Contemporary composers in the for-lack-of-a-better-term classical tradition like to complain about neglect, but in Seattle at least its not all that hard to get your music heard: there are several choirs and community orchestras who might give your work a spin, and if you can recruit your own musicians theres always the Seattle Composers Salon. Similarly, a playwright can often work up a reading, semi-staged or not. Who has it hard are theater composers. Sure, go ahead, stage your musical yourself, if you can round up the dough. Other than that, you can turn to a group with the slightly stuffy name Contemporary Classics, whove been putting new musicals before the public since 2005, staging complete works and presenting excerpts in cabaret form on their New Voices series, the fourth installment of which is tonight. Taking on topics from 9/11 to Anna Nicole Smith, the fledgling songwriters might turn out to be the next Rodgers or Sondheim, or even Scott Warrender or Chris Jeffries.
Sun., Dec. 23, 8 p.m., 2007
