New Music USA, the NYC-based nonprofit that supports the creation and performance of new music, has named composer REENA ESMAIL and business executive JOE WALKER as co-chairs of its board of directors. They succeed Frederick Peters, who has been elected chair emeritus. Vanessa Reed continues as the organization’s president and CEO. Reena Esmail holds degrees from the Juilliard School and the Yale School of Music, and has written for Kronos Quartet, Albany Symphony, and Conspirare. Esmail is the 2020-21 composer in residence with Seattle Symphony and the 2020-23 artist in residence with Los Angeles Master Chorale. She is artistic director of Shastra, which promotes cross-cultural music connecting musical traditions of India and the West. Joe Walker serves on the boards of Roulette Intermedium (a presenter of new music in Brooklyn) and the advisory boards of Columbia University Medical Center and Applied Innovation at UC Irvine. He is a retired vice chairman of investment banking at JPMorgan. New Music USA is the recipient of a 2020 Gold Baton Award from the League of American Orchestras.
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