CompFest
Each year, Emory CompFest brings innovative national and international musicians to Emory and Atlanta. Featured artists have included Sam Pluta & Peter Evans, Natacha Diels, Timuçin Şahin, Annea Lockwood, Yarn/Wire, and others. During their residencies, the artists work with students and faculty and present their music in concert. We seek artists who work in ways that expand traditional compositional frameworks and who can offer exciting and meaningful creative exchanges with the community.
CompFest 2026: EARTHSEED
February 13–14, 2026
CompFest 2026 features internationally recognized flutist/composer/improviser Nicole Mitchell and vocalist/composer/improviser Lisa E. Harris. The festival culminates on Saturday evening with a presentation of their collaborative, evening-length piece EarthSeed, inspired by and in tribute toaward-winning African American science fiction author Octavia E. Butler , in an ensemble featuring local improvisers, faculty members, and Emory students. On Friday evening, Mitchell and Harris will perform as a duo; the event will also feature local saxophonist Kebbi Williams and an Emory student jazz combo.
Concerts each night at Emory's Performing Arts Studio, free and open to the public.
1804 N. Decatur Rd.
Atlanta, GA 30022
Recommended parking: Parking lot adjacent to the building on Burlington Road or Gambrell/Lowergate South Parking Deck.
Friday, Feb. 13, Concert at 8pm
CompFest: Earthseed featuring Nicole Mitchell and Lisa E. Harris
Concert program features:
Mitchell and Harris will perform duo
- Featuring Atlanta-based improviser Kebbi Williams and a student jazz combo.
Saturday, Feb. 14, Concert at 8pm
Concert + Pre-Concert Conversation at 7pm
Concert program features:
Mitchell and Harris present Earthseed in a mixed ensemble
- Featuring Christopher Briggs Rodriguez (voice), Katherine Young (bassoon), Kenito Murray (percussion), and Emory student performers.
There will be a pre-concert conversation with the artists led by Dr. Clint Fluker.
About EARTHSEED
The work of award-winning African American science fiction author Octavia E. Butler becomes increasingly prophetic as we move through the challenges of the new century. Her novels Parable of the Sower (1993) and Parable of the Talents (1996) use fiction to illuminate a horrific unraveling of 21st-century America into a despotic chaos where its once-middle-class citizens struggle to survive in an incredibly violent and fragmented reality, void of normalcy, family, and resources. In the 1990s, Butler's Parables warned readers about a possible disintegration of American culture and infrastructure, among the many risks of tyrannical rule. Within Butler's storyline, the character Lauren Oya Olamina, a preacher's daughter of African heritage, helps to rebuild her community through offering Earthseed, an egalitarian philosophy and spiritual practice which honors inquiry, independent thinking, and realistic acceptance of constant change.
Inspired by and in tribute to Octavia E. Butler, composers Nicole M. Mitchell and Lisa E. Harris have created their own sonic EarthSeed, also in response to the real chaos and horrific nature of our times. EarthSeed is the third of Mitchell's projects inspired by the literature of Butler and marks a first compositional collaboration between Harris and Mitchell. Mitchell's two previous recorded Butler-inspired works are Xenogenesis Suite (Firehouse 12) and Intergalactic Beings (FPE). EarthSeed was commissioned by the Art Institute of Chicago and premiered on June 22, 2017. EarthSeed was presented in association with the exhibition of Cauleen Smith: Human_3.0 Reading List.
LINKS FOR MORE INFO
https://music.virginia.edu/people/profile/nmitchell
https://www.nicolemitchell.com/
https://lisaeharris.com/project
https://lisae.bandcamp.com/album/life-and-that
Earthseed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Jx0pn5Aqt4