iiCoCo (pronounced e cocoa) was born at Juilliard. A group of independent composers, studying composition in the Evening Division under Dr. Ray Lustig, discovered a shared spark and began writing for each other. In 2016 and 2017, their Good Shepherd Church concerts, held just steps from Juilliard, proved so successful that they could not stop creating and performing together.
What made these concerts stand out was more than the music. It was the balance of art and logistics, what we call aesthetic engineering. Programs featured many short new works, designed for today’s audiences with limited attention spans. This format allowed a larger number of composers to be heard on a single program, a rarity in classical music. It encouraged a spirit of collaboration and co-production that is unusual in the field.
The momentum continued in 2019 when iiCoCo presented two concerts, one at Good Shepard and a concert at the Opera Center in New York City. That performance marked an important step forward, expanding the reach of the group and showing that self-produced concerts of new short works could thrive on prominent stages.
In 2020, COVID silenced concert halls worldwide, and Juilliard moved almost entirely online. For a time, our collaboration paused. But in September 2022, iiCoCo regrouped virtually, finding new ways to share ideas and works online. By fall 2024, we were back together in person, presenting another concert. And now in 2025, iiCoCo returns with its most ambitious step yet: three concerts in a row.
The music itself ranges from contemporary classical pieces for traditional instruments to works that fold in improvisation and technology, expanding the artistic footprint of each composer and performer. iiCoCo concerts are not only artistic experiments but also explorations of new business models for the performing arts.
Supported by New Short Works and the Silicon Valley Innovation Institute, iiCoCo continues to prove that invention, collaboration, and community can transform how music is created and shared. From our Juilliard beginnings to our present international gatherings, iiCoCo is a living testament to the power of creative outliers coming together.