TWO events this weekend for The 14th Annual CompCord Festival – Comedy

New York, NY - Composers Concordance continues its 14th Annual CompCord Festival: Comedy with Stand-up / Get Up, an imaginative and genre-defying evening that fuses stand-up comedy with contemporary music.

Blending stand-up and contemporary music, this program features four stand-up comedians performing their routines live, followed by composers presenting newly created works inspired by those routines. These compositions don’t simply accompany the comedy—they reinterpret it, refract it, and expand upon it, translating timing, tone, and narrative into musical form. Jokes may become motifs, punchlines may trigger sonic surprises, and comedic rhythms may evolve into complex musical structures. The result is a playful and inventive dialogue between comedians and composers, where humor and music continuously inform and transform one another.

The evening features music by composers Seth Boustead, Dan Cooper, John Clark, Gene Pritsker, Audrey Morse, Eugene McBride, Roger Tréfousse, and Amy Wurtz, performed by the CompCord Ensemble: John Clark (horn), Lish Lindsey (flutes), Seth Boustead (synthesizer), Audrey Morse (violin), Gene Pritsker (guitar), conducted by Charles Coleman.

The lineup of comedians includes Mike Handelman, Jim Kempner, Matt Kempner, and Maggie Lalley, whose distinct comedic voices provide the creative spark for the musical responses.

Taking place at Jim Kempner Fine Arts in Chelsea, Stand-up / Get Up offers audiences a unique, intimate experience where the boundaries between concert music and comedy blur, collide, and ultimately create something entirely new.

The concert will also be live-streamed on Composers Concordance's Facebook Page.

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Event Details

What: Stand-up / Get Up

Stand-up meets contemporary music—comedy routines become inventive musical works.

When: Friday May 22nd, @7pm

Where: Jim Kempner Fine Arts — 501 W. 23rd St., NYC

Composers

Seth Boustead, Dan Cooper, John Clark, Gene Pritsker, Audrey Morse, Eugene W. McBride,

Roger Tréfousse, and Amy Wurtz

Performers

CompCord Ensemble:

John Clark - horn

Lish Lindsey - flutes

Seth Boustead - synthesizer

Audrey Morse - violin

Gene Pritsker - guitar

Charles Coleman - conductor

Comedians

Mike Handelman, Jim Kempner, Matt Kempner, and Maggie Lalley

$30 at the door, $20 in advance

16th Annual Comp-Play-Comp Marathon

– Comedy Theme

Part of the 14th Annual CompCord Festival – Comedy

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

16th Annual Comp-Play-Comp Marathon – Comedy Theme

A signature CompCord event, this marathon will gather more than 20 composers/performers for a fast-moving showcase of newly created works—with comedy at the center.

Sunday May 24th at 5pm

Loft393

393 Broadway (2nd floor), NYC

New York, NY - Composers Concordance presents the 16th Annual Comp-Play-Comp Marathon – Comedy Theme, a signature event of the annual CompCord Festival and one of the organization’s most spirited and unpredictable traditions. This fast-paced marathon gathers more than twenty composers/performers for an evening of freshly created music where humor, theatricality, spontaneity, and adventurous sound take center stage.

At the heart of the Comp-Play-Comp Marathon is a question that inspired the series from the beginning: What do composers write when they themselves must perform the music they create? Do composers write differently for themselves? The marathon explores this idea by inviting composers to be both creator and performer, often revealing highly personal, daring, virtuosic, and unexpected musical statements. The result is a concert format that blurs the line between composition and performance, emphasizing immediacy, experimentation, and artistic personality.

Built around this year’s Comedy festival theme, the marathon invites artists to explore wit, satire, absurdity, irony, and musical mischief through brand-new works conceived in the adventurous Comp-Play-Comp spirit. Audiences can expect an eclectic ride through contemporary music that is playful, surprising, and delightfully unconventional.

Part concert, part creative laboratory, part performance happening, the Comp-Play-Comp Marathon celebrates collaboration in real time, showcasing the inventive energy that has made Composers Concordance a vital force for new music. With rapid-fire premieres and genre-defying performances, the event promises a lively evening where comedy and contemporary music collide.

Featured composer/performers include Violet Barnum, Daniel Blake, Roger Blanc, Seth Boustead, Marco Burmester, Marco Burmester, Alexis Cerise, Sarah Chandler, Vicky Cheng, Artie Dibble, Billy Eric, Evan Francis, Daniel Garbin, Zach Gindi-Chiafullo, Patrick Grant, Franz Hackl,

Elsie Harrington, Dennis Hernandez, Debra Kaye, Will Lyle, Makia Matsumura, Eugene W. McBride, Audrey Morse, Isaac Mukamal, Kurt Nikkanen, Lucas Nikkanen, Gene Pritsker, David Rozenblatt, Steve Sandberg, Juliet Schlefer, Daniel Schnyder, Daniel Thin, Stefan Zeniuk.

Join Composers Concordance for an evening of bold new works, spontaneous invention, and musical comedy at its most imaginative. The 16th Annual Comp-Play-Comp Marathon – Comedy Theme continues a beloved tradition where anything can happen—and usually does.

The concert will also be live-streamed on Composers Concordance's Facebook Page.

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Event Details

What: 16th Annual Comp-Play-Comp Marathon – Comedy Theme

When: Sunday May 24th at 5pm

Where: Loft393 - 393 Broadway (2nd floor), NYC

Composers/Performers

Violet Barnum, Daniel Blake,Roger Blanc, Seth Boustead, Marco Burmester, Marco Burmester, Alexis Cerise, Sarah Chandler, Vicky Cheng, Artie Dibble, Billy Eric, Evan Francis, Daniel Garbin, Zach Gindi-Chiafullo, Patrick Grant, Franz Hackl, Elsie Harrington, Dennis Hernandez, Debra Kaye, Will Lyle, Makia Matsumura, Eugene W. McBride, Audrey Morse, Isaac Mukamal, Kurt Nikkanen, Lucas Nikkanen, Gene Pritsker, David Rozenblatt, Steve Sandberg, Juliet Schlefer,

Daniel Schnyder, Daniel Thin, Stefan Zeniuk.

$30 at the door, $20 in advance