Welcome to the New Music Miami ISCM Festival!

February 2021 – August 2021

9 Concerts, 9 Forums, All Free!

The Herbert and Nicole Wertheim School of Music & Performing Arts celebrates its 24th year of the New Music Miami ISCM Festival (NMMF), directed by FIU Composer and Distinguished Faculty member, Orlando Jacinto Garcia. This year, the festival runs from February 2021 through August 2021 and includes the presentation of music by composers from around the world, many of whom are present to discuss their music for FIU students and audiences. The festival has continued to expand, featuring new music concerts for acoustic and electro-acoustic instrumentations.

This year’s festival will open with an alumni celebration of Panther Alumni week and close with an evening jam-packed with artists like the acclaimed Amernet String Quartet, members of the FIU NODUS Ensemble, virtuoso classical guitarist Jaime Marquez-Diez-Canedo and guest composer, Javier Alvarez.

The festival also proudly features chamber music groups and acclaimed musicians including Mexico’s Duo Duplum, New York-based soprano/flutist Alice Teyssier, guitarist Colin McAllister, the Misty Shore Duo, Calloway + Sudol Duo, guest composers Ken Ueno and Zosha Di Castri, and of course, FIU’s contemporary chamber ensemble, the FIU NODUS Ensemble.

View Upcoming 2021 Concerts

View the Festival Flyer

Watch on the Festival YouTube Channel 

This year, the first seven concerts will be held virtually. The performances will be available at 7:30 pm via YouTube Livestream at New Music Miami Festival. We encourage you to subscribe and be notified of all performances! 

The final two concerts with the acclaimed Amernet String Quartet will be offered as in-person opportunities during September 2021. Audiences are invited to the a pre-concert discussion of works at 7:00 pm, to be followed by a performance at 7:30pm. All Covid-19 protocols will be adhered to and we ask that guests wear a for the safety of all. 

The festival discussions and concerts are free to the public.

The New Music Miami Festival originally began in 1993 as the May in Miami Music Festival, an annual, week-long festival occurring every May.  The festival featured nightly concerts with performances by performers from the New World Symphony and FIU faculty of renowned, emerging, and student composers. In 1997, the festival expanded its scope by scheduling concerts throughout the year and became the New Music Miami Festival.  By 2002,  FIU became an associated chapter of the the International Society for Contemporary Music (ISCM), a network that now includes over 60 organizations in over 50 countries, on every continent, dedicated to promoting contemporary music in all is varied forms.

NMMF has developed numerous partnerships with presenting institutions throughout the world. The festival has enabled composers and performers to participate and present their work and has included music from countries such as Argentina, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela, El Salvador, Mexico, Spain, Denmark, England, Estonia, France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Poland, Canada, and throughout the US.

The founder of the festival, Dr. Orlando Jacinto Garcia, runs the Composition Program at FIU, and oversee the artistic direction of FIU’s contemporary ensemble, NODUS Ensemble. The distinctive character of his music has been described as “time suspended-haunting sonic explorations” that he developed from his studies with Morton Feldman among others.