NOW Festival

Capital University will be hosting 3 guest composers for our 2025 Now Festival.  Our Composer- in-Residence is Reena Esmail. Dr. Esmail will be working extensively with the choral/vocal and instrumental areas, our student composers, and performing community outreach.

Also joining the festival will be Capital Alumnus, Aaron Quinn. Aaron is a successful composer, performer and improviser. He will be working with the Jazz area for the Wednesday night, February 12 concert, as well as writing and improvisation workshops and off-campus performances

We will also be featuring music from our long-time colleague and NOW Festival founder, Rocky Reuter.  Dr. Reuter is an Emeritus Professor of Music, and we will present performances of movements of his string quartet, and a concerto for tuba and wind band.  There will be performances and workshops everyday featuring student, faculty and guest performers.

What is NOW Festival?

The annual NOW Festival at Capital University is one of the most comprehensive and diversified celebrations of contemporary art and its creators in the Midwest. Since its founding in 1987, the Festival has one simple yet extremely important mission: to expose the Central Ohio community to international, national, and regional living artists and their work, exposing, exploring, and discussing the role of music in contemporary society. The concert series is eclectic in nature, covering a diverse range of compositional and performance styles.

NOW Festival Schedule

Sunday, February 9

NOW Festival Kickoff
Featuring Aaron Quinn and ethnomusicologist/Hindustani vocalist Utpola Borah
Bexley Public Library
3 p.m.

Monday, February 10

Improvisation Workshop with Aaron Quinn
Huntington Recital Hall
10 a.m.

Julie Licata and Stan Smith
Huntington Recital Hall
7 p.m.

Tuesday, February 11

Music in (e)Motion
Student projects in the Schumacher Art Gallery based on Walter Iooss Jr. Sports Photography
7 p.m
Reception to follow

Wednesday, February 12

Jazz Concert
Huntington Recital Hall
7 p.m.

Thursday, February 13

Chamber Music
Featuring the music of faculty composers, including Rocky Reuter, and guest composer Reena Esmail
Huntington Recital Hall
7 p.m.

Friday, February 14

Students of the Craft: Recital Hour
Huntington Recital Hall
10 a.m.

Choral/Vocal Concert
Featuring the Chapel Choir and the Choral Union (Lynda Hasseler, Director), Caroline Bergan (soprano), Hindustani vocalist Utpola Borah, and Julie Licata (marimba) performing the music of Reena Esmail
The Haueisen Stage at Mees Hall Auditorium
7:30 p.m.
Reception to follow

Saturday, February 15

Wind Ensembles Concert
Featuring Featuring Symphonic Winds and Wind Symphony ( Ishbah Cox, Director), the soloists Tianshu Wang (piano) and Tony Zilincik (tuba) performing the music of Reena Esmail, Dina Lentsner and Rocky Reuter
The Haueisen Stage at Mees Hall Auditorium
2 p.m.

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