Jefferson Friedman masterclass

Today's Youth
Perform
Today's Music

The New England Conservatory Preparatory School's annual contemporary festival, "Today's Youth Perform Today's Music" was founded in 1991 by faculty members Rodney Lister and John Ziarko to give students and faculty the opportunity to study the performance skills needed for contemporary music. Featured composers work closely with students in workshops, seminars, and coachings.

In the recent past, there has been a surge of interest among Preparatory School students to study composition, and perform their own music and that of their friends. This has become an integral part of the festival.

This year's visiting composer is Jefferson Friedman, a 1992 NEC Prep alumnus who is a 2004 Rome Prize recipient and who is also currently nominated for a Grammy Award for a 2011 recording of his String Quartet No. 3—the composition he worked on as an outcome of his Rome Prize.

In addition to his work in such classical idioms as the string quartet, Friedman has performed with rock bands, including Shudder to Think and Matmos. Following on Friedman's string arrangements for Matmos's album The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast, Matmos returned the favor with remixes that are paired with the recordings of Friedman's second and third string quartets.

A full day of concerts on January 29 is devoted to performances of Jefferson Friedman's music.