Earplay (new chamber music)

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For the radio series, see Earplay.

Earplay is a chamber music ensemble founded in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1985.^[1]

They describe their music as "lyrical and ferocious, modern and Romantic, finely honed and accessible." Earplay was founded in 1985 by a consortium of composers and performers. Each year, Earplay presents live concerts of challenging music by contemporary composers, including works commissioned specially for Earplay, which annually sponsors a competition for new compositions. The group's conductor is member Mary Chun, who first appeared as a guest conductor with the group in 1999 (as a guest conductor replacing George Thompson, who conducted the group for 14 years).^[2] Composer Martha Callison Horst served as president for a number of years.^[3] The current President is Stephen Ness.^[4]

Earplay's presentation of new works is designed to assist composers in their craft and provide recordings for archival purposes. To increase audience involvement, the organization stages pre-concert presentations with composers and discussions of their works.