Density Arts is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) organization chartered in New York dedicated to the advancement of contemporary flute music in the 21st century. The organization's central project is Density 2036, a 24-year initiative launched in 2013 to create a new body of repertory for the flute each year until the 100th anniversary of Edgard Varèse’s groundbreaking 1936 flute solo, Density 21.5. Density Arts will commission, produce, and record a new program of flute music every year until 2036. Integral to the project is a commitment to supporting an international, multigenerational community of flutists who will take the nascent Density repertoire in bold new interpretive directions through the Density Fellows, Density Seeds, and Density Roots initiatives.
The Density Fellows program, launched this season in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the Density project, will provide ten exceptional emerging flutists with the resources to intensively study Density repertoire of their choosing. Fellows will receive mentorship from founding artistic director Claire Chase and the Density composers, as well as support for Fellows' performances and recordings. The Density Seeds program makes possible the performance of miniature works adapted from the larger Density catalog that are playable by flutists of all ages; the “seeds” are freely downloadable on our website. The Density Roots initiative is an open-source, community-controlled interactive map that will archive performances of Density repertoire by flutists worldwide over the 24-year span of the project. For the ten-year anniversary of Density 2036 from May 18-25th, 2023, Claire Chase performed all Density commissions up to the present in a series of concerts at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall and in free performances at the Kitchen’s Westbeth Loft as part of Carnegie Hall Citywide. Read about it here.