Celebrating 15 Years of Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame: Expanding Artistic Careers

By Lauren Dean

Now in its fifteenth year, Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame—which features 15 one-minute works written by distinct composers for a specific musician or ensemble—has grown from a once-a-year performance to an almost monthly endeavor. Since 2020, more than 25 shows have occurred, thanks in part to a move from live New York performances to online streams that can happen from anywhere.

As the platform has expanded, so too have the careers of many participating artists, forming a kind of symbiosis between the two. Speaking on this relationship in recent interviews, artists expressed how Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame helped take their careers to the next level, broadened their creative work, and benefited them in unanticipated ways.

One of the most impressive features of the project is the facility with which artists move between the roles of musician and composer. While many artists began participating as composers and were later invited to perform, others used their performance as an opportunity to compose their very first piece.

“I’ve had around twenty of my pieces performed,” says guitarist and composer Rodrigo Baggio, who flew from Brazil to New York to participate in Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame in 2015. For him, this was a way of pulling double duty, showcasing his work on both sides. “It gives the composer the chance to actually have their piece performed,” amplifying their voice, but also gives musicians a platform to engage with other musicians, as well as composers, which leads to new projects, collaborations, and performances.

But it can also stretch artistic work in the opposite direction. Oboist Robert Botti, who has performed frequently with the New York Philharmonic Ensembles for thirty years, wrote his first piece in 2014 when he participated in Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame. While it wasn’t a career-expanding move, it was uncharted territory for him as a performer and a musician—and an uplifting experience that has stayed with him over time.

That novelty is what many of the artists who participate value most. “This is the beauty of experimenting with new compositions to convey the composer’s intention through your own vision,” says Bayan accordionist and composer Stas Venglevski, who first performed in Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame in 2023. “For any artist it is important to be who you are,” but finding your voice within the series of compositions has the effect of pulling musicians in new directions.

“Being able to pick the pieces definitely helps,” soprano Jenny Ribeiro says. “It can stretch your artistry, your textual content,” given the diversity of submissions. With performances in 2011 and 2013, she acknowledges that “the pieces are written for your voice, so the composers are listening to your recordings beforehand, and that really shows off your artistry to the best advantage.” And yet, with an upcoming performance in 2024, she also knows that her voice has changed in the last ten years. “I used to be a high, light soprano, but now I sing Wagner. So the new compositions that come in should reflect the change in my voice.” This reflexive relationship between the composer and the musician, gives both sides an opportunity to expand. “I love that Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame is very much for the artist and for the composer. It’s not weighted one way or the other.”

Plus, having the mediation of Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame is “gold” in the words of soloist and French horn player Mary Beth Orr. “It’s hard to get commissions for new works—if you don’t want to keep doing the classical cannon of white male composers. As an artist, showing the world your work, it’s priceless to have [Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame] commission these composers for you.”

With pieces designed specifically for her, “from a career standpoint,” she says, “that’s a big deal.” In fact, the works she performed in her 2023 Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame debut are now part of her flagship branding. When she crowdfunded her first solo album for release in September 2024, she used the pieces commissioned for her by Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame. “The diversity, the exposure, having new pieces commissioned specifically for you that are from all over the world”—those are all “big benefits,” she says.

Celebrating 15 Years of Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame: Expanding Artistic Careers (continued)

By Lauren Dean

And while most of the interviewed artists agree that performing without pay comes with the territory in the creative world, they’re also enthusiastic about the opportunities that the project affords. “New music has not always been the highly funded part of classical music,” says Jenny Ribeiro. “I’m not going to not do it because there’s no pay. I love it. It’s a passion project. But you can use it to get a paycheck in other ways. It’s a new music forum. Just for being a part of the organization, you can leverage it.”

She adds that, in the past, although she did a lot of solo work, she did not consider herself a professional soloist. “I just didn’t think of it as a business model,” she says. However, now that it is a part of her business model, “this project is important,” not only for her but for composers and collaborators. “It’s about relationships and relationship building.”

Rodrigo Baggio agrees that Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame, while unpaid, has a “financial advantage.” In his case, he used it as a platform to showcase his work as a performer, meet like-minded musicians, and initiate new projects from those contacts. “This is a very different project because it combines many places in the world and also different aesthetics,” he says. It’s an important platform for “like minds to get together to expand vocabularies on certain topics.” This struck him particularly in contrast to his experiences in Brazil, where musicians remain somewhat segregated by music type. “I was blissful of Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame in that sense because it combines many types of musical languages and gets them together.”

Classical pianist Stephen Porter elaborates: “To give an unpaid concert in a special place, of special music, perhaps in a different country, can lead to making wonderful contacts, further concerts, recordings, reviews, new commissions, online exposure, and help to expand one’s career.” With Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame performances in 2013 and 2016, he adds that “I’ve made friends with composers involved in Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame that have led to all of those things.”

Indeed, for some the project has been fundamental in informing their artistry. “This project is part of the tapestry of my musical experience,” says soprano Mary Hubbell, who participated in Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame in 2014 and 2023. “It has offered me a chance to grow and take chances as a performer, connected me with other performers and composers, and is folded into how I think of myself as a singer (classically trained with special experience in new music).”

But with all the benefits that artists speak of in connection to Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame, sometimes it’s the simple things that matter most: “Seeing composers faces of gratitude when I performed their work,” Mary Beth Orr says, “that means a lot.”

This special edition on NM421 is the second of a special 5 part series of interviews with musicians who have been featured on Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame.

The first installment was published on February 8th, 2025. The next installment will be published on April 12th, 2025.

Vox Novus is asking composer who have submittied to Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame to share their stories about their one-minute works. (Whether they have been selected for a set of 15 or not)

Vox Novus is celebrating the 15th anniversary of its groundbreaking project, Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame, and we want to hear from you! Whether you are a composer, musician, dancer, performing artist, or audience member, your story is part of the rich tapestry of this project’s legacy.

Selected stories will be featured in the NM421 / Vox Novus newsletter and shared on our social media platforms and other publicity avenues. Contributors of chosen stories may also receive a limited-edition T-shirt created to commemorate this special anniversary year.

Fifteen-Minutes-of-Fame is an extraordinary initiative that brings together 15 composers to write one-minute works for a specific musician or ensemble. Over the past 15 years, the project has premiered works by more than 1,000 composers and collaborated with over 100 musicians, fostering creativity, innovation, and meaningful connections in the world of contemporary music. You can submit your story here:

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