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Artist WebsiteBIOGRAPHY
The City of Tomorrow is a new breed of the wind quintet — boldly innovative, theatrically adventurous, and committed to reimagining the possibilities of chamber music in the 21st century. Known for their “ferocious ensemble precision” and “exhilarating performances,” the ensemble brings together five outstanding musicians united by a passion for contemporary music and a belief that art can — and should — engage with the most pressing issues of our time.
Winners of the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition and recognized across North America for their visionary programming, The City of Tomorrow specializes in works that push the boundaries of the wind quintet instrumentation. From immersive electroacoustic experiences to works confronting climate change and social justice, their repertoire is as intellectually engaging as it is sonically captivating.
Their U.S. tours have included concerts at Trinity Wall Street, Spectrum, and IN\TER/SECT, (co-presented by Bryant Park and Chamber Music America) as well as the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Series in Chicago, the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival in Michigan, and Red Note New Music Festival in Illinois. The quintet’s work has been supported by residencies at the Banff Center for the Arts & Creativity and the Avaloch Farm Music Institute. As an ensemble, they have given residencies at Berklee College of Music, Indiana University, Tufts, and Yale, among others.
Equally at home in concert halls, experimental venues, and site-specific environments, The City of Tomorrow invites audiences to join them on a journey into the future of classical music—where tradition meets innovation, and where bold ideas find their voice through wind and breath.
PROGRAMS
Arcana: A Tarot Experience
Dai Fujikura – Cosmic Breath
György Kurtág – Wind Quintet, Op. 2
Andrew List – Island Universe
inti figgis-vizueta – New Cosmologies
Luciano Berio – ricorrenze
The City of Tomorrow presents “Arcana” - a concert, a ritualized communal tarot reading, and a whimsical exploration of the history and symbolism of the tarot. The audience is invited to shuffle the deck, shaping the arc of the performance alongside the performers. Featuring cartomancy by horn player Leander Star and works for quintet by Dai Fujikura, György Kurtág, Andrew List, inti figgis-vizueta, and Luciano Berio, this compelling juxtaposition of archetypal iconography and music is different every night, depending on the cards pulled from the deck. Wondering what to expect? Come let the cards reveal it to you!
Music For Breathing
Dai Fujikura – Cosmic Breath
Leander Star – Breathing Exercises
Nat Evans – Music for Breathing
David Lang – breathless
Pauline Oliveros – Teach Yourself to Fly
John Harbison – Quintet for Winds
The City of Tomorrow presents “Music for Breathing” - a concert, a collective exhale, and an invitation to listen inward. Blurring the line between performance and participation, the audience is invited to join the ensemble in guided breathing exercises, exploring the quiet power of shared breath and its ability to center attention and foster connection. Featuring works by Nat Evans, Leander Star, Pauline Oliveros, John Harbison, Dai Fujikura, and David Lang, this program reflects on breath as both a musical and human necessity.
The City of Tomorrow: A Town Hall
Julia Wolfe – On Seven Star Shoes
György Kurtág – Wind Quintet, Op. 2
Aaron Helgeson – Calls of Close and Far Away
Mara Gibson – Where We Meet
Ken Topham – Connectome 4a: 40,000 flies running the arms of my soul, singing...
Brad Balliett – Tanbark Ridge
At the heart of this program lies the tension, resilience, and connection that emerge when people come together to live, work, and coexist. Featuring bold and dynamic works by Ken Topham, Aaron Helgeson, Julia Wolfe, Mara Gibson, György Kurtág, Brad Balliett, the music navigates moments of struggle and surrender, grief and celebration. Audience members are invited to “step up to the mic” town hall-style, lending their voices to poetry selections that weave into the performance. This is more than a concert: it’s a communal experience where music and words collide, resonate, and spark dialogue.
ENGAGEMENT
Individual Instrument Master Classes
All members of The City of Tomorrow are experienced and enthusiastic instrumental master class teachers. They often discuss auxiliary instruments like the piccolo, bass clarinet and Eb clarinet, English horn, and contrabassoon, and love to talk about extended techniques and how to practice them. They are just as comfortable with traditional repertoire (Bach, Brahms, etc.) as with contemporary music.
Chamber Music Master Classes
The City of Tomorrow love working with young chamber music groups as they navigate how to rehearse and perform together. This isn’t limited to wind quintets, either — they have coached string quartets, percussion ensembles, and saxophone quartets, too. Good rehearsal skills and good communication are universal! The City of Tomorrow has given chamber music master classes at Boston Conservatory, Indiana University, the MacPhail Center for Music in Minneapolis, and many others.
Composer Workshops
One of the quintet's passions is working with developing composers. They read works-in-progress and offer feedback with respect to notation and feasibility, as well as alternative ways of using our instruments creatively. They have been an ensemble-in-residence for many years with the Vermont College of Fine Art’s low-residency MFA program in composition, and have given composition and orchestration workshops at Tufts, the Longy School of Music, for the Cascadia Composers in Portland, Oregon, and others.
Creating Narrative Programming
Members of the City of Tomorrow give a talk about engineering concert programs with symbolism and narrative. They have found this type of programming is more artistically satisfying, both for them as performers and for their audiences. This kind of programming workshop can apply to anything from community concerts to degree recitals to concert series, from students to professionals.
Entrepreneurial Skills Without Selling Out
The ensemble's career talk and Q&A emphasizes ways to develop a performing and teaching career that nurtures the artist while staying as protected as possible from the negative aspects of our field. They discuss financial planning, staying artistically diversified, being a good colleague and supporting each other through the early stages of a music career.
Successful Job Hunting in Higher Education
All five members have held a wide range of positions in higher education, and in this talk they share how to best prepare application materials, how to interview well, planning a campus visit recital, choosing references, and how to build your CV over time. They also talk about what these jobs are like, their pros and cons, what the future holds, and how best to keep these positions for the long term.
