Joseph C. Phillips, Jr.

“Today Numinous is fully immersed in the contemporary classical scene. When I moved to New York City in the late 1990s, I had hopes that my musical world might someday be a part of that scene—but being a newly arrived young Black male with classical orchestral ambitions and also no connections to that world, I had no idea how it could happen. [but]…I found my way and found my voice…”—from “To Mixed Music” (https://isjac.org/artist-blog/joseph-c-phillips-jr-to-mixed-music)

I had a first meeting with Bill and Judd in 2010. By then New Amsterdam Records was just beginning its trajectory as a beacon in new music, and my ensemble Numinous had already been in existence for 10 years with two albums released. One thing I remember that day (and also sometime later when I first met Sarah) was that here were a group of smart, enthusiastic, and ambitious musicians thinking much as I was. I was interested in composing music that really didn’t fit into any one genre but, as I stated in the above quote, I really did not have an ‘in’ to that new music world. And now this group of talented artists and their organization, which welcomed the kind of “unclassifiable” music that I was already composing and performing, was reaching out to me. So after those many years of trying to figure everything out for myself, New Amsterdam Records became a pathway for me to have community within the broader new music world.

While they are all incredible composers themselves, I’ve always found Sarah, Bill, and Judd to be open and welcoming and supportive of other composers and artists (this is one reason they began New Amsterdam Records in the first place), and it’s no surprise that the label has always reflected this same attitude. New Amsterdam is a community that supports the whole artist and over the years has taken many steps to broaden and improve their support: from the former performance space in Red Hook, Brooklyn that provided its artists and the music community a ready venue to rehearse and perform; to creative partnerships such as with various orchestras, the Ecstatic Music Festival, Nonesuch Records, and Naxos distribution; and to the creation of New Amsterdam Presents that provides many of its artists the resources in the aid of managing performances. Also, in this new found moment of interest in social justice, when musical organizations are reassessing and reevaluating their missions and taking steps to include more diverse voices, for years New Amsterdam has already been supporting a wide array of artists with a broad set of aesthetics, philosophies, and backgrounds. And they are consistently on the look out for new and interesting voices, not because it’s trendy or marketable for their image, but because it is the right thing to do.

At the end of February I finished the studio sessions for my opera The Grey Land (which is now out on New Amsterdam Records) and was working on editing with the engineer when the pandemic and the lockdown came to New York City; so the remaining work on the album was done all virtually between myself, the various engineers, and co-producer Oded Lev-Ari. In this 20th year of Numinous, in a pre-pandemic world, I would have been planning a 20th anniversary/album release show for this fall and a full production of The Grey Land at Harlem Stage for the spring. But like most of my musician friends, however, that is not happening, and I have no idea when the 30 musicians of Numinous will perform again. Along with everything else, it has been a grim struggle for musicians everywhere, losing income and no proposition for when or if there will be relief. In the pandemic before times the financial viability of any musical career could be precarious, but in these pandemic times it’s near an existential crisis. It is harder and harder for almost all artists, and if we still want a vibrant world full of intriguing, interesting, and inspiring art, music, and culture in the after times, now more than any other time, we need to support art and artists. And here is where it is so important to help organizations like New Amsterdam, because they are advocates, not just for their own artists but also for the entire eco-system of contemporary music. And if we want to survive as artists and composers and musicians, the world needs more advocates. I’m an artist for New Amsterdam, but I am also a subscriber because I believe in their mission and in these difficult times I hope, if you are able, you will join me in supporting New Amsterdam Records too. — Joseph C. Phillips, Jr.