About
Founded in Boston in 2006, Montage Music Society has established itself as a versatile ensemble primarily dedicated to music inspired by visual art. A true society of musicians, MMS projects have resulted in a variety of commissions and acclaimed recordings, including “Starry Night Project” which was supported by an Argosy Fund grant and Grammy-nominated “Music of Bruce Wolosoff”. MMS has been featured at the Abiquiu Chamber Music Festival, Anderson Museum of Contemporary Art and its Roswell Artist in Residence Foundation, The Church Sag Harbor, Library of Congress, Washington DC’s Corcoran Gallery, the Chautauqua Institute, the International Piatti Festival, New York’s Milton Resnick and Pat Passlof Foundation and Miles McEnery Gallery. Recent commissions feature new works by Juantio Becenti (Diné), Ofer Ben-Amots, Jody Redhage Ferber, Pierre Jalbert, Andrew List, Niles Luther, Elliot Roman, Nell Shaw-Cohen and Bruce Wolosoff are inspired by artwork of Will Wilson (Diné), Bebe Krimmer, Nils-Udo, Pointillist artists, Gauguin, April Gornik, Wayne Thiebaud/Amati, Andy Goldsworthy and Milton Resnick respectively. Montage is featured in two Vincent Stenerson Productions documentaries “Creating Music Inspired by Visual Art”. Artistic Director Debra Ayers added the Altazano Salon Series in 2014 to bring intimate chamber music programs to Santa Fe audiences. Montage Music Society celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2025 and 2026.
Debra Ayers
DEBRA AYERS, pianist and director of Montage Music Society. An active chamber musician, Debra is a proponent of contemporary music and has premiered works by Ofer Ben-Amots, Matthew Aucoin, Juantio Becenti, William Bolcom, Nell Shaw Cohen, Paul Elwood, Jody Redhage Ferber, Jeff Harrington, Pierre Jalbert, Andrew List, Niles Luther, Elliot Roman, Daniel Schnyder, Bruce Wolosoff and Yehudi Wyner. Debra and cellist Marc Moskovitz presented the North American premiere of the rediscovered Zemlinsky Cello Sonata at the Library of Congress in Washington, DC.
She can be heard on a number of critically-acclaimed recordings, including “Music of Ernst Krenek” with soprano Ilana Davidson; song cycles and “Montage Music” by Ofer Ben-Amots; Montage Music Society’s “STARRY NIGHT Project…music based on visual art” (MSR); and the Grammy-nominated “Music of Bruce Wolosoff”. She is featured in a series of Vincent Stenerson documentaries “Creating Music Inspired by Visual Art”. She enjoyed a long association with Aspen Music Festival and School and Colorado Mountain College Center for Excellence in the Arts.
Commissions
New works written for Montage, each inspired by particular artists and their images.
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