Letter from Bright Sheng

It gives me great pleasure to write on behalf of Brave New Works, a terrific group of young musicians who devote their expertise, energy and passion to the music of our time.

I have known these musicians since the very founding days of the group, initially a pool of excellent students in performance at our school who were interested in performing new music. But most remarkably, these young talents stayed together and continued their commitment to new music performance, even years after they have all graduated and moved to various locations in the country. As a result, their performance level has progressed tremendously. Now, having worked with many of the best musicians in the world I can proudly say that Brave New Works has become on of the finest new music ensembles in this country.

However, the most touching aspect of the group lies not only in how well they perform, but also on how deep one can feel their dedication toward the music of living composers, whether as a composer or performer working with the group, or simply as an audience member of their concerts. To me, this is extremely rare and special to my heart.

Bright Sheng,The Leonard Bernstein Distinguished University Professor of Music, University of Michigan Winner of the MacArthur Award