On the New Virtuosity Manifesto

This chapter reveals the motivations that lead to The New Virtuosity: A Manifesto for Contemporary Sonic Practice and features a reproduction of the manifesto describing contemporary new music practice, in its original one-page format. This expression of and from contemporary music practice was an attempt to capture a moment in time and to interpret observations of current praxis, discussions, and collaborations experienced by the authors. A brief discussion of how practice informed the manifesto’s structure and its contents is followed by the presentation of responses to its publication and distribution in an industry arts zine, on social media, and in an academic music journal between 2020 and 2022.