, playing piano and electric guitar. During his teenage years he delved into electronic music, taking a self-teaching approach, which, through an unexpected turn of events, by connecting an appeal for complex timbre and form, lead him to take on the world of academic concert music.
Shortly after beginning his undergraduate studies at the Escuela Superior de Música (ESM, INBAL, Mexico City) in 2018, he was selected, alongside fellow colleagues, to present a mixed-media work as part of the 25th anniversary celebrations of the Centro Nacional de las Artes (CENART). Following this performance, he was commissioned to compose a fanfare; however, the project was ultimately cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this setback, the artistic relationships formed during the event led to several commissions from ensemble members, including a drum set concerto for the conductor’s graduation recital and a string quartet.
Driven by a deep commitment to collaboration and guided by a humane artistic vision, he has taken part in several interdisciplinary projects. Notably, he contributed to the award-winning independent film collective Desvaríos, composing for the short film Puertas (2022).
“Emi” has always looked for maximizing the emotional effects of music, whether it’s by mellow textures or blasted tones. Blending compositional techniques of total specificity with aleatoric processes and uncanny timbres through electronics, using his background in mathematics, he thrives in simplifying complex ideas into intuitive notation with a powerful emotional load.
Here is Realidades Entrelazadas 1 (Entangled Realities 1) Composition & Live Electronics by Emilio Méndez Rizo, Conducted by Adrián Gutiérrez de Llano, performed by Kandinsky Chamber Orchestra, Premiered 26 January 2020, Teatro nacional de las Artes, México.
Shortly after beginning his undergraduate studies at the Escuela Superior de Música (ESM, INBAL, Mexico City) in 2018, he was selected, alongside fellow colleagues, to present a mixed-media work as part of the 25th anniversary celebrations of the Centro Nacional de las Artes (CENART). Following this performance, he was commissioned to compose a fanfare; however, the project was ultimately cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this setback, the artistic relationships formed during the event led to several commissions from ensemble members, including a drum set concerto for the conductor’s graduation recital and a string quartet.
Driven by a deep commitment to collaboration and guided by a humane artistic vision, he has taken part in several interdisciplinary projects. Notably, he contributed to the award-winning independent film collective Desvaríos, composing for the short film Puertas (2022).
“Emi” has always looked for maximizing the emotional effects of music, whether it’s by mellow textures or blasted tones. Blending compositional techniques of total specificity with aleatoric processes and uncanny timbres through electronics, using his background in mathematics, he thrives in simplifying complex ideas into intuitive notation with a powerful emotional load.
Here is Realidades Entrelazadas 1 (Entangled Realities 1) Composition & Live Electronics by Emilio Méndez Rizo, Conducted by Adrián Gutiérrez de Llano, performed by Kandinsky Chamber Orchestra, Premiered 26 January 2020, Teatro nacional de las Artes, México.
Peter Gilbert
Robb Composers' Symposium Series Director
Robb Composers' Symposium Series Director
is a Professor of Music at the University of New Mexico. He has commissions and accolades from the Barlow Foundation, New Music USA, the Aaron Copland House, ZKM (Institut für Akustik und Musik), the Russolo Foundation, the Look & Listen Festival, the Third Practice Festival, and IMEB Bourges. He writes: “My music usually aspires to create a sonic architecture that helps us lose our sense of time completely and allows us to partake in a kind of more direct aural experience in search of passageways to transcendence.”
Gilbert’s music can be heard on numerous labels including New Focus Recordings and at petergilbert.net.
Here is Peter Gilbert's Soon as the Sun Forsook the Eastern Main performed by Emanuele Arciuli, piano from the album Burned into the Orange released by New Focus Recordings and available on Bandcamp.
Gilbert’s music can be heard on numerous labels including New Focus Recordings and at petergilbert.net.
Here is Peter Gilbert's Soon as the Sun Forsook the Eastern Main performed by Emanuele Arciuli, piano from the album Burned into the Orange released by New Focus Recordings and available on Bandcamp.
Karola's composing, described by the New York Times as "hyperkinetic music”, is constantly in search of the unknown. After obtaining composition degrees in Nuremberg, Saarbrücken, and the University Mozarteum Salzburg, her sense of rhythm and form was forever changed by studying Carnatic and Hindustani classical music in Chennai and Delhi, India.
A Ph.D. at Harvard University brought her to the US where she taught at the University of New Mexico before joining the Department of Music at UC San Diego. She also lives and works part of the year in Europe and has been a visiting artist at ZKM, Deutsche Akademie Rom, Centro Tedesco di studi Veneziani, Akademie Schloss Solitude, Eisler House (International Hanns Eisler Scholarship), and IRCAM.
Her music, often political, always dramatic, includes operas for Staatstheater Nürnberg, Theater Bielefeld, Theater Bonn, Theater Heidelberg, Theater Aachen, and Stuttgart’s Musik der Jahrhunderte. The emotional juxtapositions of story suspended in a tableau architecture that one finds in her operas can be heard in her concert works as well. These include commissions from the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Fromm Music Foundation, New Music USA, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Saarländischer Rundfunk, and numerous renowned soloists and ensembles.
Her music can be heard on CD (WERGO, New Focus Recordings, Brilliant Classics, NEOS) and online at karolaobermueller.net.
Here is Karola Obermüller's Dehnung (2020) for daegeum, koto, gayageum, two violins, viola violoncello, double bass, and percussion performed by AsianArt Ensemble 15 May 2023, Konzerthaus Berlin. All rights reserved.
A Ph.D. at Harvard University brought her to the US where she taught at the University of New Mexico before joining the Department of Music at UC San Diego. She also lives and works part of the year in Europe and has been a visiting artist at ZKM, Deutsche Akademie Rom, Centro Tedesco di studi Veneziani, Akademie Schloss Solitude, Eisler House (International Hanns Eisler Scholarship), and IRCAM.
Her music, often political, always dramatic, includes operas for Staatstheater Nürnberg, Theater Bielefeld, Theater Bonn, Theater Heidelberg, Theater Aachen, and Stuttgart’s Musik der Jahrhunderte. The emotional juxtapositions of story suspended in a tableau architecture that one finds in her operas can be heard in her concert works as well. These include commissions from the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Fromm Music Foundation, New Music USA, Bayerischer Rundfunk, Saarländischer Rundfunk, and numerous renowned soloists and ensembles.
Her music can be heard on CD (WERGO, New Focus Recordings, Brilliant Classics, NEOS) and online at karolaobermueller.net.
Here is Karola Obermüller's Dehnung (2020) for daegeum, koto, gayageum, two violins, viola violoncello, double bass, and percussion performed by AsianArt Ensemble 15 May 2023, Konzerthaus Berlin. All rights reserved.
Jason Thorpe Buchanan (b.1986)
is a tri-continentally active composer, intermedia artist, and technologist. His works explore multiplicity, causality, behavior, and the integration of live performance with technology.
In 2025, he was appointed Professor für Komposition mit digitalen Medien at the Hochschule für Musik Würzburg, Germany, and leads the graduate program in Komposition mit neuen Medien as director of the Zentrum für Intermediale Komposition (formerly Studio für experimentelle elektronische Musik).
He has been recognized internationally through fellowships and commissions from the Fulbright Foundation (to HfMT Hamburg, 2010-11), the American-Scandinavian Foundation, EMPAC (2025), Royaumont (France, 2016 & 2017), TIME SPANS (NYC), the Mizzou International Composers Festival (MICF, 2013), the International Horn Society, Eklekto Percussion (Switzerland), Tetractys New Music (Austin), Tzlil Meudcan, the Earle Brown Music Foundation, two ASCAP Morton Gould Awards (2014 & 2015), Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung, as winner of Iron Composer (2014), the Howard Hanson Orchestral Prize (2014) and more, including selection as Artist-in-Residence at USF Verftet (Norway), the Embassy of Foreign Artists (Switzerland), the Brush Creek Foundation (Wyoming), nomination for the 2015 Gaudeamus Prize, as a 2024 Aaron Copland Bogliasco Fellow (Italy), and as a 2026 SWR EXPERIMENTALSTUDIO Fellow (Germany). Learn more about Jason.
Here's soliloquios del viento (2016; rev. 2017) by Jason Thorpe Buchanan, version for sextet and electronics, performed by the TACETi Ensemble at the TRANSIT Festival in Leuven, Belgium October 2019.
In 2025, he was appointed Professor für Komposition mit digitalen Medien at the Hochschule für Musik Würzburg, Germany, and leads the graduate program in Komposition mit neuen Medien as director of the Zentrum für Intermediale Komposition (formerly Studio für experimentelle elektronische Musik).
He has been recognized internationally through fellowships and commissions from the Fulbright Foundation (to HfMT Hamburg, 2010-11), the American-Scandinavian Foundation, EMPAC (2025), Royaumont (France, 2016 & 2017), TIME SPANS (NYC), the Mizzou International Composers Festival (MICF, 2013), the International Horn Society, Eklekto Percussion (Switzerland), Tetractys New Music (Austin), Tzlil Meudcan, the Earle Brown Music Foundation, two ASCAP Morton Gould Awards (2014 & 2015), Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung, as winner of Iron Composer (2014), the Howard Hanson Orchestral Prize (2014) and more, including selection as Artist-in-Residence at USF Verftet (Norway), the Embassy of Foreign Artists (Switzerland), the Brush Creek Foundation (Wyoming), nomination for the 2015 Gaudeamus Prize, as a 2024 Aaron Copland Bogliasco Fellow (Italy), and as a 2026 SWR EXPERIMENTALSTUDIO Fellow (Germany). Learn more about Jason.
Here's soliloquios del viento (2016; rev. 2017) by Jason Thorpe Buchanan, version for sextet and electronics, performed by the TACETi Ensemble at the TRANSIT Festival in Leuven, Belgium October 2019.
Carlos Santiago Medina (b. 2003)
or Santi, as he likes to be called, is a guitarist and composer born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He currently studies at the University of New Mexico, working towards a bachelor's in music theory and composition.
Alongside his college studies, Santi participates in the Albuquerque Composer Collective. A student organization that advocates for DIY (do it yourself) music projects, events, and collaborations.
Inspired by his metal phase in his teenage years, Santi fell in love with the post-tonal works of Leo Brouwer, Béla Bartók, and Arnold Schoenberg. Though his musical aesthetic reflects his punk and serialist influences, Santi would describe his style as “New Mexican”.
Here's a performance of Santi's work, Dos Poemas Del Paramo. His sister wrote the poems/lyrics which he set to music. The performers are New York City based loadbang, a mixed ensemble for voice, clarinet, trumpet, and trombone. Visit Santi's YouTube channel to hear more of his artistry.
Alongside his college studies, Santi participates in the Albuquerque Composer Collective. A student organization that advocates for DIY (do it yourself) music projects, events, and collaborations.
Inspired by his metal phase in his teenage years, Santi fell in love with the post-tonal works of Leo Brouwer, Béla Bartók, and Arnold Schoenberg. Though his musical aesthetic reflects his punk and serialist influences, Santi would describe his style as “New Mexican”.
Here's a performance of Santi's work, Dos Poemas Del Paramo. His sister wrote the poems/lyrics which he set to music. The performers are New York City based loadbang, a mixed ensemble for voice, clarinet, trumpet, and trombone. Visit Santi's YouTube channel to hear more of his artistry.
Kelly Feng // 冯重瑞 (b. 2002)
(she/her/hers) is a composer and interdisciplinary artist whose works are a blend of electronic music, electroacoustic music, traditional concert music, and intermedia installations. She makes her own instruments and much of her works root in decolonial, feminist, and anti-authoritarian perspectives. Her artistic practice prioritizes community, human connection, DIY culture, and non-conformity towards systems of power. Outside of creating and composing, Kelly is also an enthusiastic performer and she enjoys collaborating with fellow musicians and artists on noise and art shows.
Recipient of the 2024 Erickson Prize and the 2023 Dr. Milton H. Saier, Sr. Memorial Award, Kelly holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of California, San Diego, where she graduated summa cum laude. She is currently working on her Master’s degree in Theory and Composition from the University of New Mexico. Her teachers include Peter Gilbert, Stewart Copeland, Karola Obermueller, Rand Steiger, Chinary Ung, Lei Liang, and Marcos Balter.
Kelly was born in Shenzhen, China, and was raised between Shenzhen and San Jose, California. Currently based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, she loves spending her weekends with dogs and cats at her local animal shelter. In an alternative universe, she would probably pursue a pet grooming / pet training career.
Here is a performance of How Much of Me by Kelly Feng // 冯重瑞 performed by Jesse Tatum, at the Robb Electronica concert, Tuesday 4 February 2025, UNM ARTSLab. Recording and Video Editing by Kelly Feng. Special thanks to Peter Gilbert, Valery Estabrook, Sarah Bennett Davidson, and Stewart Copeland.
Recipient of the 2024 Erickson Prize and the 2023 Dr. Milton H. Saier, Sr. Memorial Award, Kelly holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of California, San Diego, where she graduated summa cum laude. She is currently working on her Master’s degree in Theory and Composition from the University of New Mexico. Her teachers include Peter Gilbert, Stewart Copeland, Karola Obermueller, Rand Steiger, Chinary Ung, Lei Liang, and Marcos Balter.
Kelly was born in Shenzhen, China, and was raised between Shenzhen and San Jose, California. Currently based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, she loves spending her weekends with dogs and cats at her local animal shelter. In an alternative universe, she would probably pursue a pet grooming / pet training career.
Here is a performance of How Much of Me by Kelly Feng // 冯重瑞 performed by Jesse Tatum, at the Robb Electronica concert, Tuesday 4 February 2025, UNM ARTSLab. Recording and Video Editing by Kelly Feng. Special thanks to Peter Gilbert, Valery Estabrook, Sarah Bennett Davidson, and Stewart Copeland.
2025-2026 Season
The annual Robb Symposium Series aligns with The University of New Mexico's academic year, with events taking place during the fall and spring semesters. All events are free admission all ages family-friendly community events, unless otherwise noted. Visit this page regularly for new event listings.
The annual Robb Symposium Series aligns with The University of New Mexico's academic year, with events taking place during the fall and spring semesters. All events are free admission all ages family-friendly community events, unless otherwise noted. Visit this page regularly for new event listings.
Artist Residency
the [Switch~ Ensemble]
4-6 May 2026
Monday 4 May 2026
Rehearsals with composers
Tuesday 5 May 2026
Rehearsals with composers
Wednesday 6 May 2026
4:00-5:00pm
Masterclasses
7:30-9:00pm
Concert Free Admission
Keller Hall at Center for the Arts (CFA)
203 Cornell Dr, Albuquerque, NM 87106
Directions
the [Switch~ Ensemble]
4-6 May 2026
Monday 4 May 2026
Rehearsals with composers
Tuesday 5 May 2026
Rehearsals with composers
Wednesday 6 May 2026
4:00-5:00pm
Masterclasses
- Andrew Tholl violin CFA 2100
- TJ Borden cello Keller Hall
- Megan Arns percussion tba
7:30-9:00pm
Concert Free Admission
Keller Hall at Center for the Arts (CFA)
203 Cornell Dr, Albuquerque, NM 87106
Directions
Artist Residency
Trio Magnoliana
6-8 April 2026
featuring:
Mann-Wen Lo, violin
Eunghee Cho, cello
Andrew Staupe, piano
Monday 6 April 2026
Closed rehearsals with composers
Tuesday 7 April 2026
Closed rehearsals with composers
Wednesday 8 April 2026
3:30-5:00pm
Violin Masterclass CFA Rm 2100
Cello Masterclass Keller Hall
7:30pm
Annual Robb Concert
Featured Composers
Center for the Arts (CFA)
University of New Mexico
College of Fine Arts
MSC04 2570
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
Directions
Trio Magnoliana
6-8 April 2026
featuring:
Mann-Wen Lo, violin
Eunghee Cho, cello
Andrew Staupe, piano
Monday 6 April 2026
Closed rehearsals with composers
Tuesday 7 April 2026
Closed rehearsals with composers
Wednesday 8 April 2026
3:30-5:00pm
Violin Masterclass CFA Rm 2100
Cello Masterclass Keller Hall
7:30pm
Annual Robb Concert
Featured Composers
- John Donald Robb
- Peter Gilbert
- Steven Block
- Nicky Sohn
- Emilio Méndez Rizo
- Roberto De León-Ortiz
- Lucas Stafford
- Carlos Santiago Medina
Center for the Arts (CFA)
University of New Mexico
College of Fine Arts
MSC04 2570
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
Directions
Artist Talk
Christopher Trapani
Friday 6 February 2026 11am
Free Admission
a family-friendly
community event
Center for the Arts (CFA)
Room 1111
University of New Mexico
College of Fine Arts
MSC04 2570
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
Directions
Christopher Trapani
Friday 6 February 2026 11am
Free Admission
a family-friendly
community event
Center for the Arts (CFA)
Room 1111
University of New Mexico
College of Fine Arts
MSC04 2570
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
Directions
Artist Talk
Daniel Ward
Friday 6 December 2025 11am
Free Admission
a family-friendly
community event
Center for the Arts (CFA)
Room 1111
University of New Mexico
College of Fine Arts
MSC04 2570
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
Directions
Daniel Ward
Friday 6 December 2025 11am
Free Admission
a family-friendly
community event
Center for the Arts (CFA)
Room 1111
University of New Mexico
College of Fine Arts
MSC04 2570
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
Directions
New Music Piano Recital
Emanuele Arciuli
Tuesday 21 October 2025 7:30pm
4 World Premieres
2 Robb Trust Commissions
Free Admission
a family-friendly community event
Composers
Lucas Stafford, Carlos Santiago Medina, Emilio Méndez Rizo, Jonah Elrod*, Jessi Harvey*, Kyle Gann, Louis W. Ballard
Keller Hall at Center for the Arts (CFA)
University of New Mexico
College of Fine Arts
MSC04 2570
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
Directions
*Jessi Harvey and Jonah Elrod are recipients of the 2026 Robb Commission.
Emanuele Arciuli
Tuesday 21 October 2025 7:30pm
4 World Premieres
2 Robb Trust Commissions
Free Admission
a family-friendly community event
Composers
Lucas Stafford, Carlos Santiago Medina, Emilio Méndez Rizo, Jonah Elrod*, Jessi Harvey*, Kyle Gann, Louis W. Ballard
Keller Hall at Center for the Arts (CFA)
University of New Mexico
College of Fine Arts
MSC04 2570
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
Directions
*Jessi Harvey and Jonah Elrod are recipients of the 2026 Robb Commission.
UNM Arts Lab
131 Pine Street NE @Central & University
Albuquerque, NM 87106
(505) 277-2253
Directions
Episcopal Cathedral of St. John
318 Silver Avenue SW (corner of 3rd & Silver)
Albuquerque, NM 87102
(505) 247-1581
Directions
131 Pine Street NE @Central & University
Albuquerque, NM 87106
(505) 277-2253
Directions
Episcopal Cathedral of St. John
318 Silver Avenue SW (corner of 3rd & Silver)
Albuquerque, NM 87102
(505) 247-1581
Directions
Venues
Center for the Arts (CFA)
University of New Mexico
College of Fine Arts
MSC04 2570
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
Directions
Map Key:
A. CFA entrance
B. CFA Room 1111
C. Keller Hall (505) 277-2131
D. Popejoy Hall (505) 277-8010
Paid visitor parking is available at the
UNM Cornell parking structure
Center for the Arts (CFA)
University of New Mexico
College of Fine Arts
MSC04 2570
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001
Directions
Map Key:
A. CFA entrance
B. CFA Room 1111
C. Keller Hall (505) 277-2131
D. Popejoy Hall (505) 277-8010
Paid visitor parking is available at the
UNM Cornell parking structure
About The John Donald Robb
Composers' Symposium Series est. 2022
Composers' Symposium Series est. 2022
The John Donald Robb Composers' Symposium Series, aka Robb Symposium Series, established in the fall of 2022, is an outcropping of the celebrated annual UNM John Donald Robb Composers' Symposium. The series features concerts of new music by guest artists and UNM faculty & students, as well as masterclasses, artist talks, and workshops.
The UNM Robb Trust promotes the exploration of new music through the Robb Symposium Series. Since 1972, the internationally renowned John Donald Robb Composers' Symposium has brought composers and musicians from around the world to UNM for a series of public concerts and unique learning opportunities for UNM students. Past guest composers have included such luminaries as Anthony Braxton, John Cage, Lukas Foss, Michael Colgrass, Gordon Mumma, Raven Chacon, and Chen Yi. The legacy of the John Donald Robb Composers' Symposium continues through the Robb Symposium Series.
The Trust sponsors the biennial Robb Commission in even years. The winner is awarded a cash prize and their composition is premiered at a Robb Symposium Series concert, typically the annual Robb Concert, which takes place in the spring.
The UNM Robb Musical Trust serves as a bridge between the UNM College of Fine Arts and the New Mexico community, regularly presenting concerts of Robb’s compositions along with Hispanic folk songs, preserving and promoting the archive of 3,000+ field recordings Robb made, and collaborating with community partners in educational initiatives. Through its many activities, the Trust proudly carries on the vision of its namesake, John Donald Robb.
The UNM Robb Trust promotes the exploration of new music through the Robb Symposium Series. Since 1972, the internationally renowned John Donald Robb Composers' Symposium has brought composers and musicians from around the world to UNM for a series of public concerts and unique learning opportunities for UNM students. Past guest composers have included such luminaries as Anthony Braxton, John Cage, Lukas Foss, Michael Colgrass, Gordon Mumma, Raven Chacon, and Chen Yi. The legacy of the John Donald Robb Composers' Symposium continues through the Robb Symposium Series.
The Trust sponsors the biennial Robb Commission in even years. The winner is awarded a cash prize and their composition is premiered at a Robb Symposium Series concert, typically the annual Robb Concert, which takes place in the spring.
The UNM Robb Musical Trust serves as a bridge between the UNM College of Fine Arts and the New Mexico community, regularly presenting concerts of Robb’s compositions along with Hispanic folk songs, preserving and promoting the archive of 3,000+ field recordings Robb made, and collaborating with community partners in educational initiatives. Through its many activities, the Trust proudly carries on the vision of its namesake, John Donald Robb.
A History of
The John Donald Robb
Composers' Symposium 1972-2022
The John Donald Robb
Composers' Symposium 1972-2022
|
Some of the
Symposium’s notable guests Emanuele Arciuli Arditti Quartet Robert Ashley Milton Babbitt Anthony Braxton Martin Bresnick John Cage Raven Chacon Chen Yi Michael Colgrass Abbie Conant George Crumb Joséph Daley Trio Ekmeles Halim El-Dabh Pozzi Escot Julio Estrada Lukas Foss Lou Harrison Alan Hovhaness Karel Husa John Harbison Vijay Iyer Betsy Jolas Ernst Krenek Joan La Barbara Libby Larsen Lei Liang loadbang George Lewis John Lewis Lisa Moore Thea Musgrave Valerie Naranjo Susan Narucki Pauline Oliveros Hilda Paredes Vincent Persichetti Roger Reynolds Ned Rorem Steven Schick Maria Schneider Gunther Schuller Cecil Taylor James Tenney Joan Tower Trio Magnoliana Christian Wolff |
In 1972, William Wood invited Norman Lockwood to have works of his performed at the University of New Mexico alongside UNM student composers during a late April concert program. This marked the beginning of what is now known as the UNM John Donald Robb Composers’ Symposium, an event that has occurred annually and uninterrupted since then, making it one of the longest-running festivals of new music in the world.
The next years included a cavalcade of significant composers, including Ned Rorem, Karel Husa, John Harbison, and John Cage, among others. Always, experimentation was encouraged. It didn’t take long for the symposium to gain an international reputation. One featured guest was invited to each symposium until 1989. In honor of the university’s centennial that year, the symposium honored forty UNM Music Department alumni and friends, with special tributes going to John Donald Robb, former dean of the UNM College of Fine Arts. That year, the Robb Concert was established, beginning a tradition in which a composition of the former dean would be performed at every symposium. A decade later, the symposium was renamed the John Donald Robb Composers’ Symposium to honor the former dean who had been instrumental in developing the music program at UNM. As the Department of Music faculty became more involved, a full schedule of daytime masterclasses and lectures featuring visiting guests was introduced, providing exciting opportunities for students. The symposium is now presented jointly by the UNM Department of Music and the John Donald Robb Musical Trust. Beginning in the 1990s, the symposium experimented with themes, such as film music and music theory and jazz. More recent themes have included music and movement, social issues in contemporary music, and the influence of Native American culture and composers on new music. In celebration of the New Mexico Centennial in 2012, the works of more than fifty composers were featured during the symposium. In 2019 the symposium hosted the Society of Composers national conference, performing works by more than eighty composers from around the country. That year also featured three concerts by the celebrated Arditti Quartet, which included nine UNM student premieres. Through generous support of the John Donald Robb Musical Trust, The Mr. and Mrs. Sanford N. McDonnell Foundation, the UNM College of Fine Arts, and the UNM Department of Music, all Robb Symposium events are free and open to the public, which continues another long tradition: making live music available to everyone. |
Past Symposium Directors
- Steven Block
- Christopher Shultis
- Scott Wilkinson
- William Wood
ARCHIVES
John Donald Robb Composers' Symposium
predecessor to the Robb Symposium Series
1972-2022
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