“Music for New Bodies”: Run AMOC* Festival at Lincoln Center

A New York premiere and first collaboration between AMOC* Co-Founder Matthew Aucoin and director Peter Sellars, this major new work is a “vocal symphony” with music by Aucoin, directed by Sellars, and a libretto based on poems by Jorie Graham, collaboratively assembled by Aucoin and Sellars.

Music for New Bodies is brought to life by five vocalists and an 18-instrument ensemble conducted by Aucoin. Music for New Bodies is inspired by the visionary poetry of Jorie Graham, addressing some of the most urgent questions of our time: In our quest for immortality, what have human beings done to the planet, and what are we doing to ourselves? Music for New Bodies is a portrait of the moment we are living in, a piece that brings together questions of environmental responsibility, scientific progress, and the ethics of humanity’s questionable quest to surpass the human.

The staged version of Music for New Bodies premieres at Lincoln Center as part of Summer for the City’s Run AMOC* Festival, following orchestral performances with DACAMERA/Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, and Aspen Music Festival and School. It was developed through an Artistic Innovators Residency at Brown Arts Institute in Fall 2024.

Sandbox Percussion: Jonny Allen, Victor Caccese, Ian Rosenbaum, Terry Sweeney

Music for New Bodies is a co-commission of DACAMERA, the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University, AMOC*, LA Opera, and the Aspen Music Festival and School. Foundational residency support for the development of Music for New Bodies was provided by Brown Arts Institute at Brown University. This AMOC* performance is produced in collaboration with THE OFFICE performing arts + film. Music for New Bodies is presented by arrangement with Associated Music Publishers, Inc., publisher and copyright owner.