Stanford Live Commissions and Programming Fund 2024–25 Season Report
The 2024–25 Stanford Live season brought another robust year of commissioning and presenting new works by a broad range of music, dance, theater and spoken word artists. Our commissions helped make it possible for a global array of creators to move forward in their artistic practice, and for our community to be among the first audiences to experience the arrival of groundbreaking new works.
Our support for artists extends to contributing resources to their creative process that are unique to Stanford. This was especially true for composer David Lang’s before and after nature for chorus and instrumental ensemble, the artist’s personal response to climate change. Lang, a Pulitzer Prize winner and Stanford alum, was in residence on campus in April 2024, meeting with students and faculty from the Doerr School of Sustainability and Stanford’s Environmental Justice Working Group, and in response developing the concepts and texts that would guide his composition. The February 2025 world premiere at Bing Concert Hall featured a stunning performance by the Los Angeles Master Chorale and Bang on a Can All-Stars, with visuals by video artist Tal Rosner. With texts drawn from over 50 creation myths, the work invited a deep contemplation of our concept of nature and how we might rethink our relationship to it as the world changes around us.
Two works that vividly transformed theater, dance, and music traditions were central to our season of new works. We joined an international consortium of commissioners to support Chinese choreographer Yang Li Ping’s Rite of Spring, which wedded Stravinsky’s iconic score to Chinese dance traditions and Tibetan cosmology in a visually dazzling production. Three sold-out performances at Memorial Auditorium brought rapturous applause from our audiences. We were also excited to co-commission Carnival of the Animals, a collaboration between legendary dancer Wendy Whelan, spoken word artist Marc Bamuthi Joseph, and choreographer Francesca Harper. The artists combined their ballet, modern dance, and hip-hop poetry backgrounds with a reworked version of Saint-Saëns’ beloved Carnival of the Animals score, creating a new form that addressed the contemporary political landscape.
We concluded our commissioning season with a new four-movement suite by Jessie Montgomery, one of the most celebrated younger American composers, for Chicago-based Third Coast Percussion. Her work Lady Justice/Black Justice, The Song showcased the color and beauty of the percussion family in a sweeping work filled with energy and invention.
We are grateful to all our members for their vital support which enables us to continue commissioning new work in addition to making all our performances and programs possible. To learn more about membership opportunities please click here.
Interested in learning more about how you can support Stanford Live’s commissioning efforts? Please reach out to Director of Development, Laurel Skehen at lskehen@stanford.edu or 650.498.9365 to discuss.