Description:

Come spend an engaging evening with one of the visionary voices in contemporary music, composer Marcos Balter, Fritz Reiner Professor of Music Composition at Columbia University and Co-Director of Tanglewood Music Center's Composition Program.

The event will be hosted and moderated by Collage New Music's own Artistic Director, Eric Nathan, featuring a portrait concert of Balter's music by Collage New Music.

Where:

Location: Harvard Musical Association, 57 Chestnut St A, Boston, MA 02108, USA

Date and Time: Tuesday, June 2, 2026, 7:00 PM-10:00 PM.

Dress: Business Casual

RSVP: Note: space is limited and you must RSVP by June 1 to attend

What to Expect:

An intimate gathering where you can:

Listen as the musicians of Collage New Music perform works by Marcos Balter
Get a rare glimpse into the artistic process as Eric Nathan engages Marcos in a lively discussion. Hear about Balter's musical journey, the inspiration behind his compositions, and thoughts on the future of music.
Connect with Marcos, Eric, the Collage musicians, and fellow music lovers during a welcoming reception.

Light refreshments and dessert will be provided.

This fundraiser directly supports Collage New Music's commitment to bringing groundbreaking music to our community. Your presence and generosity make a real difference. We look forward to sharing this special evening with you.

Schedule:

7:00pm: Opening reception with wine and refreshments

7:45pm: Conversation with Marcos Balter moderated by Artistic Director Eric Nathan featuring performances by Collage New Music

9:00pm: Dessert and closing reception with featured artists and performers

10:00pm: End

Program:

Music by Marcos Balter:

Machaut Transcription (2011) for flute trio
*** (2014) for solo piano
A vis (2007) for clarinet and violin
Pessoa (2021) for bass flute and electronics
False memories (2022) for solo pianoPerformers:

Performed by
Sarah Brady (flute) | Heather Braun (violin)
Alexis Lanz (clarinet) | Christopher Oldfather (piano)

Raffle Items:

Collage will offer a raffle for attendees to participate in during the event!

Raffle ticket items available include:

Tickets to a SpeakEasy Stage Show
Tickets to an A Far Cry Performance
New England Philharmonic Season Subscription
Collage New Music Concert Tickets and Special Prize Package

About Marcos Balter:

Marcos Balter’s musical language embodies his belief that a pluralist society should foster artistic fluidity, bridging and intertwining diverse perspectives. A prolific composer, Balter’s catalog includes orchestral works, vocal and instrumental chamber music, multimedia and interdisciplinary projects, collaborations with popular musicians, and compositions for children and community engagement. Critics have described his music as “a virtuosic equilibrium of colliding particles” (The Boston Globe) through “a fiercely imaginative palette of instrumental and vocal sounds” (The Chicago Tribune).

Born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Balter began his musical training at the Conservatório Musical Heitor Villa-Lobos at age five, enrolling at the Conservatório Brasileiro de Música at age eleven. In his late teens, he studied privately with composer Almeida Prado before moving to the United States to further his education. As a doctoral student at Northwestern University, he became a key figure within a dynamic community of Chicago-based artists exploring innovative and collaborative approaches to music creation, developing close ties with the newly formed International Contemporary Ensemble and co-founding Ensemble Dal Niente. Today, his music is championed by leading ensembles including the JACK Quartet, Alarm Will Sound, yMusic, The Crossing, New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and Ensemble intercontemporain at prestigious venues such as Carnegie Hall, Philharmonie de Paris, and Wigmore Hall. Highlights in 2025 include appearances at the Ojai, TIME:SPANS, and Darmstädter Ferienkurse festivals, and performances by the Iceland Symphony Orchestra, Orquestra do Estado de São Paulo, and the New York New Music Ensemble.

Balter has received numerous awards and honors, including the American Academy of Arts and Letters Music Award, the Koussevitzky Foundation/Library of Congress Award, the Fromm Award, and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, Civitella Ranieri Foundation, and the Tanglewood Music Center, where he was a Leonard Bernstein Fellow in 2005.

As a queer Afro-Brazilian artist, Balter is committed to expanding the cultural discourse on music and representation in the arts through post-colonial lenses. His New York Times essay, His Name is Joseph Boulogne, Not ‘Black Mozart,’ examines the systemic erasure of Black composers from Western music history.

He is currently the Fritz Reiner Professor of Musical Composition at Columbia University. Previously, he taught at the University of California, San Diego; Montclair State University; and Columbia College Chicago, and held visiting professorships at the University of Pennsylvania, Northwestern University, and the University of Pittsburgh. He lives in Manhattan with his husband, Adrian Hills, a senior official at the United Nations.

Parking Information:

It is highly encouraged that you park at the Boston Common Garage (Zero Charles Street Boston, MA 02116) two blocks from the venue. There are reduced rates after 4pm. Street parking is almost impossible near the Harvard Musical Association.

The HMA recommends going directly to the garage to park, as if you try to find street parking and then go to the garage, you will need to drive around the entire common given the one-way streets, which can take a while with traffic.

Collage New Music's 2026 Gala

An Evening with Composer Marcos Balter