Here’s the pitch: “A statewide music initiative showcasing the most compelling and forward-looking voices in performances of works written in the past five years.” And here are the stats: 95 organizations, 110 “innovative” composers, 117 “compelling” new works. Scratch the surface, and you’ll struggle to divine any selection criteria at all. Sergei Rachmaninoff, meet Hildur Guðnadóttir! Franz Schubert, meet Nicolás Lell Benavides! And look, could that be Betsy Jolas hobnobbing with Antonín Dvořák, Yang Bao, and Gilbert & Sullivan? Oh, and there’s Jennifer Lucy Cook! In short, this is a festival in the loosest possible sense, the new-music banner rather a false flag. Yet if the marketing synergy raises a buzz that lands extra butts in seats, the initiative will have achieved its objective. Worth exploring, but the onus is on the listener. —Matthew Gurewitsch