Reviewing the Focus! Festival concerts in January, New York Times critic Paul Griffiths observed that programs featuring composers such as Dallapiccola, Nono, Babbitt, Stravinsky, etc., are more or less guaranteed to be good. Such "guarantees," of course, are issued by the "test of time"—the process by which passing years filter out music that does not wear well on repeated hearing. But while sticking to the tried and true helps us to produce concerts whose worth needs no debate, it can lead to stagnation. Ironically, some artists seek to keep their programs lively by dredging in the past for music that already had been consigned to blessed rest.

Jeroen D'hoe. (Photo by Patrick Dirickx)

The obvious alternative is to seek new repertory in the present. Alas, without the help of time's filter, we are forced to judge new music by ourselves, to become risk-takers-jaywalkers, rather than well-behaved citizens who wait for the green light. This dilemma was a central issue when the New Juilliard Ensemble was created. The goal was to play new music; the first challenge was to delimit the meaning of the word "new," since the conventional meaning of "new" as "post-Brahms" was unacceptable. Many of the great European presenters, especially radio stations, define new music as something not much older than 5 or 10 years, preferably fresh from the pen. For them, "new" is new. The idea sounded perfect for the new chamber orchestra. The challenge would be to identify new music that is worth the effort of performing.

When a composition already has been performed, and can be heard (live or on a recording), the decision is relatively easy: one either likes it or not. The risk grows dramatically when a score arrives without a recording, because many interesting-looking pieces turn out to be disappointing in performance. If, however, its composer has produced works of consistently high quality, the chances that the mystery piece will be worth performing increase.

Milica Paranosic (seated on desk) with students. (Photo by Henry Grossman)

The second biggest risk comes when the composer is completely unknown. The natural tendency is to put the piece aside for further contemplation (read: not risk programming it). Of course, while shaving the next morning, the person in the mirror may look like a coward.

How can one reliably determine that a piece is worth performing—especially one that is too complex to play through at the piano, and very difficult to imagine at sight? There are some criteria which have proven reasonably reliable. Does it seem to have a good overall shape, a kind of convincing dramaturgy, or does it look repetitious, monotone (too little contrast)? Is it transparent and varied in texture, or scored unrelentingly thickly? Does it seem to speak directly, or is it filled with gratuitous (as opposed to appropriate) complexity? Does it have its own personality, one filled with nice surprises, or appear to be the product of a committee? In my experience, the positive answers usually indicate a fine piece. But one can be quite disappointed. The lesson learned: do not be overconfident about one's own judgement.

The greatest risk of all, naturally, lies in commissioning a composition. Not only is it hard to predict whether the end product will be worthwhile—even if the composer has a wonderful track record—but one is obligated to perform it no matter what. This ultimate risk is very relevant to the New Juilliard Ensemble's final concert of the 2001-02 season, on April 16 in Alice Tully Hall. Of the five pieces to be played, four are world premieres of pieces composed for the ensemble. The risk level could hardly be higher. It gives me great pleasure, therefore, to say that—at the time I am writing this article, having received all four pieces—I feel confident that the concert will be exciting.

Paolo Costa Lima

Of the four new works, two are by current Juilliard students, who were offered, after the New Juilliard Ensemble's annual audition process, the opportunity to write for chamber orchestra. This year, the composers selected are Huang Ruo and Jeroen D'hoe. Huang Ruo, 25, first studied composition in China at the middle school that forms part of the Shanghai Conservatory, where his principal teacher was Professor Deng Erbo. In 1995 he left China, spending a year in Los Angeles studying English before enrolling in the Oberlin College Conservatory, as a pupil of Randolph Coleman. After receiving the B.M. degree there, Mr. Huang came to The Juilliard School as a student of Christopher Rouse in our Master of Music program, from which he is to graduate in May. His music already has been heard extensively on two continents, in performances by the Philadelphia Orchestra under Wolfgang Sawallisch; the Chicago Pro Musica (musicians from the Chicago Symphony); the Cleveland Chamber Symphony; the Nieuw Ensemble (Amsterdam); the Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra, and many other ensembles. Future commissions include a choral work for the Dale Warland Singers, and a violin concerto for the Queens Symphony Orchestra and Juilliard faculty member Cho-Liang Lin.

The 31-year-old Belgian-born Jeroen D'hoe (pronounced Ye-roon Doo) received degrees in musicology from the University of Leuven (1992) and composition from the Lemmens Institute in Belgium (1996). After earning his master's degree at Juilliard (2000), he entered its D.M.A. program as a student of John Corigliano. From 1995 to 1998 he was a teaching assistant for harmony in the musicology department of the University of Leuven (Belgium) and since 1999 has been an ear-training teaching assistant at The Juilliard School. The recipient of many commissions and performances in his own country, Mr. D'hoe is preparing a symphony for performance by the Flemish Radio Orchestra later this year. His Violin Concerto (2000) was written for, and performed and recorded by, the Flemish Radio Orchestra.

A third piece, for chamber orchestra and electronics, also stems from Juilliard, in this case by a faculty member, Milica Paranosic, who wrote it at my invitation. A native of Belgrade, Yugoslavia, she studied at Belgrade Music University's composition and orchestration department. After graduation, she taught at the Music University until she decided to expand her education in the United States. Her first trip to New York was financed by the Soros Foundation; a scholarship from Juilliard enabled her to enter the school's Master of Music program as a pupil of Robert Beaser, from which she graduated in 1996. She now teaches courses in music technology and manages Juilliard's Music Technology Center. Ms. Paranosic, who describes herself as a true believer in "multi" and "mixed," is "very pleased that others find her music hard to categorize." Upcoming projects include a piece for over-dressed marimba, commissioned by Matthew Gold; a performance in St. Petersburg's Electroacoustic Festival "ElectroShock" with her group D'Divaz (July 2002); and participation in the first Rheinsberg Opera Workshop, 2002-03.

Bernd Franke

The fourth premiere is by another European, Bernd Franke, one of Germany's leading composers of the middle generation, to whom I had been introduced by the Cuban-American composer Tania León. I had come to know Mr. Franke and enjoy his music; a brief conversation led him to offer to compose for the New Juilliard Ensemble. This composition, Petrel Seascapes, five songs for soprano and orchestra on texts by the British poet David Bengree-Jones, is not only dedicated to the ensemble, but has thematic material derived from my family name (which in German is E flat, A, C, B natural, E flat)—a first for me!

The April 16 program will be rounded out by an exciting piece by one of Brazil's leading composers, Paolo Costa Lima, who hails from and flourishes in the magnificently exotic city of Salvador de Bahia, the old capital of the Brazilian empire, where Portuguese and African cultures (a legacy of the days of slavery) have joined to produce what Mr. Lima calls a "naturally anarchic culture." It is the perfect birthplace for a composition whose principal theme is the medieval French tune "L'homme armé," set to the rhythm of a traditional Yoruba greeting to an African deity.

I have come to love the risk of ventures into the compositional unknown. I hope the audience on April 16 will agree that such risks can be extremely rewarding.

Free tickets, which are required to attend this concert, are available at the Juilliard Box Office.

Joel Sachs is the director of the New Juilliard Ensemble and the annual Focus! Festival.