Wet Ink Ensemble to present third annual Mini-Festival with premieres by artists-in-residence and leading contemporary composers

The Wet Ink Ensemble will present its third annual Mini-Festival on Saturday, Dec. 13, featuring world and New York premieres by composers in its 2025–26 artist residency program. The event will take place at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. at Benzaquen Hall in the DiMenna Center for Classical Music.

The New York-based ensemble, known for championing experimental and collaborative new music, will highlight works by this season’s Artists-in-Residence Aurora Nealand and Ben LaMar Gay, alongside premieres by Eric Wubbels and Mariel Roberts Musa.

The program’s first set includes Nealand’s solo performance and the world premiere of “ne owiht,” the latest installment of Wubbels’s ongoing cycle Second Nature. The piece features flutist Erin Lesser and percussionist Ian Antonio, with Wubbels on keyboard.

The second set features the world premiere of Ben LaMar Gay’s “Lie #4: Emcee melodies / Maroon messaging systems,” commissioned by Wet Ink through its Artist-in-Residence program. The 20-minute work forms part of the composer’s ongoing series The Manipulations of Lines and Breff, and Gay will join the octet on cornet.

Also on the program is the New York premiere of Roberts Musa’s Jalan Mentari for septet, inspired by field recordings from ocean barriers in Borneo that incorporate environmental soundscapes and poetic themes of loss and persistence. The ensemble will additionally perform Peter Ablinger’s Black Series, an open-instrumentation modular work. The performance honors the late composer, whose work has been a significant influence on Wet Ink.

Nealand’s newly commissioned septet will receive its premiere in June 2026.

The Mini-Festival precedes Wet Ink’s next major performance at the DiMenna Center: the world premiere of a large-scale work for big band by Sam Pluta on Feb. 12, 2026. The piece will blend orchestration, electronics and improvisation in a 60-minute immersive format featuring guest soloists.

Tickets to the Dec. 13 Mini-Festival are available on a pay-what-you-can basis, with a suggested price of $20. Reservations may be made online or at the door.

Event Details

Wet Ink Mini-Festival 2025
Saturday, Dec. 13, 2025 — 6 p.m. & 8 p.m.
Benzaquen Hall, DiMenna Center for Classical Music
450 W. 37th St., New York, NY 10018

More information is available at wetink.org.

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