On October 16th, 2011, JACK Quartet hosted Extended Play, the American Composers Orchestra's Sounds of a New Century Festival all-day marathon of new-music featuring passionate and adventurous New York City-based ensembles. With JACK leading the way, the nine hour extravaganza took place from noon to midnight, featured eight ensembles, and highlighted the works of forty-four composers.

This second performance of the SONiC Festival, titled Fractured Jams, featured the Chicago-based ensemble eighth blackbird performing works by Dan Visconti, Timothy Andres, Bruno Mantovani, Amy Beth Kirsten, Caleb Burhans and Fabien Svensson. In addition to being one of three NYC premieres, Bruno Mantovani’s Chamber Concert No. 2 was an eighth blackbird commission.

The 2011 SONiC Festival featured some of the most acclaimed ensembles on the new-music scene performing the work of over 100 composers age 40 and under. This selection, recorded on October 17 at Columbia University's Miller Theatre, featured the Either/Or Ensemble. The group performed works by Raphaël Cendo, Hans Thomalla, Richard Carrick, Erin Gee, Keeril Makan and also offered the U.S. premiere of Jonny Greenwood's smear.

The opening concert of the 2011 SONiC Festival featured conductor George Manahan and the American Composers Orchestra performing works by Kenji Bunch, Christopher Stark, Alex Temple and others.

On Wednesday, October 26 at 7 pm, Q2 Music presents the second Re:Sound webcast: a special, patchwork-quilt, virtual concert of those pieces which received the most votes over the second half of the American Composers Orchestra's SONiC: Sounds of a New Century Festival 2011. Hear exclusive live performances of pieces by Marcos Balter, Son Lux, Andrew Norman, Tristan Perich, Matt Marks and many more. 

On Wednesday, October 19 at 7 pm, Q2 Music presents the first Re:Sound: a special, patchwork-quilt, virtual concert of those pieces which received the most votes over the first four days of the American Composers Orchestra's SONiC: Sounds of a New Century Festival 2011. Hear exclusive live performances of pieces by Kati Agócs, Fabian Svensson, Kenji Bunch, Mark Dancigers and many more. 

On Saturday, Oct. 22 at 7 pm, the concluding night of the American Composers Orchestra's SONiC Festival, the Winter Garden at the World Financial Center played palatial host to the world premiere of composer-performer Bryce Dessner's double guitar concerto, St. Carolyn by the Sea. Featuring Bryce Dessner on guitar along with his twin brother Aaron Dessner, the SONiC-commissioned piece was led by American Composer Orchestra conductor George Manahan and hosted by John Schaefer from WNYC's New Sounds Live. 

After his clarinet was stolen from a Paris phone booth, Derek Bermel explains, he gave up busking to become a goatherd in the south of the country. He has studied the music of Yemen in Jerusalem, the music of Thrace in Bulgaria, choro music in Brazil, and in Ghana the music of a xylophone-like instument called the gyil, and conducted a choir of emotionally disturbed boys at a residential center in New York City.

Q2 Music and the American Composers Orchestra are launching a crowd-sourced presentation of new-music from the premiere-laden SONiC Festival, happening through October 22.