On Sunday May 3rd, New Music School will be hosting our Spring Showcase Recital. This event will feature stand-out students from our recent Juries, as well as students invited to perform based on competition success throughout the semester.

This event is free and open to the public. We ask out of respect to our performers that all audience members stay for the duration of the recital.

NMS Faculty Member Jeffrey Panko will lead Performance Class on Sunday May 3rd from 4:00-5:00PM. Students of all instrument types are welcome to attend, and you can sign up on your MyMusicStaff Calendar under “Find & Book.”

Performance Class is a great way to continue to progress by practicing how to perform your piece in front of an audience of other NMS Students! Led by an NMS Faculty Member, you will receive feedback on your repertoire and work on musicality, storytelling, performance protocols, practice strategies, how to battle nerves, and more. Performing in front of others is a critical skill to learn and master. It can help prepare you for recital opportunities, as well as your end of semester jury.

Violinist MingHuan Xu is a dedicated performer and educator whose wide-ranging career spans solo, chamber, and contemporary music. In addition to her teaching at New Music School, she serves as the Program Director of Strings and Assistant Teaching Professor of Violin at Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts, where she has been instrumental in developing a vibrant and competitive string program, drawing exceptional students from around the globe. 

NMS Students in our Woodwind and Piano Departments will participate in the Spring Juries on Sunday April 26th 2026. The jury performances allow our NMS faculty to measure student progress in relation to curricular benchmarks to ensure that students are being instructed at the highest standard.

Woodwind: 10:00-11:00am
Piano: 11:00am-8:00pm

Your student’s warm-up and jury times will be emailed to you directly. Any jury inquires should be emailed to juries@newmusicschool.com

NMS Students in our Woodwind and Piano Departments will participate in the Spring Juries on Sunday April 26th 2026. The jury performances allow our NMS faculty to measure student progress in relation to curricular benchmarks to ensure that students are being instructed at the highest standard.

Woodwind: 10:00-11:00am
Piano: 11:00am-8:00pm

Your student’s warm-up and jury times will be emailed to you directly. Any jury inquires should be emailed to juries@newmusicschool.com

Daniel Razminia (15) will perform his House of Beethoven recital on Sunday April 19th at 3:00pm.

Daniel is a 15-year-old pianist currently in tenth grade, where he attends Hinsdale Central High School in Hinsdale, Illinois. He aspires to be a concert pianist.

Daniel started his formal training in classical music in 2022 with Jeffrey Panko at the New Music School in Chicago. He is currently a student of Panko and Mary Sauer, principal keyboardist emeritus of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He has also taken master lessons from internationally-renowned pianists and teachers Steven Osbourne and Alan Chow.

NMS will hold a Pre-Jury Day on Sunday April 12th, 2026 from 4:00-5:00PM. This opportunity is for students who have scheduling conflicts with the Standard Jury Days of April 25th and 26th. Please reach out to juries@newmusicschool.com with a request for your child to participate in this event.

If all jury students are accommodated and we still have space, we will open Performance Class spots for students to take a performance practice opportunity. Please reach out to our admin team at join@newmusicschool.com if you’d like to be kept on a waitlist for this option.

Concerto Workshop with Roosevelt University Conductor Ben Firer

A preparatory session covering the concerto’s history and context, performance practices (including bowing and stage presence), and guidance on working with a conductor and orchestra.

Benjamin Firer joined the faculty of Roosevelt University’s Chicago College of Performing Arts in August 2025 as Assistant Professor of Conducting. Firer’s multifaceted role at CCPA includes directing the university orchestras, opera and teaching conducting.

Based in Chicago, he also serves as Music Director of the Harper Symphony Orchestra, Assistant Conductor of the Rockford Symphony Orchestra and principal conductor of Harmonie North. Guest conducting engagements for the 2025–2026 season include Illinois Valley Symphony Orchestra, Lake Forest Civic Orchestra, Beloit-Janesville Symphony Orchestra, Williamsport Symphony Orchestra and cover conducting the Orlando Symphony Orchestra. 

A dynamic and sought-after guest conductor, Firer has appeared with orchestras nationally and internationally, including the Budafok Dohnányi Orchestra (Hungary), Milwaukee Symphony, Altoona Symphony, Champaign-Urbana Symphony, DuPage Symphony, Miami Symphony, Fargo-Moorhead Symphony, and Orchestre de la Francophonie (Canada). He has also served on the conducting staff of the Quad Cities Symphony, Dubuque Symphony, and Pennsylvania Chamber Orchestra. He previously directed collegiate orchestral programs at Northeastern Illinois University, Penn State University, Juniata College and Lewis University. Firer serves as a conducting mentor with the Illinois Council of Orchestras devoted to supporting budding orchestral conductors and music educators.

Passionate about inspiring the next generation of musicians, Firer has held conducting positions with several of the nation’s leading youth orchestras, including the New York Youth Symphony, Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestras, and the Greater Twin Cities Youth Symphonies. Engaged as a teaching artist through the Yale University Music in Schools Initiative, he taught at the John C. Daniels Magnet School while serving as Music Director of the Yale-Saybrook College Orchestra.

Firer contributions have been recognized by numerous awards and fellowships. He was recently awarded “Orchestra of the Year” by the Illinois Council of Orchestras for his leadership of the Quad City Symphony Youth Orchestra, and is the recipient of the 2024 Williamson Music Education Grant. He has been named an Emerging Conductor with the Peninsula Music Festival, Associate Conductor at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music and a Conducting Fellow at the Atlantic Music Festival. Additionally he was a scholarship recipient at the National Orchestral Institute, Chautauqua Music Festival, Hot Springs Music Festival and Norfolk New Music and Chamber Music Festivals.  

Equally at home in the operatic world, Firer has conducted fully staged productions of Stravinsky’s The Rake’s Progress, Copland’s The Tender Land, Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro, Walton’s The Bear and Offenbach’s The Grand Duchess of Gérolstein.

Other distinctions include The American Prize in Conducting, the Woolsey Concerto Competition, Yale Chamber Music Competition, the Ellen Battell Stoeckel Fellowship, the Long Island University Conductors Award, the SUNY Thayer Fellowship in the Arts, and the Emma Peters Hooper Endowed Award. As an orchestral musician, he has recorded on the Naxos and Albany labels. Firer holds a Doctorate in Orchestral Conducting from Northwestern University and a Master’s Degree from Yale University.

All NMS String Students are invited to join us for String Performance Class on Saturday April 11th from 3:00-5:00PM, taught by violin faculty member Emily Fischer.

String Performance Class is a great opportunity for String Students to perform a piece with accompanist in a “practice setting.” A different faculty member will lead each class, giving all students the chance to receive feedback from a variety of faculty perspectives.

An introductory meeting with parents and families outlining program goals, expectations, schedule, and student responsibilities.

NMS young violinist Elena Bai (5) will perform her Suzuki Book 1 Recital on Sunday March 22nd from 11:00-11:30am.

This recital is a culmination of her progress through the first book of the Suzuki Method as she graduates into Book 2. She will be performing most of the Book 1 repertoire from memory - a huge accomplishment!

All NMS String Students are invited to join us for String Performance Class on Saturday March 21st from 10:45-11:45AM, taught by violin faculty member Yuriy Geyer.

String Performance Class is a great opportunity for String Students to perform a piece with accompanist in a “practice setting.” A different faculty member will lead each class, giving all students the chance to receive feedback from a variety of faculty perspectives.

Join NMS former student, Clarissa Bevilacqua, IN Masterclass as she works with our current string students who are preparing for the Sejong Music Competition.

NMS Student Heng-lo Nathan Li will perform his House of Beethoven recital on Sunday June 8th, 2025 at 2:00pm.

This recital will be a celebration of his studies at New Music School as he graduates and pursues what’s next on his musical journey.

His program will include:

J.S. Bach - Prelude and Fugue No. 18 BWV 863
Liszt - Concert Étude “Waldesrauschen”
Ravel - Jeux d’eau, M. 30
Grieg - Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 16

NMS pianists Constantine Wang and Victoria Zhang will perform their House of Mozart Recitals on Sunday May 18th, 2025 at 4:00PM.

Their program will include works by J.S. Bach, Mozart, Haydn, Schubert, Chopin, Debussy, Liszt, and Jian-Zhong.