Beacon Ensemble

Meet our festival openers @mink.duo ! MINK Duo is a new, new music collaboration between trumpeter @nkhtv and trombonist @mikkyfm . They are strongly interested in the creation of a repertoire for the instrumentation, to be achieved via a three-step process: commissioning new works from composers all around the globe, performing these works frequently for many different audiences, and documenting through live and studio recording. MINK Duo values collaboration in many forms, having shared programs and worked jointly on larger works with other artists. MINK's process has brought to bear Nick and Mikayla's shared fearlessness and sense of humor to deliver a body of work that brings a refreshing sincerity to a world awash with irony.  They will be premiering works by @its_a_blind_guess @elizagellyfish @makumagimus @diego.peraltag and @forbesgraham_ Catch their concert with Beacon New Music Festival on 6/5 | 7pm | Beacon Hill Friends House | 6 Chestnut St. Boston, 02108. Tickets are available in our bio.

Meet @reflections.duo ! Reflections Duo is a Boston-based new music duo with vocalist @emgwest and violist @its_a_blind_guess . Formed in the summer of 2025, Reflections began as a collaboration between friends to explore a shared passion of working with composers to create new and exciting explorations of sound, color, and text. The ensemble’s ever-growing repertoire is curated to showcase a wide array of artistic sensitivities including elements from the genres of art song, avant garde chamber music, and contemporary folk. Reflections’ debut season kicked off in March of this year with the concert premiere of three commissioned works by local composers Kevin Lubin, morima, and Joey Timmons. The duo will also attend the Cortona Sessions for New Music in Ede, Netherlands this July to participate in the Chamber Music Initiative. They will be performing works by @jessicameyermusic @baroque.bitch @musikale_salad @amanda_fandos @_x.pryse_official.x_ and Catherine Lamb Catch their concert with Beacon New Music Festival on 6/6 | 7pm | Beacon Hill Friends House | 6 Chestnut St. Boston, 02108. Tickets are available in our bio.

Announcing the 2026 Beacon New Music Festival!!! A time to celebrate emerging contemporary artists and the works of living composers, alongside musical gems from the 20th and 21st centuries. 🎺Opening Night with @mink.duo - An evening with our favorite comical brass duo, trumpeter @nkhtv and trombonist @mikkyfm . 📅Friday, June 5 | 7:00 PM | Beacon Hill Friends House 🗣@reflections.duo - An evening serenade with soprano @emgwest and violist @its_a_blind_guess . 📅Saturday, June 6 | 7:00 PM | Beacon Hill Friends House 🎻Beacon Ensemble - Finale performance with the festival host starring conductor @suikunkun and @the.boston.troubadours 📅Sunday, June 7 | 7:00 PM | Church of the Covenant Tickets and additional info available in our bio. Stay tuned for more updates.

Had a cute little treck with @beacon.ensemble to NH to premiere my quintet "A Fox's Meditation" at the Quad State Convention with the New Hampshire Music Teacher Association. Thanks to @dmitriascarrunz @hangoldnahstick @andrewgretzinger @sophiepaul_ and Yun Hao for the performance and good vibes as well as @stark.valerie for nominating me for the commission. #composer #composerlife #contemporarymusic #musicteacher #musicteachers #writingmusic #pianoquintet

Five Imagined Dances (2025) by Gaston Gosselin ⋆⭒˚.⋆enjoy with headphones⋆⭒˚.⋆ our dear friend @gaston.goss wrote us this collection of five dances where he explores how beings that aren’t usually dancers would dance, such as goats, jellyfish, rocks and cacti. here you are hearing a snippet of the fourth movement, ‘cactus.’ full video on youtube, link in bio. performed at the beacon hill friends house on july 7, 2025. we would also like to extend gratitude to gaston for being a great friend and collaborator; without his invitation we wouldn’t have made our debut this summer. also, much appreciation to @beacon.ensemble for hosting their first ever (!) beacon new music festival. it was truly a joy to be there and witness the other wonderful artists this year.

Thank you to everyone who came out last week to the first ever Beacon New Music Festival. The amount of community support we received was absolutely inspiring. Contemporary music is alive in Boston and it was fantastic to see so many engaging with the amazing performances our artists gave last week. Please stay in touch and until next time, may your art-making be filled with friends and your creativity true! #contemporarymusic #contemporarymusicfestival #classicalmusic #composer #composerlife #newmusic #bostonmusic

HAPPENING TONIGHT!!! Join us for the last performance of the Beacon New Music Festival starring our festival's host performers Beacon Ensemble. Beacon Ensemble is a Boston-based chamber ensemble dedicated to crafting engaging narratives through exciting performances of 20th and 21st-century music. We focus on providing opportunities for early-career musicians and artists in New England and beyond, offering them chances to engage in commissions and participate in meaningful, career-enhancing projects. Their event will take place this Tuesday, July 8th, from 7 to 9 pm, at the Beacon Hill Friends House (6 Chestnut St. Boston, MA, 02108). More information on this event and more is listed in our bio.

With less than one week to go before Beacon New Music Festival, let's introduce our next lineup of artists for our July 7th event. Bad Time to Scream formed out of a shared curiosity and creative spark at the Boston Conservatory. After collaborating on a friend's composition, Robert and Amber recognized the untapped potential in their pairing—two instruments steeped in centuries of tradition reimagined as vehicles for modern expression. Their work is rooted in collaboration; nearly every piece we perform is commissioned, reflecting our commitment to championing living composers and exploring new sonic landscapes. They are drawn to unconventional performance practices, extended techniques, and the kind of risk-taking that invites both chaos and clarity. When is it a "bad time to scream?" Never. This is a playground, a place of exploration for getting messy and loud. For them, every moment is an opportunity to push boundaries, disrupt expectations, and create noise—beautiful, strange, and thrilling noise. Their duo serves as a laboratory, a playground, and a provocation for those who dare to enter. Their event will take place this Monday, July 7th, from 7 to 9 pm, at the Beacon Hill Friends House (6 Chestnut St. Boston, MA, 02108). More information on this event and more is listed in our bio.

With one week to go before Beacon New Music Festival, let's introduce our first lineup of artists for our July 6th event. Nadia Benes (b. 2003) is a classically-educated ballet and contemporary dancer and choreographer.  Upon completing her training with Sacramento Ballet and Límon Dance Company, she has since performed across NYC in full length ballets, site-specific improvisational works, and been featured in music videos by Nell Bryden.  Her choreography explores delicacy and inner authenticity, often blending visual art and movement. Daniel A. Weitz (b. 2002) is a New York City-based composer and improviser of contemplative, theatrical, and narrative-driven music. Daniel’s work has been performed by acclaimed ensembles such as The Rhythm Method, the Brazilian National Symphony, PinkNOISE, PHACE, TAK ensemble, W4RP, DECODA and the New York Youth Symphony Jazz Ensemble. This summer, his music will be featured in the 2025 Inštitut .abeceda Contemporary Music Festival in Bled, Slovenia, and has been previously featured in festivals such as the Brasilia Orchestral Summit and Lake George Music Festival, New Music On the Point, Vienna Contemporary Composers Festival. In addition to being a recipient of Columbia University’s Charles S. Miller Award in music composition, Daniel has graduated from Columbia College with a Bachelor of Arts in Music and Physics. In September 2025, he will begin his studies for a Master of Music in Composition with Du Yun at the Peabody Institute. Their live and ever-evolving collaboration is a co-improvisational duet which explores a playful aesthetic conversation between dancer and instrumentalist. Central is the theme of extrapolation, that gesture/ideas are proposed by one performer and exemplified by the other. In this conversation, both players hold the authority to explicitly end a stream of thought. Their event will take place this Sunday, July 6th, from 7:30 to 10:00 pm, in the abandoned restaurant space at the Takeda Pharmaceuticals building (650 E Kendall St, Cambridge, MA 02142). More information on this event and more is listed in our bio.

🧬show announcement!!🧪 our first ever concert as bad time to scream is happening in just under two weeks!!✨ four premieres, five composers, all early career creative minds and a whole new experience of horn and viola in an alternative context. 🫀join @amber.dai.music and @robertbruce_viola at the beacon new music festival hosted by @beacon.ensemble on 7/7 at 7!!! 🎰 more on the program and composers in a few days! ⚔️S T A Y T U N E D⚔️

Introducing the first ever iteration of the Beacon New Music Festival. A time to celebrate emerging contemporary artists and the works of living composers, alongside musical gems from the 20th and 21st centuries. 💃Opening Night with Nadia Benes & Daniel Weitz - A social hour with snacks and beverages to wet your pallet for a short musical exhibition with cellist @chiuweitz and dancer @nadia.benes 📅Sunday, July 6 | 7:30 PM | Takeda Pharmaceuticals 📯 @badtimetoscream - Premiere Performance with the newly formed contemporary music duo starring hornist @amber.dai.music and violist @robert.brucx 📅Monday, July 7 | 7:00 PM | @beaconhillfriendshouse 🎻Beacon Ensemble - Performance with the festival host starring violinists @sophiabernitz_vln @dmitriascarrunz , violist @robert.brucx and cellist @amtacello 📅Tuesday, July 8 | 7:00 PM | @beaconhillfriendshouse Tickets and additional info available in our bio. Stay tuned for more updates.