June in Buffalo 2025: Meridian Arts Ensemble

We are pleased to welcome the Meridian Arts Ensemble as a resident ensemble at June in Buffalo 2025.

For nearly four decades, Meridian Arts Ensemble (MAE) has been redefining what a brass quintet can be. With a fearless approach to new music and an insatiable appetite for collaboration, the ensemble has expanded the brass repertoire in ways few could have imagined, including by adding percussion to the standard two trumpets, horn, trombone, and tuba instrumentation. At June in Buffalo 2025, they bring their signature mix of precision, adventurousness, and sonic firepower.

From early collaborations with composers like Elliott Sharp and Milton Babbitt to their more recent work with David Sanford (June in Buffalo 2025 Senior Faculty), MAE has built a repertoire that defies expectation. Their performances seamlessly shift between rigorously notated complexity
and serene beauty, often pushing brass instruments into uncharted territory. Their discography—spanning eleven albums—includes works that fuse contemporary classical music with jazz, rock, and the avant-garde, all delivered with the ensemble’s unmistakable edge.

Beyond their experimental leanings, MAE is a seasoned performer on the international stage. With appearances across Europe, Asia, and the Americas, they have established themselves as a leading force in chamber music, equally at home in concert halls, jazz clubs, and festival stages. Their dedication to commissioning and premiering new works has ensured that the brass quintet remains a vital and evolving format.

At June in Buffalo, their role as resident ensemble means they will be both interpreters and guides—working closely with composers, shaping new pieces, and demonstrating firsthand the potential of brass music. For audiences and participants alike, Meridian Arts Ensemble promises performances that challenge, excite, and redefine the sound of brass.

 

Credo by David Sanford will be featured on MAE's June in Buffalo program.
Take a listen here!

 

June in Buffalo 2025: Slee Sinfonietta

We are excited to announce that the Slee Sinfonietta will continue its annual residency at June in Buffalo 2025. The Sinfonietta is the professional chamber orchestra in residence at the University at Buffalo and the flagship ensemble of the Robert and Carol Morris Center for 21st Century Music. The ensemble presents a series of concerts each year that feature performances of challenging new works by contemporary composers and lesser-known works from the chamber orchestra repertoire. This year, programming includes a concert of four premieres by the University at Buffalo PhD composers, including a dissertation work which features the novel sixth-tone tuning system devised by James Falzone and three (three!) pianos tuned to different pitch levels.

Founded in 1997 by composer David Felder and comprised of a core group including UB faculty performance artists, visiting artists, national and regional professionals and advanced performance students, the group is conducted by leading conductors and composers. This ensemble has produced world-class performances of important repertoire for over 25 years, and its activities include touring, professionally produced recordings, and unique concert experiences for listeners of all levels of experience.

The ensemble has been conducted by major figures including Brad Lubman, Case Scaglione, Charles Wuorinen, Matthias Pintscher, Jim Baker, Harvey Sollberger, Robert Treviño, and Gil Rose. Featured soloists have included, among many, sopranos Laura Aiken, Julia Bentley, and Lucy Shelton; bass-baritone Nicholas Isherwood; bass Ethan Herschenfeld; violinists Jaime Laredo, Tim Fain, and Viviane Hagner, Yuki Numata Resnick, and Irvine Arditti; pianist Ursula Oppens; flutists Pierre-Yves Artaud, Mario Caroli, and Tara Helen O'Connor; and French hornist Adam Unsworth. UB faculty member performers have included Jon Nelson (trumpet), Tom Kolor (percussion), Eric Huebner (piano), Tiffany DuMouchelle (soprano), and Jonathan Golove (cello, current Artistic Director of the Center for 21st Century Music). Music recordings include releases on Mode Records, Coviello Records (recently here), and Albany Records.

The Slee Sinfonietta is an ensemble of flexible size. For June in Buffalo 2025, the Slee Sinfonietta will present programs mixing solo works, chamber music, and larger groupings.

June in Buffalo 2025: [Switch~ Ensemble]

The June in Buffalo Festival is thrilled to welcome back [Switch~ Ensemble], who have been regular performers in the Festival and at the Center. They last visited the Center for 21st Century Music for a terrific residency from February 27 to March 2, 2023 and for June in Buffalo 2024.

A new music ensemble for the 21st Century, [Switch~ Ensemble] is dedicated to the creation of new works for chamber ensemble: they bring bold new acoustic, electroacoustic, and multimedia projects to life. At the core of each performance is their commitment to the total integration of technology and live musicians. They strive for compelling artistry achieved through the seamless creation, production, and execution of new music, and believe that working directly with composers—in a medium where the score is a point of departure rather than a finish line—allows for new and thrilling musical possibilities.

[Switch~] contributes to the future of the genre by strongly advocating for and commissioning the music of a new generation of emerging young composers. They have enjoyed fruitful collaborations with both emerging and established composers, with commissions and premieres of works by composers including Anna-Louise Walton, Alican Çamci, Igor Santos, Katherine Young, Stefano Gervasoni, Stefan Prins, Wojtek Blecharz, Anthony Vine, Rand Steiger, Philippe Leroux, Timothy McCormack, Tonia Ko, James Bean, Matt Sargent, Marianthi Papalexandri-Alexandri, Esaias Järnegard, Sivan Eldar, Julio Zúñiga, Zeynep Toraman, Alexander Schubert, Adrien Trybucki, Elvira Garifzyanova, Santiago Diez-Fischer, Lisa Streich, Anthony Pateras, and many others.

Founded in 2012 at the Eastman School of Music, the [Switch~ Ensemble] looks toward the future of contemporary music. They are dedicated to performing high-level chamber music integrated with cutting-edge technology and supporting emerging and early career composers. They are passionate about helping to build a diverse canon of 21st century works that leaves space for all voices—especially those that have historically been excluded from our field.

 The bends by Kelly Sheehan, premiered 2021