Composer Eric Nathan—One of the Most Respected Figures in American Music—Is Appointed Artistic Director as of the 2024-25 Concert Season.
As David Hoose steps down as Music Director of Collage New Music, composer Eric Nathan takes on the ensemble’s artistic directorship, as the acclaimed ensemble redefines its leadership structure going forward. Founded in 1972, Collage New Music is the longest-standing ensemble of its kind in New England and one of the most respected new music organizations in the country.
When Mr. Nathan assumes the position of Artistic Director, he will oversee all of Collage New Music’s artistic planning and programming for its annual concert season in Boston, conduct the ensemble, commission new works, select annual guest conductors and guest soloists, and envision new local and national partnerships. Prior to officially assuming his new role in Collage’s 2024-25 season, which he will hold for an initial term of three years (through the 2026-27 season), Nathan has designed and appointed an Artistic Advisory Panel that includes such distinguished musicians as Tony Arnold, Matthew Aucoin, Marcos Balter, Anthony Cheung, Tania León, and Joan Tower. This committee of outstanding composers and performers will advise the new artistic director on creating programs that ensure the ensemble’s musical excellence, impact and commitment to supporting a diverse range of voices as it forges a path forward in the years to come.
Nathan’s music is well-known by Collage’s audience, and his Short Stories, heard in 2022, was among the ensemble’s 50th-anniversary commissions. His relationship with Collage began in 2012, when Collage presented the first professional Boston performance of his music, Walls of Light, since his student days.
“It is an immense honor and privilege to join Collage New Music as its new Artistic Director,” Nathan continues. “I have so enjoyed working with and getting to know Collage’s highly accomplished musicians, and I look forward to the meaningful performances that we will create together in the years to come. I’m excited to build on Collage’s rich history of championing contemporary music and supporting local composers, and to introduce diverse new voices from New England and beyond to Collage’s audiences.”
“We think we have found the perfect person to take the reins of Collage into its next half-century,” says Epstein. “Eric is an excellent composer, as well as a highly respected figure in American music. He has a deep understanding of what makes Collage unique, and we are excited by his ideas for the future. We look forward to working with Eric and the Artistic Advisory Panel to create partnerships that will expand on Collage’s commitment to commissioning new work.”
Current Music Director David Hoose says, “Eric’s becoming Collage’s next leader pleases me very much. He is an imaginative composer whose energy will undoubtedly carry this wonderful ensemble to new and exciting places. I look forward to Collage’s future with him.”
Renowned composer John Harbison, a past co-director of the ensemble, wrote about the coming changes to Collage New Music, “David Hoose, who has decided, after only a few more encounters, to move on from its Music Directorship, has succeeded brilliantly in maintaining the distinctive assets of Collage New Music—its high level of repertoire choices, lavish preparation of the performances, distinctive performance atmosphere, and a very loyal audience. He brought to Collage his own experience as a performer, composer, and leader of other groups. Most of all, he brought his ability to understand and clarify new scores, through the lucidity of his mind and the clarity of his conducting skills.
“Collage has made a great choice for David’s successor in Eric Nathan. He will be able to maintain both the expertise and the adventure necessary to keep Collage among the elite new music ensembles. Eric is an accomplished composer-conductor, part of a powerful new generation whose music inspires confidence in the future.
“And of course Founder-President Frank Epstein offers a guiding hand, making sure Collage stays strongly on course.”
More About Eric Nathan Eric Nathan’s (b. 1983) music has been called “as diverse as it is arresting” with a “constant vein of ingenuity and expressive depth” (San Francisco Chronicle), and “thoughtful and inventive” (The New Yorker). A 2013 Rome Prize Fellow and 2014 Guggenheim Fellow, Nathan has garnered acclaim internationally through performances by Andris Nelsons and the Boston Symphony Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, Scharoun Ensemble Berlin, Dawn Upshaw, Jennifer Koh, Stefan Jackiw, and Gloria Cheng. His music has been featured at the New York Philharmonic’s 2014 and 2016 Biennials, Carnegie Hall, and the Aldeburgh, Tanglewood, and Aspen festivals. He serves as Associate Professor of Music at Brown University and is currently the New England Philharmonic’s Composer-in-Residence. He received his doctorate from Cornell.
Further details about Eric Nathan can be found at www.ericnathanmusic.com
Further details about Collage New Music can be found at www.collagenewmusic.org