Credit: Digitice
Oberlin Conservatory has played a key role in the creation of the International Contemporary Ensemble, with founding members of the Ensemble meeting as students. Now, the Ensemble returns to Oberlin for the week-long residency, “Composing While Black, Volume II.” Curated by ICE’s Artistic Director, George Lewis, “Composing While Black” at Oberlin is conceived as a pair of residencies spanning a period of two years. The highly successful “Composing While Black, Volume I” took place in 2025, and this second residency will include rehearsals, workshops, and panel discussions for Oberlin students.
The residency will culminate in a concert featuring members of ICE in collaboration with members of Oberlin’s Contemporary Music Ensemble in a program of large-scale works conducted by Tim Weiss. This collaboration celebrates Oberlin & ICE’s shared history as well as the rich musical connections fostered at Oberlin.
This performance is made possible through lead support from the Arlene & Larry Dunn Fund for Afrodiasporic Music.
PROGRAM
To be announced
PERFORMERS
International Contemporary Ensemble
INTERNATIONAL CONTEMPORARY ENSEMBLE
Described as “America’s foremost new-music group” (The New Yorker), International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) is dedicated to supporting living composers through commissioning, developing, and premiering new works. Now in its third decade, ICE has premiered over 1,000 works and plays a pivotal role in launching and shaping the careers of today’s most influential composers. Through its bold programming and innovative curation, ICE continues to redefine the possibilities of contemporary music.
ICE has brought its vision of a mosaic musical ecosystem to festivals and venues all over the world including Carnegie Hall, Maerzmusik/Berliner Festspiele, Warsaw Autumn, Miller Theatre Composer Portraits, Museum of Modern Art New York, Centre for Contemporary Arts Glasgow, HEAR NOW Los Angeles, Darmstadt International Summer Courses for New Music, NYU Skirball, Pioneer Works, Oberlin College, House of World Cultures, Ojai Music Festival, Peabody Conservatory, TIME:SPANS Festival, Big Ears Festival, Adelaide Festival, the Dutch National Opera, Cité de la Musique (Paris), Haus der Kulturen der Welt (Berlin), Walt Disney Concert Hall, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Japan Society.
CREDITS
The International Contemporary Ensemble’s performances and commissioning activities during the 2025-26 concert season are made possible by the generous support of our board of directors, many individuals, as well as the Mellon Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, Jerome Foundation, Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, Aaron Copland Fund for Music Inc., Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, The Arlene and Larry Dunn Fund for Afrodiasporic Music, Fromm Music Foundation, Amphion Foundation, The Cheswatyr Foundation, The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, Siemens Musikstiftung, Alice M. Ditson Fund of Columbia University, BMI Foundation, as well as public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, New York State Council for the Arts with the support of Governor Kathy Hochul and New York State Legislature. Yamaha Artist Services New York is the exclusive piano provider for the International Contemporary Ensemble.