The 72-hour Composition Challenge is a student initiated event (TEMPO) that is part of the NextNow Fest presented by The Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center at the beginning of each academic year. Composers who wish to participate have 36 hours to write a piece and another 36 hours to rehearse the music with the performers before it is premiered in concert as part of the NextNow Fest. Committing to participate means that you have a performer or a group of performers who have agreed to perform your piece under the conditions noted above (36 hours to prepare).

The time constraint is not designed to be competitive, but as an opportunity to go straight to an intuitive sense about composition without the "luxuries" of overthinking and revision. This process can be revealing and enlightening. The concert has also been fun for composers and their audiences in previous years.

This year's Challenge will present premieres by six composers in the School of Music:

• Liam Gallihue (clarinet solo
• Molly Leach (flute, violin and bassoon)
• Sophie Rymarowicz (violin duo)
• Ezra Silver-Isenstadt (piano solo)
• Johannes Visser (violin, clarinet, horn and bassoon)
• Aidan Wilbur (voice and piano)

Performers featured in the works above are:

• Max Filliben
• Ally Happ
• Yuanju Liu
• Amir Nasseri
• Sabrina Sanche
• Brianne Steif
• Alex Villa
• Christian Whitacre
• Aidan Wilbur

For your safety, we strongly encourage but will not require FestGoers to follow the UMD Athletics bag policy for events at The Clarice. All bags will be searched by security personnel upon festival entry, and FestGoers who travel light will be able to enter the festival more quickly and easily. Only empty water bottles will be permitted; there will be free water stations and opportunities to purchase beverages inside the festival.

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This event is part of NextNOW Fest 2022. NextNOW Fest is a signature event in University of Maryland's Arts for All initiative, which leverages the combined power of the arts, technology and social justice to address the grand challenges of our time. In addition to the festival's student, academic and touring artists lineup at The Clarice, NextNOW Fest will continue partnerships with student-led groups, academic departments and community organizations to hold the festival at sites throughout campus and into College Park!

VIEW FULL 2022 FESTIVAL SCHEDULE