About this year‘s festival

Grammy-nominated violinist Curtis Stewart will perform works from his new album, Of Power, a post-classical creation inspired by personal adversity and the #BlackLivesMatter movement. Stewart has performed as a soloist at Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall and to sold-out shows at Madison Square Garden with Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, and Seal. He serves as the chamber music and new Juilliard ensemble manager at The Juilliard School. Grammy-nominated cellist Amanda Gookin will perform commissioned new multimedia works for solo cello that elevate stories of feminine empowerment as part of her Forward Music Project. Gookin is the executive director of the Shenandoah Valley Bach Festival at Eastern Mennonite University. Albanian pianist Redi Llupa will perform sonatas of George Walker, having worked closely with the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer since 2015. The festival will also feature JMU performers, including faculty and student ensembles.

About the 39th Contemporary Music Festival

The first JMU Contemporary Music Festival was held in 1981, initiated by then-director of the School of Music Joe Estock and faculty composer John Hilliard. In the years since, the festival has hosted many of the most prominent composers and performers of new music in the world today. Recent guest artists include: