Praised for “stunning performances” by The New York Times, Kaufman Music Center’s Face the Music
is an alt-classical ensemble of more than one hundred and fifteen unusually talented teenagers from in and
around New York City. Advancing Kaufman Music Center’s commitment to modern music, Face the Music provides an unparalleled performance and education experience for the next generation of musical leaders.
Special Music School Director Jenny Undercofler founded the group in 2005.
Under the direction of conductor and founder Dr. Undercofler, Face the Music has played across New York City at venues such as Le Poisson Rouge, Merkin Hall, Roulette, the River to River Festival, Lincoln Center Atrium, BAM Café and the Bang On A Can Marathon. The group has been featured on WQXR’s Young Artist Showcase, NPR’s All Things
Considered, and played on a live broadcast marking the opening of NY Public Radio’s Jerome L. Greene Performance Space. In 2011, Face the Music was honored with the ASCAP Aaron Copland Award.
Face the Music features elementary, middle and high school students from over forty different New York City-area schools. Many of the performers are students or alumni of Kaufman’s own Special Music School, the only K-8 public school in New York City that integrates pre- conservatory musical training with academic education.
Since 2009-10, Face the Music has maintained three string quartets made up of particularly dedicated and excellent members of the larger ensemble. These three quartets (the Face the Music Quartet, the Pannonia Quartet, and the Sorpresa Quartet) have played on regular Face the Music concerts but have also made solo appearances at the
Tribeca New Music Festival, the River to River Festival, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the MATA Gala honoring Kronos Quartet, the Look and Listen Festival and the Cornelia Street Café. The quartets have collaborated with composers LJOVA, Dan Visconti, Tristan Perich, Alexandra Vrebalov, Conrad Tao and Angélica Negrón, and have played
in master classes for David Harrington (Kronos Quartet), Neil Dufallo (ETHEL) and Kenji Bunch (Ne(x)tworks)
