Percussionist Svet Stoyanov

New York-based composer Ian Moss was asked by returning violinist Annaliesa Place to write a piece for violin and marimba, which she and percussionist Svet Stoyanov will debut at the festival's "Vintage to Vanguard" classical concert Monday, May 22.

Moss recently completed the "Three Miniatures for Violin and Marimba," giving the musicians about a month to rehearse before the premiere.

"I'm really excited about this," he said in a phone interview. "It's always interesting to venture out into things you wouldn't venture out into."

"It's influenced a lot by my band," Moss said of the miniatures.

In addition to composing, Moss heads a New York-based group called Capital M, which he described as an "innovative electric chamber ensemble that seeks real and total integration between modern classical music and ... styles such as rock and jazz."

Returning violinist Annaliesa Place and Stoyanov will perform and teach at several concerts throughout the festival.

Jazz and Classics Festival founder Linda Rosenthal called Moss' work "music of right now," adding that the premiere is one of the pieces of the puzzle that keeps the festival fresh each year.

"It's the new things that we add ... (that) show music in a different light and bring people together in different and unusual ways," she said.

Moss said the second movement, titled "Mobile Messenger," is influenced by early minimalist composers, like Steve Reich. There is repetition, but improvisation within the repetition. "There are patterns that get transformed over a period of time," he said.

Moss, a 25-year-old graduate of Yale University, said the musicians move into different modules by cuing each other, as the rhythmic values change. "In performance it's very dramatic."