David Alan Miller, conductor

Daniel Matsukawa, Bassoon

Sandbox Percussion

The concert

This program brings the Albany Symphony American Music Festival to a thrilling close with an evening dedicated entirely to the voices of today’s composers. From bold world premieres to vibrant new concert works, the concert celebrates the creativity and diversity shaping American music right now.

Led by Music Director David Alan Miller, the orchestra is joined by acclaimed bassoonist Daniel Matsukawa and the dynamic ensemble Sandbox Percussion. Together they premiere new works by Viet Cuong and Christopher Theofanidis, present Clarice Assad’s colorful Terra concerto, and showcase new America250 commissions by Brittney Benton, Jihyun Kim, and Max Vinetz.

Whether you’re drawn by the excitement of world premieres, the artistry of extraordinary guest performers, or the energy of music being heard for the very first time, this festival finale promises an unforgettable celebration of American music today.

The Program

CLARICE ASSAD: Terra, Concerto for Bassoon & Orchestra

CHRISTOPHER THEOFANIDIS: Drum Circles

VIET CUONG: Concentric Circles

BRITTNEY BENTON: With Liberty and Justice For All?

MAX VINETZ: This isn’t working

The Experience

Settle into the striking architecture and acoustics of EMPAC in Troy and experience the excitement of new music coming to life. As the grand finale of the Albany Symphony’s American Music Festival, this concert offers the rare opportunity to hear multiple premieres performed by world-class musicians in one of the region’s most innovative concert spaces—an inspiring experience for longtime concertgoers and curious first-time listeners alike.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Daniel Matsukawa

Daniel Matsukawa has been principal bassoon of The Philadelphia Orchestra since 2000. He is on faculty at both the Curtis Institute of Music and Temple University and is the Music Director of the Independence Sinfonia Orchestra. Matsukawa was born in Argentina to Japanese parents and his family moved to the United States when he was three years old. He studied at the Juilliard School and the Curtis Institute of Music, and his teachers were Alan Futterman, Harold Goltzer, and Bernard Garfield. Matsukawa has performed, and soloed, with various orchestras around the world. He has also conducted in the United States and Japan. Along with his orchestral and teaching positions, he serves on the Faculty Council at the Curtis Institute of Music and on the Advisory Board for the Pacific Music Festival in Japan, which was founded by Leonard Bernstein. In 2019 Matsukawa served as a judge for the prestigious Tchaikovsky Competition in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and was a member of the jury panel for the renowned ARD Competition in Munich, Germany. He has also been invited to serve as a judge for the 2023 Muri Competition in Switzerland.

In 2021 Matsukawa received the C. Hartman Kuhn Award given annually to “the member of The Philadelphia Orchestra who has shown ability and enterprise of such character as to enhance the standards and the reputation of the ensemble.” He is also a Grandmentor for Musical Mentors Collaborative, a nonprofit that addresses structural inequities in music education. He has served on the Pennsylvania Governor’s Advisory Commission for Asian Pacific American Affairs, and through empathy and intersectionality he advocates not only for Asian Pacific American communities but also to help amplify all BIPOC voices. He is also the co-chair of the Council for Inclusive Excellence at the Curtis Institute.

Matsukawa is deeply involved with The Philadelphia Orchestra’s community involvement and outreach programs such as Our City, Your Orchestra, which has helped promote cultural and social-service organizations throughout the Philadelphia region. He is also working to help increase accessibility to classical music for historically underrepresented communities. He has found music to be a form of communication, self-expression, and social commentary, bringing people together and lifting them up. Through his belief that art has the power to create conversations, healing, and change, he strives to create an empathetic and equitable society for everyone.

Matsukawa wishes to express his immense gratitude to Richard M. Klein, who has made the commission of Clarice Assad’s Bassoon Concerto possible. He says, “Richard M. Klein is like a modern-day Esterházy, whose generosity and support has allowed a great composer to write this work for bassoon and orchestra for audiences to enjoy.”

SANDBOX pERCUSSION

The “exhilarating” (The New York Times) and “utterly mesmerizing” (The Guardian) GRAMMY®-nominated Sandbox Percussion champions living composers through its unwavering dedication to contemporary chamber music. In 2011, Jonathan Allen, Victor Caccese, Ian Rosenbaum, and Terry Sweeney came together through a mutual interest in expanding the percussion repertoire. Today, they are established leaders in contemporary music for percussion, engaging a wider audience for classical music through collaborations with leading composers and artists.

Sandbox Percussion has toured the world—from Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center to the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris to the Beijing Music Festival—and has reached mass audiences through NPR’s Tiny Desk, TED Conferences, and film. The group’s 2025 Tiny Desk debut consisted of a genre-defying program of pieces by Andy Akiho and Viet Cuong. In 2024, Sandbox Percussion recorded percussion for the feature film The Wild Robot (DreamWorks), with music by Kris Bowers.

Sandbox Percussion is the first percussion ensemble to receive the prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant; at the 2024 ceremony, they performed “Pillar V,” from Seven Pillars, Akiho’s 2021 suite for percussion quartet, which The New York Times called “as pure as music gets.” It was nominated for two GRAMMY® awards and was a Pulitzer Prize finalist.

Building on that success, Sandbox Percussion and Akiho embark on a project in 2025-26 to create a new work with Akiho joining on steelpan; “Pentalateral I,” the first completed movement, is available now as a single. Throughout the season, the quintet continues to create and record the rest of the piece, giving premieres of individual movements in select venues.

Sandbox Percussion also continues to champion Re(new)al, Cuong’s green energy and environment-themed 2017 concerto for percussion quartet (the world premiere recording is available on Albany Records). They reunite for the world premiere of a new work by Cuong to be performed with the Albany Symphony, which commissioned and premiered Re(new)al.

Another season highlight is the collaboration with violinist Kristin Lee, the founder and artistic director of Seattle’s Emerald City Music, where Sandbox Percussion is ensemble-in-residence this season. Together, they present a Vivian Fung world premiere, and the Pacific Northwest premiere of recent works by Joan Tower and Gabriella Smith. Lee joins Sandbox Percussion again at the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center for Sonic Spectrum IV, a program that includes Lou Harrison’s Concerto for Violin with Percussion Orchestra.

Over the season, Sandbox Percussion performs Simeon ten Holt’s minimalist work Canto Ostinato. The group’s arrangement for percussion quartet and two pianos was performed at Lincoln Center Summer for the City. A recording—a collaboration with Erik Hall and Metropolis Ensemble—was released in April 2026. At Duke University, Sandbox Percussion and the

Tyshawn Sorey Trio present Max Roach at 100, a tribute to the influential jazz drummer. At Stanford Live, Sandbox Percussion joins the choir The Crossing for You Are Who I Love, the last work by the late Harold Meltzer, set to Aracelis Girmay’s poem about the undocumented immigrant experience in the U.S.

The group’s latest album is Don’t Look Down (PENTATONE, 2025), featuring music by Christopher Cerrone. It won the 2026 GRAMMY® Award for Best Engineered Album, Classical (engineers Mike Tierney and Alan Silverman). Other recent releases include BLOOM, with music by Michael Torke (Ecstatic Records, 2024); and Past Life / Lifeline, with music by Ellis Ludwig-Leone (Better Company Records, 2024).

Sandbox Percussion holds the positions of ensemble-in-residence and percussion faculty at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and The New School’s College of Performing Arts, where they have created a curriculum with entrepreneurship and chamber music at its core. The 2025-26 season is the group’s second year on faculty at the Peabody Institute of Johns Hopkins University. Sandbox Percussion endorses Pearl/Adams musical instruments, Zildjian cymbals, Vic Firth sticks and mallets, Remo drumheads, and Black Swamp accessories.

cLARICE ASSAD

Grammy Award–nominated composer, pianist, vocalist, and educator Clarice Assad is one of the most compelling and versatile creative voices in contemporary music.

Winner of the 2026 Andrew Imbrie Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the 2025 Meier Achievement Award, she has created more than 130 works for institutions including Carnegie Hall, the Philadelphia Orchestra, and the LA Philharmonic. Her music has been recorded by Yo-Yo Ma, Dame Evelyn Glennie, and the Takács Quartet — whose world premiere of her string quartet NEXUS at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall was celebrated by the New York Classical Review and featured in The Strad under the headline "Let's Clarice It Up." Her album Archetypes — recorded with her father, guitarist Sérgio Assad, and Third Coast Percussion — earned two Grammy nominations in 2022. As a performer, she has appeared at Carnegie Hall, the Concertgebouw, and Jazz at Lincoln Center, sharing stages with Bobby McFerrin and Paquito D'Rivera. Currently Composer-in-Residence with the Allentown Symphony. Assad is also the creator of VOXploration, an acclaimed music education program presented worldwide. She is based in Chicago.

christopher theofanidis

Christopher Theofanidis’ music has been performed by many of the world’s leading performing arts organizations, from the London Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, and New York Philharmonic to the San Francisco Opera, the Houston Grand Opera, and the American Ballet Theatre. He is a two-time GRAMMY® nominee for best composition, and his Viola Concerto, recorded with David Alan Miller and the Albany Symphony with Richard O’Neill soloist, won the 2021 Grammy for Best Instrumental Solo. Theofanidis’ work, Rainbow Body, is one of the most performed works in recent decades, having been performed by over 200 orchestras worldwide. Theofanidis is currently coordinator of the composition programs at Yale University and the Aspen Music Festival, and has taught at the Juilliard School and the Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University.

Viet Cuong

Described as “alluring” and “stirring” by The New York Times, the music of Vietnamese-American composer Viet Cuong has been performed on six continents by musicians and ensembles such as the New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Eighth Blackbird, Sandbox Percussion, Kronos Quartet, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and Dallas Winds, among many others. Cuong’s music has been heard at Carnegie Hall, Kennedy Center, and Lincoln Center, as well as on NPR Music’s Tiny Desk and PBS NewsHour, and his works for wind ensemble have garnered over a thousand performances worldwide. In his music, Cuong also enjoys exploring the unexpected and whimsical, and he is often drawn to projects where he can make peculiar combinations and sounds feel enchanting or oddly satisfying. His works thus include concerti for tuba and dueling oboes, percussion quartets utilizing wine glasses and sandpaper, and pieces for double reed sextet, cello octet, and solo snare drum. This eclecticism extends to the variety of musical groups he writes for, and he has worked closely with ensembles ranging from middle school bands to Grammy-winning orchestras and chamber ensembles. He is currently the Pacific Symphony’s Composer-in-Residence and serves as Assistant Professor of Music Composition at The University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Cuong holds degrees from Princeton University (MFA/PhD), the Curtis Institute of Music (AD), and Peabody Conservatory (BM/MM).

BRITTNEY BENTON

Driven by storytelling and imagery, Brittney Benton's music takes you on a journey through a lush melodic and harmonic soundscape, filled with personality at every turn.

Brittney holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music Composition with a Minor in Music Technology from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and a Masters in Music Composition from the Yale School of Music. She is very interested in working outside of the concert hall, especially in the realm of video game music.

Benton’s music has been performed by the Bellevue Chamber Chorus, ZOFO, the Beo String Quartet, the Lowell Chamber Orchestra, the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra, SOLI Chamber Ensemble and more.

She was named one of the winners of Chicago a Capella’s “Her Voice Competition” in 2022. In 2024 she was named one of the winners of the SOLI Chamber Ensemble’s “30x30x30” competition and was a recipient of Kind of Kings “Bouman Fellowship” for 2024-25.

Recent composition festivals include the 2020 Charlotte New Music Festival and Connecticut Summerfest 2021. She also attended the inaugural Akropolis Chamber Music Institute (ACMI) in 2022. In 2024, she attended the Alba Music Composition Festival in Alba, Italy.

Her principal teachers include Jennifer Bellor, Viet Cuong, Aaron Jay Kernis, Christopher Theofanidis, Martin Bresnick, and David Lang.

MAX VINETZ

With music described as “accomplished and appealing” (San Diego Story) and “shimmering…euphoric” (Chicago Classical Review), Max Vinetz is an award-winning composer whose music thrives at the intersection of improvisatory, popular, and traditional classical forms, exploring how these convergences shape and reflect identity transformation over time. His work often focuses on the perception of rhythmic and timbral events, weaving intricate relationships between narrative, musical objects, and sonic artifacts across various media. Max is a recipient of a Fromm Foundation Commission, a Koussevitzky Commission from the Library of Congress, a Charles Ives Scholarship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Jacob Druckman Prize from Aspen Music Festival, ASCAP’s Leo Kaplan Award, three ASCAP Morton Gould awards (2025/2020/2018), ASCAP’s Leonard Bernstein Award, a finalist award from the New Jersey Arts Council, the Paul and Christiane Cooper Prize, and the Gardner Prize from the American Viola Society. He has received additional recognition and awards from the New Jersey Council for the Arts, Musiqa, loadbang, Hausmann Quartet, Young Concert Artists, New York Youth Symphony, BMI, Danbury Music Center, Symphony No. 1, Donald Sinta Quartet, Tesla Quartet, and Yale University, and the Shepherd School of Music. His music has been featured at numerous festivals, including the American Music Festival, Mizzou International Composers Festival, CULTIVATE, Five Boroughs Music Festival, Norfolk New Music Workshop, Rites of Spring Music Festival, .abeceda Contemporary Music Festival (SL), Fontainebleau (FR), New Music On the Point, Brevard Music Center, California Summer Music, Red Note New Music Festival, Nebula Ensemble Summer Festival, nief-norf, Valencia International Performance Academy (ES), and highSCORE (IT). Upcoming projects include commissions for the Aruna Quartet, New York New Music Ensemble, and an album of string quartets in collaboration with the Bergamot Quartet. Max holds degrees from Yale University (BA), Rice University

PARKING, ACCESSIBILITY & SHUTTLE INFORMATION

Parking: The main entrance and box office are located on the east (campus) side of the building. FREE parking is available in the College Avenue parking garage adjacent to Cogswell Laboratory.

All parking is FREE on nights and weekends in the City of Troy. PLEASE NOTE: There is no elevator access to the Concert Hall from the 8th Avenue entrance.

GPS Address for Parking Garage: 67 College Ave, Troy, NY 12180

Accessibility: Large-print programs and assistive listening devices available upon request, find an usher or staff member for more information.

Shuttle: Our safe and convenient concert shuttle will enhance your Albany Symphony concert experience. Round-trip transportation from Delmar is $20, click the link below or call the box office at (518) 694-3300 ext. 2 to reserve your spot.

reserve your spot on the concert shuttle here

American Music Festival: Cuong, Theofanidis & Assad