Since moving to the Tampa Bay area, I have been working hard to learn more about the music scene down here. Boston has an amazing music scene, and I was worried that I would really miss out on performances in Florida. Turns out that's not the case at all!
Here's an alphabetical list of the new music ensembles I have found thus far. As I learn about more, I will update the list. If you are aware of an ensemble I missed, leave a note in the comments, and I will check it out.
- New-Music Consortium at USF - according to their website "a student-run organization, based in the Music Composition Department at University of South Florida’s School of Music. The goal of the New-Music Consortium is to produce concerts of contemporary music at the University of South Florida and throughout the local community. All concerts produced by the NMC are free of charge, and feature acoustic and electronic compositions that are not typically programmed in the Tampa Bay area."
- Reflections Chamber Ensemble - primarily comprised of musicians who perform with the Florida Orchestra, the mission of the Reflections Chamber Ensemble is "to perform and encourage the composition of music for the core ensemble."
- Sunshine City Opera - Located in St. Petersburg, FL, Sunshine City Opera specializes in performing new and less-frequently heard opera repertoire.
- Venture Compound - as described on their Facebook page, the Venture Compound is the gallery/perf space of the Pangaea Project, a non-profit org for experimental and emerging artists and arts exploring new ideas. Their specialty is "avant garde, electronic and experimental artists, musicians, dancers, performance artists, et cetera."
- University of South Florida (USF) New Music Festival - From what I can tell this is the second new music festival put on by the USF School of Music and curated by USF Assistant Professor of Composition Baljinder Sekhon. Thus far, the festival has taken place every two years, and features free concerts of new music from around the world.
