Season 15, Still New, reflects both who Choral Arts Initiative has been from the beginning and who we continue to become. When CAI was founded, an organization dedicated almost exclusively to living composers and new music was still considered unconventional. Fourteen seasons later, the choral landscape has transformed. Choirs everywhere are embracing contemporary repertoire and championing living voices—a shift we celebrate wholeheartedly.

But for CAI, “new” has never simply meant recent.
 

It has meant discovery. Curiosity. Risk. The belief that audiences deserve transformative artistic experiences even when encountering a composer’s name for the very first time. From the beginning, CAI has sought not simply to revisit the canon once it becomes established, but to help expand it: championing bold artistic voices and creating space for music that shapes the future of the choral art form.
 

Still New therefore serves as both reflection and reaffirmation. Even after fifteen seasons, we remain committed not simply to following the evolution of contemporary choral music, but to helping shape where it goes next.

Across the season, audiences will encounter music that reimagines tradition (Rewritten), embraces artistic exploration and experimentation (Sketches), centers deeply personal expression (Intimate Voices), and imagines futures still waiting to be authored (Unwritten). PREMIERE|Project Festival continues this work by supporting emerging composers and conductors at one of the most formative stages of their artistic journeys.

At its core, Still New is a season about artistic curiosity: the belief that the future of choral music is not fixed, and that the most meaningful discoveries may still lie ahead.

We are thrilled to discover them with you.