The Esopus Foundation Ltd. is pleased to announce a programming partnership with the Chicago-based nonprofit Access Contemporary Music (ACM). Founded by composer Seth Boustead in 2004, ACM’s mission is to revitalize classical music through events, concerts, and workshops, as well as its acclaimed “Relevant Tones” podcast series.

This collaboration involves three live “Relevant Tones” podcast events at New York City's Symphony Space, each beginning at 7:30pm in the venue’s Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theater. 

Programs:

- 4/28/23: “Overlooked No More” is related directly to the New York Times’s “Overlooked” series, edited by Amy Padnani, which publishes obituaries for people whose deaths initially went unreported in the paper. For the event, Boustead invited five composers—Milica Paranosic, Shanan Estreicher, Gilbert Galindo, Lynn Bechtold and Nailah Nombeko—to pick one “Overlooked” obit and write a piece inspired by it. Each of these will performed live at Symphony Space by The Overlook, a superb string quartet consisting of Monica Davis, Adda Kridler, Laura Metcalf, and Angela Pickett. The evening will also include a panel discussion with Seth, Amy, filmmaker Vanessa Gould, and Baltimore Sun obit writer Jacques Kelly. 

- 6/23/23: "Cosmicomics" focuses on the eponymous 1965 short-story collection by Italo Calvino. For the program, Boustead will present a new composition inspired by the book performed by the Unheard-of Ensemble, followed by a panel discussion with Boustead, Lippy, astrophysicist Chiara Mingarelli (Yale University) and author John Dermot Woods. 

- 10/20/23: "Commercialism in Art" will feature music and conversation from creatives working in a range of other disciplines. Details to follow.

More information about the series can be found on the Symphony Space website.