Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Julia Wolfe performed her composition “Fountain of Youth” at the closing of the 21st Biennial Festival of New Music on Jan. 31. Held at Ruby Diamond Concert Hall, the festival also showcased new compositions alongside performances by the Florida State University Symphony Orchestra and the University Wind Orchestra.
The compositions were selected from hundreds of submissions, reflecting the festival’s mission to highlight living composers and the evolving language of contemporary music.
As the concert concluded, Wolfe’s “Fountain of Youth” stood as the grand finale, becoming the evening’s most talked-about performance and earning a standing ovation. The closing program reflected the Festival of New Music’s ongoing commitment to contemporary composers while providing students and audiences alike with the opportunity to engage directly with new musical voices.
For Wolfe, whose music is known for its intensity and rhythmic drive, that physicality is something essential.
“Rhythm can be a propelling force. It is kind of the heartbeat of music,” Wolfe said to the FSView. “I love to work with grooves and counter-rhythms that convey a kind of body energy. It is exciting when everyone locks into that.”
That sense of momentum shaped “Fountain of Youth,” a piece that gradually layers sound until the orchestra feels almost animate.
“The beginning evoked anticipation — I didn’t know what was going to happen next,” sophomore cello player Maria Ruiz said to the FSView. “And then once the winds came in, it felt like a revelation. I really love how the bass and percussion mimicked a heartbeat. It was just really beautiful. I didn’t know exactly what the piece meant, but then I read the title ‘The Fountain of Youth,’ and it all just clicked.”
Emotional clarity — even without an in-your-face explicit narrative — is something Wolfe actively seeks in her work. Although many of her compositions draw from social history, she is less interested in explanation than in connection.
“When I went to university, I hadn’t intended to study music,” Wolfe said. “I was interested in the social sciences, history and political issues. Much later, I came full circle — back to those interests — now addressing them through the lens of music. There are plenty of great books to read and documentaries to watch. But it is different to tell history through music. It offers a kind of emotional response.”
That visceral experience fills in the gaps where perhaps words are void. For Sergio Ramirez, a music composition student earning his master’s, Wolfe’s music suggested movement.
“When I hear music like that, I imagine soaring over sites from above,” Ramirez said to the FSView.
The festival setting allowed listeners to experience Wolfe’s work alongside a wide range of new compositions, creating space for comparison and recognition.
“I’ve actually heard some of Julia Wolfe’s pieces before this weekend,” composition major Charlie Nelson said to the FSView. “Texturally, it’s similar to what she does in ‘Big, Beautiful, Dark and Scary.’ So it was around what I expected — incredible.”
Wolfe’s presence at the festival also offered students an example of what a career in contemporary music can look like. As a co-founder of “Bang on a Can,” a collective that challenged genre boundaries and traditional concert formats, Wolfe helped reshape how new music is presented and heard.
“We didn’t fit into the existing scenes or structures,” Wolfe said. “After meeting in coffee shops and complaining a lot, we decided to do something. That something was a 12-hour marathon of new and adventurous music. Almost as a joke, we called it the ‘First Annual Bang on a Can Marathon.’ We are now going on 40 years.”
For Wolfe, collaboration remains central, especially when working with students.
“Music is essentially a collaborative art,” Wolfe said. “Working with musicians in school is just the beginning of building important relationships. You learn by hearing your music, by trying new ideas, by being in the room together.”
Kierra Keegan is a Staff Writer for the FSView & Florida Flambeau, the student-run, independent online news service for the FSU community. Email our staff at [email protected].
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