New Haven Composers Spotlight

The inaugural New Haven Composers Spotlight is dedicated to advancing artistic visions and stories specific to New Haven through the commissioning of three works by diverse and emerging local composers. The Spotlight will debut at NXTHVN on April 20th, thanks to founding support from the Mellon Foundation and the Arts Council of Greater New Haven. While centering the Dixwell community in our vision, the debut will highlight the interactions between a large performance ensemble that bridges musical backgrounds, institutions, and communities in New Haven, and the visions of these three unique composers.

In collaboration with NXTHVN, we have created a full event around this premiere, transforming their aula to house the ensemble, organizing an audience talkback session, and running live sound. The event will run from 5:30-7:30PM on April 20th.

To attend the debut on April 20th, please Register Here.

As a whole, the New Haven Composers Spotlight is a celebration of artistic talent, diversity, visions, stories, and experiences unique to New Haven, as reflected through our composers. We are honored to have the support of the Mellon Foundation and the Arts Council of Greater New Haven, and are working to foster additional partnerships going forward.

Starting with brief introductions, the Spotlight will feature 50-60 minutes of music with minimal rearrangements on stage between pieces and brief composer talkback, followed by an extended audience talkback session.

The aula at NXTHVN will be re-arranged specifically for this event, in order to seat 150+ attendees. Doors will open at 4:45pm and limited refreshments will be available until about 5:15pm. Performance starts at 7:30pm.

Violinist and composer Alyssa Chetrick engages between the jazz, theater, and classical scenes in New York and Tokyo. As a bandleader and musician, she has performed in venues such as Blue Note Place, Smalls Jazz Club, Lincoln Center, The Tokyo Metropolitan Theater, 54 Below and Nublu. Currently, she holds a chair in the Yale Modern Jazz Ensemble directed by Wayne Escoffery.

The multi-instrumentalist artist and composer, Tyler Goldchain, weaves soulful, rhythmic melodies with poignant lyricism. His award-winning compositions grow from Afro-Caribbean soil, and are watered by architects of the gospel, jazz, R&B and hip-hop traditions. The emerging artist has performed in venues around the world, opened for major artists and scored critically-acclaimed short films and plays.

Winner of a 2019 ASCAP Morton Gould Young Composer Award, Benjamin Webster is a composer and clarinetist from the Boston area. His music has been performed by a wide variety of ensembles including the Lyris Quartet, the Indiana University Jacob’s School Chamber Orchestra, and Frost Symphony Orchestra. Webster holds degrees from the University of Miami and the University of Southern California, and he is currently pursuing graduate study at the Yale School of Music.

Alyssa Chetrick — Yale Modern Jazz Ensemble, Yale School of Public Health

Tyler Goldchain — Neighborhood Music School, Educational Center for The Arts (alumnus), former New Haven Artist Corps Grantee

Benjamin Webster — Former Student Coordinator and Public Service Fellow at the New Haven Symphony Orchestra, Yale School of Music

Wesley (Wes) Lewis is a saxophonist, composer, and interdisciplinary scientist based in New Haven, CT. Upon arriving in New Haven in 2019 to pursue his PhD in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics (CBB) at Yale, Wes quickly began working locally as a musician and bandleader, becoming a rotating member of the group Trance Macabre. In 2023, Wes performed Charles Mingus’ behemoth composition, Epitaph, in Woolsey Hall alongside the Grammy winning Mingus Big Band, and he has since performed in small ensembles at venues like The State House, Jazzy’s Cabaret, Woolsey Hall, Westport Public Library, and Encore by Goodfellas. In September of 2023, Wes received the Artist Corps grant, administered by the Mellon Foundation and Arts Council of Greater New Haven, with the goal of creating new opportunities for emerging local artists to showcase their compositions.