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Photography by Shelley Kusnetz Steve Reich’s Drumming, performed by Sō Percussion. Thomas Adès via theCalder Quartet. Lucy Shelton and eighth blackbird in a concert version ofSchoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire. The Ying Quartet with Billy Childs’s Jazz-ChamberEnsemble. Beethoven’s Opus 95 from the veteran Shanghai Quartet, andOp. 1 no. 1 from the young Trio Cavatina.

That’s just a sampling from the cornucopia of concert offerings at CMA’sthirtieth-anniversary conference. Among the other music-based events werean open rehearsal of Elliott Carter’s second quartet by the Juilliard StringQuartet, a cross-genre workshop on improvisation, a dozen showcases ofemerging ensemble artists, and performances of CMA commissions by theMarcus Roberts Trio, Ben Allison’s Medicine Wheel, and Melody of China.

Registrants from thirty states (and a sprinkling of visitors from Canada andEurope) came together in New York City to celebrate, of course, but alsofor traditional conference business: to formally recognize achievements ofcolleagues, to explore challenging and vexing issues in the field, and—atan array of seminars and workshops—to acquire skills in such practicalareas as programming, audience building, fundraising, and marketing.

A SELECTION OF IMAGES FROM

CMA’STHIRTIETHANNIVERSARYCELEBRATION IN NEW YORK CITY,JANUARY 4-6, 2008

Scenes from the 2008 Conference

Karen Kim,Parker Quartet

Steve Wilson, Billy Childs JazzChamber Ensemble

Composer/saxophonist

Fred Ho; ASCAP’s Frances Richard

Jason Treuting, So

_Percussion

Joel Smirnoff, Juilliard String Quartet

Laura Sewell, CMA board chair

Marcus Roberts

Luis Vargas, Euclid Quartet

Daniel Gustin; Allan Miller, film producer

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Keynote speaker Oliver Sacks, drawing from his new bookMusicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain, delved into someof music’s more arcane effects—including its power to givetemporary reprieves to those who suffer from such neuro-logical disorders as Parkinsonism. Musicologist Don MichaelRandel, president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, spokeon the value of musicians in society, arguing that becausemusic (like all the arts) speaks to the essence of the humancondition, we don’t need to justify it in utilitarian terms.

The conference closed with the annual Awards Banquet, with the JuilliardString Quartet as honoree. An historical perspective on the quartet wasprovided by Juilliard president Joseph W. Polisi, and a personal and artisticappreciation by CMA board member Dan Gustin. Robert Mann, Earl Carylss,Joel Smirnoff, Ronald Copes, Joel Krosnick and Samuel Rhodes—surroundedby family members, friends and colleagues—jointly accepted the inscribedcrystal octagon representing the Richard J. Bogomolny National ServiceAward, recognizing the ensemble’s sixty-plus years of artistry and leadershipin the field. JSQ founders Arthur Winograd and Raphael Hillyer were unableto attend; but Hillyer’s letter—read to the assembled banquet guests byCMA’s president Phillip Ying—summed up the general sentiment with itsclosing: “Long live the Juilliard String Quartet!”

On this and the following pages, we invite you to enjoy some photographicglimpses of the conference weekend.

João Luiz, Douglas Lora;Brasil Guitar Duo

Felicity Coltman, AustinChamber Music Center

Trio Cavatina

Billy Childs; Wayne Brownand Eileen Mason (NEA)

Conference chairSarah Rothenberg;

Oliver Sacks

Audience for Manhattan Piano Trioshowcase

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Donna Kwong, Julia Bruskin; Claremont Trio

Don Michael Randel

Past and presentJuilliard SQ members

with CMA presidentPhilllip Ying

Cheryl Ikemiya, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Nicholas Tzavaras,

Honggang Li;Shanghai Quartet

Margaret M. Lioi, David Leisner,Ralph Jackson

Sheshen Zhang,Melody of China

Composer Christopher Rouse

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Conferencechair SarahRothenberg

Amy Iwano,Hollis Headrick,Hans Schuman

Timothy Ying; Ying Quartet

Stefon Harris; CMA board

Juilliard presidentJoseph W. Polisi

Ben Allison (r) andMedicine Wheel

Presenters Ruth Felt, Wu Han

Ilmar Gavilan, Melissa White;Harlem Quartet