2017 Modern Music Festival will strike a chord at La Jolla’s Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, Jan. 5-8

The Athenaeum Music & Arts Library will host the 10th annual SoundON Festival of Modern Music, a four-day long series of concerts, performances, workshops, lectures and art, Jan. 5-8, 2017 at 1008 Wall St., La Jolla.

In collaboration with San Diego New Music, the program is curated by NOISE percussionist Morris Palter.

(Part 1) SOUNDSTREAMS will feature works awash of aural awareness by current and former San Diego composers, including Benjamin Sabey, former San Diego New Music executive director Nathan Brock, and NOISE cellist Franklin Cox, and works by New Zealand composer Chris Cree Brown, French composer Betsy Jolas and American maverick James Tenney. Evocative of sonic panoramas, these works are foundational in their motive, yet sweeping in their inference.

(Part 2) RISING CURRENTS I & II will feature established and newly established composers. While individually creative in their compositional explorations, collectively they represent composers who derive their strength from dynamic internal forces that connect them intimately to their immediate surroundings, be they natural, urban or cultural.

All will be joined by guest composers James Romig, Benjamin Sabey and Andrew Staniland. The Jan. 7 evening event will feature a world premiere of “Festival of Whispers,” by composer Matthew Burtner, which will be presented with an installation during the festival. “Festival of Whispers” was commissioned by The Athenaeum in honor of the 20th anniversary collaboration with San Diego New Music and the 10th anniversary of SoundOn Festival.

NOISE artists: Lisa Cella, flute; Colin McAllister, guitar and conductor; Mark Menzies, violin;Franklin Cox, cello; Robert Zelickman, clarinet; Christopher Adler, piano and Morris Palter, percussion.

Special guest artists: Stephanie Aston, soprano;Kyle Adam Blair, piano; Fiona Digney, percussion; Sean Dowgray, percussion; Michael Matsuno, flute.

• IF YOU GO: Athenaeum Music & Arts Library, 1008 Wall St., La Jolla. 4-Day Festival Pass: $55 members, $70 nonmembers. 1-Day Pass: $20 members, $25 nonmembers, $5 students. Tickets and schedule: (858) 454-5872. ljathenaeum.org/sound-on