In florescence.
An eminent young composer weighs in on the condition of mass-media arts criticism, plus recommended live new-music events for Nov. 12–18.
Over the weekend, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself mentioned in an article by an artist whose work I’ve appreciated greatly: “Inside the Music,” written by Matthew Aucoin and published in the Nov. 6 issue of The New York Review of Books. (The publication’s contents are paywalled, but you can register to read an article free of charge.)
The article is about the ongoing evolution – or crisis, some have said – of arts criticism in the mass media, starting with an intelligent evaluation and passionate defense of Zachary Woolfe’s work for The New York Times. Matthew conveys the unenviable folly of the overnight review and the current groundswell of Substack scribes.
I’m flattered to figure into some enviable company:
It’s no coincidence that writers blessed with the luxuries of an ample word count and deadlines that fall weeks, not hours, after they hear a performance frequently do the best work. And though there are a handful of music writers that musicians respect—Justin Davidson, Anne Midgette, Gabrielle Ferrari, Joshua Barone, Steve Smith, and Joshua Kosman all come to mind, in addition to Woolfe—I would venture to say that Alex Ross of The New Yorker holds a unique position as a critic who is not only respected but widely and enduringly beloved by the artists he covers. At his best, Ross is capable of descriptions whose pithy lyricism can bring tears of gratitude to a musician’s eyes. He sometimes hears us more clearly than we hear ourselves.
I’m deeply grateful for the consideration, bittersweet though it may be after the industry made it clear my mass-media lane had reached its terminus.
I’ve admired Matthew’s work as a composer, pianist, writer, curator, and all-around polymath for a decade now, starting during my brief tenure at the Boston Globe. I cite his first name here not out of casual familiarity, but rather for clarity; as a Globe editor I worked alongside his father, the eminent theater critic Don Aucoin.
Addressing Matthew’s career at that time and place was a working education in ethical transparency. We had to cover his burgeoning career, and we did, notably with a substantial Malcolm Gay feature when his rich, resonant opera Crossing opened at the Shubert Theater. But because the opera was produced by American Repertory Theater, Don refrained from covering anything staged by one of the nation’s most significant dramatic institutions throughout its gestation and presentation—and we made sure to say so. (An unnecessary disclaimer: in 2017 the A.R.T. production came to BAM, my employer now.)
Months later, I spent a delightful afternoon chatting with Matthew, newly appointed composer-in-residence at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, and Scott Nickrenz, a celebrated curator at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum and other noteworthy places – including a BAM stint in the 1970s and ’80s – for a feature story about presenting music in museums.
I left Boston around a year later, but continued to watch Matthew’s work closely: his distinguished output for the opera house and concert platform, his co-founding of the revolutionary artists’ collaborative American Modern Opera Company (AMOC), and his 2023 book – first book, I’ll wager – The Impossible Art, a guide to opera so amiably persuasive that I actually found myself setting it aside constantly in order to hear what I’d just read about. At first I threatened to quote-tweet my way through the book, only to abandon the idea quickly because I was citing nearly every page.
The future of arts criticism, and classical music criticism specifically, remains an unfolding saga, though not necessarily a discipline in free fall—not so long as blogs and newsletters are accessible and widely read. But one thing is certain: we’re fortunate to have artists like Matthew Aucoin willing and able to contribute to the conversation generously and incisively—and to carry it when necessary, too.
The Night After Night Watch.
Concerts listed in Eastern Standard Time.
12
Patricia Brennan
Glass Box Theatre, The New School
55 W. 13th St., Greenwich Village
Wednesday, Nov. 12—Saturday, Nov. 15 at 8:30pm; $20 cash only
thestonenyc.com
Improvising percussionist, composer, and bandleader Patricia Brennan issued her ambitious, accomplished new album, Of the Near and Far, just a few weeks ago, and already in this Stone series residency she’s exploring new settings. She starts out on Wednesday in a duo with pianist Sylvie Courvoisier, assembles a quartet with two fellow percussionists and tap dancer Melissa Almaguer on Thursday, and fields two different, distinctive trios on Friday and Saturday.
The Music of Anthony Braxton
Roulette
509 Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn
Wednesday, Nov. 12 at 8pm; free admission with registration
roulette.org
Extending a series exploring the musical worlds of Anthony Braxton in conjunction with his 80th birthday – on which occasion his Tri-Centric Foundation is raising funds to preserve and promote his canon – the International Contemporary Ensemble plays works by Braxton and a recent close collaborator, Mary Halvorson. George Lewis, the ensemble’s artistic director, will chat with Halvorson about their experiences playing with Braxton. If you can’t attend, the event will be streamed live and preserved for on-demand viewing on the Roulette website and YouTube.
Tyshawn Sorey Trio
Village Vanguard
176 Seventh Ave. S.; Greenwich Village
Through Sunday, Nov. 16 at 8 & 10pm, though Nov. 16; $40
villagevanguard.com
Hard on the heels of a sold-out week at the Village Vanguard with pianist Vijay Iyer, drummer, composer, and bandleader Tyshawn Sorey sticks around for a week of his own. He’s playing in the distinguished company of pianist Aaron Diehl and bassist Harish Raghavan, most recently heard on Sorey’s sublime 2024 release, The Susceptible Now.
Zosha Warpeha
Issue Project Room
22 Boerum Pl.; Brooklyn
Wednesday, Nov. 12 at 8pm; free admission with registration
issueprojectroom.org
Hardanger d’amore improviser Zosha Warpeha made a resounding splash with silver dawn, a 2024 solo album penetrating and serene by turns, and then landed a residency at Issue Project Room, whose sonorous acoustics are beautifully matched to the woodsy purr and peal of Warpeha’s 10-string fiddle. In the wake of an inquisitive duo set, Orbweaver, and well ahead of I grow accustomed to the dark, an intense set of extended soliloquies due early next year, she returns to Issue to finish mapping the soul of the space.
13
Tim Berne
Lowlands Bar
543 3rd Ave., Brooklyn
Thursday, Nov. 13 at 9pm; pass-the-hat
instagram.com/berneornot
Saxophonist and composer Tim Berne has been in residence at Lowlands on and off for many months now, a homespun residency he unpacked late last year in a New York Times feature (gift link) by Hank Shteamer. Tonight he’s performing with an aggregation that’s bound to raise the temperature: fellow saxophonist Chris Potter, bassist Chris Lightcap, and drummer Dan Weiss.
Composer Portraits: Anthony Cheung
Miller Theatre, Columbia University
2960 Broadway, Upper West Side
Thursday, Nov. 13 at 7:30pm; $24–$39
millertheatre.com
Distinguished composer, pianist, and Talea Ensemble co-founder Anthony Cheung is the subject of a Miller Theatre Composer Portrait that brings together The Real Book of Fake Tunes, his signature quintet for flute and strings, with two more recent pieces, Tactile Values and Twice Removed, adding an improvised introduction at the piano. Performers include Miller all-stars Claire Chase, JACK Quartet, and Yarn/Wire.
yMusic with Emily King
Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall
881 Seventh Ave.; Midtown West
Thursday, Nov. 13 at 7:30pm; $51
carnegiehall.org
A dizzyingly versatile chamber band that makes erasing genre boundaries look and sound effortless, yMusic shows its stuff in a Carnegie Hall gig that includes a New York premiere by Gabriella Smith, a welcome spot for Judd Greenstein, and a collaboration with soulful singer-songwriter Emily King.
14
AACM NYC’s 60th Anniversary
Roulette
509 Atlantic Ave.; Brooklyn
Friday, Nov. 14 & Saturday, Nov. 15 at 8pm; $50, advance $45, seniors and students $35, two-night passes $80, seniors and students $60
roulette.org
The New York branch of Chicago’s venerated Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM) settles in for a two-night residency at Roulette celebrating the legacy and artistry of pianist, composer, and founding member Muhal Richard Abrams. Night one features sets by Roscoe Mitchell (whose extraordinary paintings will be available for purchase on site), Chico Freeman, and Amina Claudine Myers; night two brings percussionist Thurman Barker’s quintet Time Factor and a band led by Adegoke Steve Colson and Iqua Colson.
Kronos Quartet
Merkin Hall, Kaufman Music Center
129 W. 67th St.; Upper West Side
Friday, Nov. 14 at 7:30pm; $30
kaufmanmusiccenter.org
The ever-inquisitive David Harrington brings his sharp new Kronos Quartet lineup to Merkin Hall for a concert pairing two ensemble staples – Cadenza on the Night Plain and Sunrise Jam, both by minimalist guru Terry Riley – with new and recent music by Garth Knox, Aleksandra Vrebalov, Angélica Negréon, and Jungyoon Wie.
Henry Threadgill, Vijay Iyer & Dafnis Prieto
92nd Street Y
1395 Lexington Ave.; Upper East Side
Friday, Nov. 14 at 7:30pm; $45–$70
92ny.org
Billed grandly as The Trio when they played a sold-out Jazz Gallery gala in the spring, veteran saxophonist, composer, and bandleader Henry Threadgill reunites with two prodigious younger composer-performers, pianist Vijay Iyer and percussionist Dafnis Prieto. Representing disparate backgrounds, cultures, and influences, these ingenious musicians collectively offer an aesthetic syncretism that fuels creative music as a living, evolving proposition.
15
Zach Layton, Alex Waterman & Ryan Sawyer
Zürcher Gallery
33 Bleecker St.; Greenwich Village
Saturday, Nov. 15 at 8pm; $20 cash only
galeriezurcher.com
Composer, improviser, and longtime new-music scene pillar Zach Layton hauls his visually unfeasible 17-string electric bass guitar into Zürcher Gallery for a plugged-in throw-down with cellist Alex Waterman and drummer Ryan Sawyer, a working trio whose recent eponymous album solders generations of downtown experimental music together in a sparky corona of roiling feedback, clatter, and buzz.
16
Poiesis Quartet
Rosen House, Caramoor
149 Girdle Ridge Rd.; Katonah
Sunday, Nov. 16 at 3pm; $34–$49, ages 18 and under free
caramoor.org
One of the most exciting young concert-music ensembles to emerge during recent years, the Oberlin-honed Poiesis Quartet has already racked up an impressive tally of victories and accolades—most recently Grand Prize at the 2025 Banff International String Quartet Competition. (Watch their Banff performances on YouTube and you can’t help getting swept up in the growing buzz.) Newly installed as 2025–26 Ernst Stiefel String Quartet-in-Residence at Caramoor, the quartet says hello with a thoughtfully conceived mix of modern and contemporary works by Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson, Sky Macklay, Kevin Lau, and Brian Raphael Nabors.
String Orchestra of New York City (SONYC)
Chapel of the Immaculate Conception, University of Mount St. Vincent
6301 Riverdale Ave.; Bronx
Sunday, Nov. 16 at 2pm; free admission
stringorchestraofnyc.org
Alongside works by two canonical German composers, Georg Philipp Telemann and Max Bruch, SONYC presents the world premiere of resonant layers of floating light, a new double concerto for two violins and string orchestra by Jeffrey Mumford, poetic purveyor of an impressionistic modernism all his own, commissioned by the Serge Koussevitzky Music Foundation at the Library of Congress.
The Westerlies
Museum of Arts and Design
2 Columbus Circle; Midtown West
Sunday, Nov. 16 at 11am; $30, children under 12 free
gathernyc.org
Celebrating their latest album, the newly released Songbook, Vol. 3, brass quartet The Westerlies hit the stage early under the banner of GatherNYC, a very special series that programs casual hour-long mixes of storytelling, mindful silence, and music. The new album features the band’s sophisticated yet seemingly homespun arrangements of songs and pieces by friends and collaborators, including Fleet Foxes, Anaïs Mitchell, Aoife O’Donovan, Joanna Newsom, Kalia Vandever, and more. (P.S. If you’re more inclined toward a full-length evening show by The Westerlies, there’s one immediately below.)
17
The Westerlies
Ernst C. Stiefel Hall, The New School
55 W. 13th St.; Greenwich Village
Monday, Nov. 17 at 7:30pm; free admission with registration
event.newschool.edu
See above. Admission to this New School concert is free, but capacity is limited so be sure you sign up in advance.
18
Quince Ensemble
Miller Theatre, Columbia University
2960 Broadway, Upper West Side
Tuesday, Nov. 18 at 6pm; free admission
millertheatre.com
Appearing under the auspices of Miller Theatre’s casual free Pop-Up Concerts series, the sophisticated harmonizers of Quince Ensemble (with guest artist Clara Osowski) perform Destierros by Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon and selections from their deeply personal new album, Dust Bowl, released in July.
To submit listings for consideration, email nightafternight [at] icloud [dot] com.
More vital directories of new-music destinations:
Find even more events in Night After Night Watch: The Master List, here.
Photographs by Steve Smith, except where indicated.