The Charles E. Gamper Festival of Contemporary Music is an annual celebration of new music within the Bowdoin International Music Festival, bringing composers to Maine to work with our students, and to have their works performed. In 2016 we will collaborate with the Bowdoin College Museum of Art to bring composer, performer, and conceptual new media artist Luke DuBois to campus. In addition to a week-long residency at the Festival, Luke will be involved in a year-long partnership with the Museum, culminating in an exhibition to coincide during the Gamper Festival, July 28-31, 2016. The theme for the Festival’s 2016 Season is “Re-Invention,” and Luke will use this concept to re-invent, re-interpret, and re-examine elements of the 52-year old Festival through sonic and video installations at the Museum. With musical training and performance experience as part of his diverse portfolio, Luke is an exciting partner on every level. Coinciding with his installations at the Museum, the Bowdoin Festival will invite Luke to collaborate using new media in a live performance event in the context of our Gamper Festival of Contemporary Music.

The Bowdoin Festival’s record of retaining exemplary composers is long-standing, with Derek Bermel returning as our composer-in-residence next summer. Guest composers in the last two years include Kevin Puts, Chen Yi, Samuel Adler, Sebastian Currier, Vivian Fung, Elliott Schwartz, and Kaija Saariaho. In addition to having their works performed, all of these composers worked with our composition students, gave public presentations about their work, and attended receptions in their honor. The Festival’s composition students also have new works performed during the Gamper Festival on the same programs as those of recognized artists. Performers during this special series of concerts include our resident artist faculty, the top students in attendance, and, where appropriate, the composers themselves. The Gamper Festival takes place at Studzinski Recital Hall on the Bowdoin College campus and attracts hundreds of people to each night of the free-admission concerts.

The Bowdoin Festival and The Bowdoin Art Museum represent outstanding cultural flagships in Maine’s mid-coast region, each drawing thousands of visitors annually. The Museum’s collection includes works from Mesopotamia and ancient Greece through contemporary artists. In addition to the Gamper program, the six-week Bowdoin Festival includes more than 100 concerts and educational programs with faculty, guest artists, and talented students (ages 12 to 29). While much of the Festival’s work draws from the classical chamber music repertoire, contemporary music is interwoven into every music series and program, not just the Gamper Festival. Luke will draw from these rich collections and traditions, bringing in elements of technology and new media as a representation of the way that the live music concert experience is continually being re-invented. Our collaboration will not only open the possibility of substantial and thought provoking artistic interaction but will also expand our reach to engage audiences of both institutions.