Tactus MSM @ I/O Fest // Williams College, MA
I/O FEST 2026 – Jan 16-18, 2026
3 DAYS AND NIGHTS OF THE MUSIC OF NOW
I/O Fest is the Williams College Department of Music’s annual immersion in the music of today and a multi-day exploration of adventurous music presenting new voices, fresh perspectives, and creative modes of musical expression. Tactus (MSM’s Contemporary Performance Program) joins I/O Ensemble, and the Copland Ensemble (Queens College Aaron Copland School of Music) in multiple concerts over the 3-day festival.
Matthew Gold, Director
Jeffrey Miller, Stage and Orchestra Manager
Williams College
1000 Main St
Williamstown, MA 01267
MORE INFO
DAY ONE
FRIDAY January 16
1/16 – 4:30pm – Sawyer Library Reading Room
This performance features David Lang’s the little match girl passion which sets Hans Christian Andersen’s story ‘The Little Match Girl’ in the format of Bach’s Saint Matthew Passion, interspersing Andersen’s narrative with Lang’s versions of the crowd and character responses from Bach’s Passion. The student performers of Ephemera are directed by Anna Lenti. (performance repeats on 11/17)
1/16 – 7:30pm – ’62 Center for Theatre & Dance: CenterStage
The I/O Ensemble offers Marcos Balter’s meltDown Upshot, a magnetic mix of heady beats, catchy pop, absorbing post-minimalism, angular melodies, and fireworks of free jazz.
1/16 – 9pm – St. John’s Episcopal Church
I/O Ensemble together with organist Nathaniel Welsh ‘26 perform Voiceless Mass (2021) for pipe organ and large ensemble.
Voiceless Mass considers the spaces in which we gather, the history of access of these spaces, and the land upon which these buildings sit. In exploiting the architecture of the cathedral, Voiceless Mass considers the futility of giving voice to the voiceless, when ceding space is never an option for those in power. Voiceless Mass won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Music.
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DAY TWO
SATURDAY January 17
1/17 – 4:30pm – Sawyer Library Reading Room
This performance features David Lang’s the little match girl passion which sets Hans Christian Andersen’s story ‘The Little Match Girl’ in the format of Bach’s Saint Matthew Passion, interspersing Andersen’s narrative with Lang’s versions of the crowd and character responses from Bach’s Passion. The student performers of Ephemera are directed by Anna Lenti.
1/17 – 7:30pm – ’62 Center for Theatre & Dance: CenterStage
Music for Many Musicians features music by Steve Reich and live music with silent film. Performed by I/O Ensemble, Tactus (Manhattan School of Music Contemporary Performance Program), and the Copland Ensemble (Queens College Aaron Copland School of Music).
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DAY THREE
SUNDAY January 18, 3pm
1/18 – 3pm – Clark Art Institute, Conforti Pavilion
The electric guitar quartet DITHER performs music from Laurie Spiegel’s The Expanding Universe, as well as works by Morton Feldman, inti figgis-vizueta, Julius Eastman, and Eve Beglarian. They are joined by musicians from I/O Ensemble, Tactus, and the Copland Ensemble.
Tickets $10 ($8 members, free for college students and children 17 and under).
https://events.clarkart.edu/detail/1826
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I/O BONUS EVENT
Thursday, January 22, 6pm
1/22 – 6pm – Clark Art Institute Auditorium
Shadow Visionaries Film Series: The Fall of the House of Usher
with new live score by Paul de Jong and Matthew Gold.
Tickets $10 ($8 members, free for college students and children 17 and under).
https://events.clarkart.edu/detail/1754
