Since 1999, Mannes has presented a year-long music festival every year. Each festival has a theme and a program of more than 20 concerts performed by Mannes College's gifted young student artists, distinguished faculty members, and renowned guests, and held at prestigious New York City concert venues and cultural institutions. The festivals are an outstanding component of the total Mannes program.
Themes: Each festival is an exploration of an individual composer, a musical group, a stylistic movement, or a specific historical period. At most events, pre-concert remarks by the festival's artistic director, Pavlina Dokovska, increase audience understanding and appreciation of the theme and the works performed. This year's theme is
This festival draws us into the interaction of modern music and modern art in the period 1890-1939. This was a time of great change in the world and collaboration between artists. There were many innovative connections between music and poetry, music and visual art, and music and theater. Claude Debussy described this time: "The century of airplanes has a right to its own music. As there are no precedents, I must create anew." Mannes explores the Rise of Modernism through concerts and master classes by students, faculty, and guests.