Get Set for Innovative New Music!

Once again, Southern Exposure New Music Series has an exciting line-up of composers, performers and improvisers dedicated to adventurous music-making.

The 2023-24 season is bookended by two spectacular string quartets, Amernet and Columbia’s  favorite chamber quartet — The Parker Quartet — performing with esteemed artists mezzo soprano Rachel Calloway and pianist Vijay Iyer, a MacArthur winner and four-time Jazz Artist of the Year (DownBeat magazine). The year’s other concerts feature larger ensembles of mixed winds, strings, and piano: the superb performer-composer collectives Wet Ink and Decoda.

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2023-2024 Southern Exposure Season

September 29, 2023

Amernet String Quartet with Rachel Calloway

Praised for their "intelligence" and “immensely satisfying” playing by the New York Times, the Amernet String Quartet has garnered recognition as one of today's exceptional string quartets and are Ensemble-in-Residence at Florida International University in Miami. Their sound has been called “complex” but with an “old world flavor.” Strad Magazine described the Amernet as “...a group of exceptional ability.”

October 27, 2023

Wet Ink Ensemble

Named “The Best Classical Music Ensemble of 2018” by the New York Times, Wet Ink Ensemble’s work is rooted in an ethos of innovation through collaboration, extending from the music and the unique performance practice developed in the “band” atmosphere of Wet Ink’s core octet of composer-performers, to projects with a broad range of renowned creators, from Evan Parker to George Lewis to Peter Ablinger, and committed performances of music by young and underrepresented composers, from today’s most promising emerging voices to the next generation of artists.

January 19, 2024

Decoda

As an artist-led collective, Decoda seeks to create a more compassionate and connected world through music—thoughtfully curating outstanding performances of live chamber music, facilitating creative community projects, and training the next generation of musical artists to rethink and reimagine their role in society. 

March 10, 2024

Fundraising Gala at Bourbon Restaurant

Join us for a lively dinner at Columbia's Bourbon restaurant! This fundraiser helps our series bring exciting new music artists to our school. Details to come!    

April 3, 2024

Vijay Iyer and the Parker Quartet

A composer and pianist active across multiple musical communities, Vijay Iyer has created a consistently innovative, emotionally resonant body of work over the last twenty-five years, earning him a place as one of the leading music-makers of his generation.

For this performance, Iyer accompanies Grammy Award-winning Parker Quartet, one of the preeminent ensembles of its generation, dedicated purely to the sound and depth of their music. The Parker Quartet has been chamber artist-in-residence at USC for more than a decade.

All Southern Exposure concerts are FREE.

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About the Series

Founded in 2001 by USC associate professor of composition and composer John Fitz Rogers, the nonprofit series has grown steadily and attracts standing-room-only crowds from throughout South Carolina and neighboring states.

The series has achieved a national reputation for the quality and adventurous spirit of its four yearly concerts, unparalleled in the southeast for their mix of artistic quality, audience education and cutting-edge programming.

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Award for Adventurous Programming

Southern Exposure was awarded a 2007 Chamber Music America / ASCAP Award for Adventurous Programming in its 2005-2006 season.

Reserve a seat

These free concerts are often standing room only and early arrival is suggested for seating. For a donation of $150 or more, you can reserve one seat for the entire Southern Exposure season.  Donate online.

If you prefer to pay by phone, contact Brad Martin at
803-777-0704. You can also mail a check payable to "Southern Exposure New Music Series" to:
Southern Exposure New Music Series School of Music, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208

Patrons who reserve seats for the season will receive seating priority in concerts with restricted access, and receive relevant information on a concert-by-concert basis when special reservations are required.

Premiere performances

Groups and artists of international repute who have made their Columbia and South Carolina premiere performances in a Southern Exposure concert include:

• So Percussion
• Brooklyn Rider
• Karel Dohnal
• Argento Chamber Ensemble
• Tony Arnold and Jacob Greenberg
• International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE)
• Alarm Will Sound
• Imani Winds
• Los Angeles Piano Quartet
• Music from Copland House
• Calder and JACK string quartets
• Matt Haimovitz, internationally renowned cellist
• Kartik Seshadri, sitar virtuoso
• Lisa Moore, esteemed New York-based pianist
• Gamelan Galak Tika

Previous seasons

2022-2023
2020-2021
2019-2020
2018-2019
2017–2018
2016–2017
2015–2016
2014–2015
2013–2014
2012–2013
2001–2012

For more information reach out to Michael Harley, Southern Exposure New Music Series artistic director.