A VIBRANT COMMUNITY OF ARTISTS—

CO-CREATION & COLLABORATION

The Artists Collaborative Ensemble (ACE) is the resident performing ensemble of the Oregon Bach Festival Composers Symposium, which is comprised of symposium participants who apply in the following categories:

Composer/Performer (Category IIa & IIb);
Performer (Category III);
OBFCS Vocal Fellows Program (Category IIb & III);
Conductor (Category IV).

Each member of ACE is a vital part of our community of musicians—instrumentalists, vocalists, composer/performers, and conductors—who usually perform the music of symposium participants throughout the festival. However, during the pandemic, the performers of ACE will be involved in new and different ways. For OBFCS 2021, members of ACE have the following performing options:

As a composer/performer, present a solo piece of your own for your presentation to the symposium--this could be a premiere or a previously composed work;

Improvise a solo piece for your presentation to the symposium;

If enough participants choose to present either a solo piece or improvise a solo piece, we will add an online concert (or online concerts) to the symposium so they may be featured as soloists on our "Performer's Showcase" Concert Series.

We strive to connect all OBFCS participants who come from around the world—composers, composer/

performers, performers, and conductors—through ongoing creative projects and collaborations that extend into the future far beyond the boundaries of the symposium itself.

Now more than ever, we must work together as a community of composers and performers in order to further develop and strengthen our common artistic values and aspirations, especially in the challenging times of the pandemic.

We have the power to ensure that the arts thrive, and in OBFCS, we are focusing on the creation, performance, and recording of new music. Moreover, we welcome participants to create music that is related to significant issues and challenges that face our society, such as: the three themes of our Global Composition Projects in 2021: racial and social justice (a collaboration with Fear No Music); the environmental crisis and global climate change (a collaboration with the Delgani String Quartet); and bridging the divisions within society (a collaboration with 4 X 5 [piano duo]).