OSSIA New Music

hello Eastman students! want to play and/or write for OSSIA? 💥👊 We are excited to announce two calls that are now open:
1) Eastman Student Commissions: Composers! Submit proposals of unfinished pieces to our form by July 17th to be considered for the entire season, or by November 2nd to be considered for the Spring concerts! Open to all Eastman students regardless of program and major.

2) Interested Performers: Let us know if you would like to participate in our concerts in the coming season! This year, we have also opened a NEW section for you to propose to bring your own selection to play at our concerts, either solo or with your chamber group!

Christmas might just be coming early this year. Announcing our 2026-2027 International Call for Works! This year, we are moving our deadline up to August in order to feature multiple(!) pieces throughout the season. Among many changes, you may now also submit up to TWO works. Apply through the link in our bio and spread the word. Deadline is August 1st, 2026 @ 11:59 pm. We’re looking forward to listening to all the submissions!

Join us this coming Thursday to celebrate OSSIA’s 2025-2026 season and all that is to come in our future!

We are excited to announce the winner of our 2025/2026 International Call for Works: Kostas Zisimopoulos for his work “Nysa”.

This work will be performed on our last Main Stage Concert of the season on March 20th, 7:30 PM in Hatch Recital Hall. Of his piece, Kostas writes:

“Nysa is a paradise, a mountain or a valley, which according to the greek mythological geography is located in Thrace, Naxos, Euboea, Helix, Parnassus and even farther, in Syria, Arabia, Egypt, Ethiopia. There, in the hands of the water Nymphs (Dryades) Dionysus was raised. The high frequenced cry of the sacred infant in an unprecedented, maniac, initiatory ritual inaugurates the passing from life to death and vice versa until the fear of death is transformed into the lust for life.”

We would also like to congratulate this year’s runner up - Minjie Bi - for his work “Bifurcation II".

As we quickly approach the second Main Concert of our 2025-2026 season, we wanted to take a moment to share some clips from our most recent rehearsals of the works we will be presenting on December 1st in Kilbourn Hall at 7:30 p.m.

We hope you enjoy these short snippets and will join us for what will sure to be an amazing evening of contemporary music this coming Monday.

Introducing the first of four pieces for this coming concert: Ben Nobuto's SERENITY 2.0!

“SERENITY 2.0 takes the form of a guided meditation that’s continually derailed. Listeners are invited to enter into a relaxed, meditative state, despite knowing well that any kind of serenity here is impossible. As if programmed by a machine, the music randomly starts and stops, switches material, slows down and speeds up, cycling through fragments of 80s Japanese pop, YouTube vlogs, folk jigs, TED Talks, and Baroque music in endless permutations. The ‘2.0’ in the title refers to something like a software update, as if the music you’re listening to wants to upgrade, and in turn, upgrade you.” - Ben Nobuto

Please enjoy a clip from a recent rehearsal and we look forward to seeing many of you in Kilbourn Hall this coming Thursday (10/09).

Thanks again to everyone who made it out to our pop-up event this past Monday in Lowry! We hope we could entice you with our array of sweet treats to join us at our first concert of the season next Thursday (10/09) in Kilbourn Hall at 7:30 PM.

OSSIA New Music is excited to announce the first Main Concert of our 2025-2026 season!

Featuring works by David Lang, Jaegone Kim, Noriko Baba, and Ben Nobuto, we invite both the Eastman and broader Rochester communities to join us for a night of sonic exploration, considering our connection to both the natural and ethereal world.

We look forward to seeing you all at 7:30 PM in Kilbourn Hall on Thursday, October 9th!

Poster courtesy of Myah Tokajer ()

Eastman Students! This is your chance to have OSSIA program your composition on concerts this Spring. Check out the link in our bio and submit your works!

Finally, please welcome our Director of PR and our Community Engagement Coordinator, Cyrus Kuester-Ha! Bringing his experience in event management, logistics, promotion, and unique position within OSSIA as a jazz double bassist, Cyrus hopes to expand OSSIA’s reach beyond typical audiences through promotion efforts and community events. Check out his biography below and please join us in welcoming him to OSSIA.

"Cyrus Kuester-Ha is a second-year undergraduate double bassist studying with Jeff Campbell at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. He has performed at venues such as the Kennedy Center, the National Mall, Strathmore Music Hall, and Kodak Theater at the Eastman School of Music, and with groups such as the Paul Carr Jazz Orchestra, the Collegium Musicum at Eastman, and the Empire Film and Media Ensemble. Recognizing the impact that music has in bringing people together, Cyrus has long been actively involved in community outreach, playing for nursing homes, homeschool co-ops, and in local parks, bringing jazz to the youngest and the oldest in communities in Rochester and Washington, D.C.

Outside of his musical studies, Cyrus is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) in Economics from the University of Rochester. As an intern with the American Council on Renewable Energy (ACORE), he discovered his passion for clean energy policy and continues to build his skills in public policy and campaigning in his most recent position as a Field Fellow and Assistant to the Political Director with the Dr. Mark Downey for the Virginia campaign."