The Aakash Mittal Quartet, led by听Aakash Mittal听(BM 2007, saxophone), received听the ASCAP/Chamber Music America award for Adventurous Programming of Contemporary Music for听jazz ensemble in January in New York. The group performs its members鈥� original works and draws heavily on the improvisational vocabulary and compositional aspects of the North Indian classical raga tradition. Mittal鈥檚 鈥淰idesh Suite鈥� takes the listener on a journey to India through the use of post-bop, raga music, serialism and electronic samples.
Established jointly by Chamber Music America and ASCAP, the annual awards recognize U.S.-based professional ensembles and presenters for distinctive programming of new music composed in the past 25 years. The recipients were chosen by an independent panel of judges, who evaluated the applicants on the basis their programming of recent works and innovations in attracting audiences to new music performances.
鈥淭his year鈥檚 award recipients represent some of the most exciting contemporary music programming in the country,鈥� said Chamber Music America鈥檚 CEO, Margaret M. Lioi.
鈥淛udging from the number of excellent applications that we received, new music is flourishing in the chamber music community. We are pleased to recognize these outstanding ensembles and presenters for their accomplishments.鈥�
