Events
Charlottesville, VA: In Feeling: Empathy & Tension Through Disability
Curated by Molly Joyce, Dean’s Doctoral Fellow, Department of Music at UVA and Kristen Nassif, Ph.D., Curator of Collections at The Fralin the Museum of Art and
Is it possible to fully understand someone’s point of view? In Feeling: Empathy and Tension Through Disability features works by nine contemporary artists that reckon with how we empathize. Literally meaning “in feeling,” empathy implies the action of understanding or experiencing the feelings and thoughts of another. Yet the practice of empathizing—being aware of and sensitive to the experience of someone else—can also engender tensions relating to one’s own position and expectations. Exploring the relationship between empathy and tension, this exhibition highlights and celebrates perspectives that challenge assumptions about ways of being and living.
Participating artists include JJJJJerome Ellis, Jerron Herman, Molly Joyce, Jeff Kasper, Christine Sun Kim, Park McArthur, Finnegan Shannon, Andy Slater, and Liza Sylvestre.
Seattle, WA: Emerald City Music
Garnering praise for her artistic versatility in concert halls across the globe, acclaimed singer Mikaela Bennett joins forces with the Metropolis Ensemble for works by two American composers, Molly Joyce and Sarah Kirkland Snider.
Olympia, WA: Emerald City Music
Garnering praise for her artistic versatility in concert halls across the globe, acclaimed singer Mikaela Bennett joins forces with the Metropolis Ensemble for works by two American composers, Molly Joyce and Sarah Kirkland Snider.
Charlottesville, VA: New City Arts
Exhibition featuring resonances of disability-centric physical and digital spaces, such as hallways, ramps, elevators, Zoom hangouts, access checks, and more.
Amsterdam, NL:
Gerard Bouwhuis performs Rave, as part of Nieuw Amsterdams Peil at Muziekgebouw in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
The Hague, NL: Kluster5
Kluster5 performs Lost and Found, as part of the social-artistic project Groeten uit Segbroek, in co-production with Theatre De Regentes and Festival Dag in de Branding.
The Hague, NL: Kluster5
Kluster5 performs Lost and Found, as part of the social-artistic project Groeten uit Segbroek, in co-production with Theatre De Regentes and Festival Dag in de Branding.
The Hague, NL: Kluster5
Kluster5 performs Lost and Found, as part of the social-artistic project Groeten uit Segbroek, in co-production with Theatre De Regentes and Festival Dag in de Branding.
The Hague, NL: Kluster5
Kluster5 performs Lost and Found, as part of the social-artistic project Groeten uit Segbroek, in co-production with Theatre De Regentes and Festival Dag in de Branding.
Pleasant Hill, CA: Diablo Valley College Bands
Diablo Valley College Bands performs All or Nothing.
Lüneburg, Germany: Ensemble Reflektor
Ensemble Reflektor, conducted by Holly Hyun Choe, performs The forest we could not see.
Becket, MA: Jacob's Pillow Residency
Choreographer and dancer Jerron Herman joins with longtime collaborator Candace L. Feldman to develop Many Ways to Raise a Fist, a full-length devised theater piece produced by INTERIM and featuring a fully disabled cast. Drawing from Aeschylus’ Oresteia, where justice and superego are entangled in an eternal battle, the play centers Pros, who sits marooned on a literal and metaphorical island awaiting a trial on his “thought crimes.” The piece is written and performed by Herman, based on a 2019 solo. This new extension welcomes multifaceted artists Christopher Unpezverde Núñez, Ogemdi Ude, and vocalist/composer Molly Joyce. Together the ensemble will, through litigation and Structuralism, devise defenses that interrogate the method and necessity of protest.
Boston, MA: Longwood Symphony Orchestra
Longwood Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jotaro Nakano, performs Side by Side.
Charlottesville, VA: WTJU Offbeat Roadhouse
Performing alongside Gaelynn Lea as part of WTJU’s Offbeat Roadhouse series.
Blacksburg, VA: Gaelynn Lea and the Music Inclusion Ensemble
Violinist, vocalist, composer, and internationally-renowned disability rights advocate Gaelynn Lea joins the Music Inclusion Ensemble with founder Adrian Anantawan, and composer Molly Joyce.
The Music Inclusion Ensemble centers disability narratives and performs a diverse repertoire by disabled composers. Together, they create a more explicit culture around disability and music, leading the way in artistic innovation.
New York, NY: “State Change” Album Release Show feat. Anna Roberts-Gevalt
Album release show for “State Change,” released in July 2025 on Better Company Records and FatCat Records’ 13070 imprint, at Figure 8 Studios in Brooklyn, NY. Also featuring a set by musician Anna Roberts-Gevalt.
Detroit, MI: New Music Detroit
New Music Detroit performs Conform as part of the Strange Beautiful Music Festival at Detroit Institute of Arts in Detroit, MI.
Amsterdam: Catchpenny Ensemble
The program Light Echoes is a celebrating profile concert by Catchpenny Ensemble, featuring six works from composers who, at some point in their careers, have been or are currently part of the ensemble. Catchpenny has invited the composers to look back at one of their pieces and to re-think how their music speaks to the present time and to the current concept of Catchpenny Ensemble. The six selected pieces will be presented in two sets, with a combination of acoustic works and works with electronics as well as arrangements for works using different formats of organs. Light Echoes is a back-and-forth, old-and-new programme of transformation that marks a turning point towards a new beginning for Catchpenny Ensemble.
Molly Joyce - Less is More
Nikos Kokolakis - Seven Pebbles (world premiere)
Jimena Maldonado - Mosaic No. 1
Ilya Ziblat Shay - algo_altar
Sascha Thiele - pause:reset
Jan Foote - Cala N2
New York, NY: Juilliard Orchesta
Premiere of new orchestra work with Juilliard Orchestra.
Queens, NY: Pianist Ju-Ping Song
Pianist Ju-Ping Song performs Rave, as part of the Queens New Music Festival.
Portland, OR: Third Angle New Music
Premiere of new work for percussion quartet and American Sign Language performer, featuring ASL libretto by Meg Day, presented by Third Angle New Music in Portland, OR.
Charlottesville, VA: I-Jen Fang + UVA Percussion Ensemble
UVA Department of Music presents “A Night of Percussion” featuring new compositions by graduate composer Molly Joyce and alumni composer Cameron Church with the UVA Percussion Ensemble.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard Collegium Musicum and Cambridge Common Voices
Premiere of Circle of Living, with text by Marco Grosse and members of Cambridge Common Voices, for SATB choir by Harvard Collegium Musicum and Cambridge Common Voices in Cambridge, MA.
Charlottesville, VA: "Patrice: The Movie" Screening
A free screening and discussion of Patrice: The Movie, a disability documentary rom-com about a couple, Patrice and Garry, who want to get married but risk losing their public benefits if they do.
We will be joined by sound artist & UVA student Molly Joyce, who composed the film’s music and will speak about her work on the film.
Co-sponsored by UVA’s Disability Studies Initiative and Sound Justice Lab.
Charlottesville, VA: LINÜ Guitar Duo
LINÜ guitar duo (Gulli Björnsson and Jiji Kim) premiere new works by University of Virginia graduate composers.
Highland Heights, KY: Pianist Brianna Matzke
Pianist Brianna Matzke performs Affection as part of her TREMORS project, also featuring music by Hanna Benn, Forrest Pierce, Matthew Evan Taylor, Adeliia Faizullina, and Stephanie Ann Boyd, at Northern Kentucky University in Highland Heights, KY.
Summit, NJ: Organist Evalyn Cogswell
Organist Evalyn Cogswell premieres Purifier for pipe organ.
Brisbane, Australia: Cellist Gemma Kneale
Cellist Gemma Kneale performs It has not taken long, as part of the Brisbane Music Festival in Australia.
Brisbane, Australia: Cellist Gemma Kneale
Cellist Gemma Kneale performs It has not taken long, as part of the Brisbane Music Festival in Australia.
Hays, KS: Fort Hays State University
Fort Hays State University percussion ensemble performs Chic.
Orlando, FL: Pianist Brianna Matzke
Pianist Brianna Matzke performs Affection as part of her TREMORS project, also featuring music by Hanna Benn, Forrest Pierce, Matthew Evan Taylor, Adeliia Faizullina, and Stephanie Ann Boyd, at University of Central Florida in Orlando, FL.
Langwarrin, Australia: AYO Momentum Ensemble & Claire Edwardes OAM
AYO Momentum Ensemble & Claire Edwardes OAM perform Lost and Found, presented by Australian Youth Orchestra in Langwarrin, Australia.