Thu 10/23 & Sat 10/25 @ 7PM

Cleveland-based No Exit New Music is known for playing music you won’t heard most places, if any place at all — much of it world premieres by musicians in the ensemble or other composers in their network, as well as avant-garde music that influenced the news compositions.

The group launches its 17th season with a program called American Descent, with concerts taking place at Kent Stater University’s Ludwig Recital Hall on Thursday and Praxis Fiber workshop’s Gallery on Saturday. They describe the concert program as “a variety of works that run the sonic gamut…altogether captivating, delightful, horrifying and thought-provoking.”

The program opens with Garth Knox’s Viola Spaces, which explores viola techniques; it will be performed by No Exit violist James Brooks. The ensemble will follow that with the world premiere of the 2025 version of Geoffrey Burleson’s Cryptic Locomotion. June Young Will Kim’s 2021 After days of rain, construction fills the air, follows before the program concludes with the world premiere of the piece that gave the program its name, Cleveland State University Professor of Composition Andrew Rindflesich’s American Descent, “a passionate rumination on our present time in America.” Don’t expect to see MAGA hats in the audience. An expanded ensemble will perform with No Exit including clarinetist Amy Advocat, percussionist Matt Sharrock, trombonist John Faieta, pianist Geoffrey Burleson, violinist Ann Yu and cellist David Russell.

No Exit concerts are always free and open to all.

noexitnewmusic/american-descent