The 2026 MostArts include will feature a new composition, “As Luck,” featuring acclaimed composer and Alfred, NY, native Gabriel Jenks on banjo with the International MostArts Festival Orchestra conducted by Kathleen Horvath, performing Saturday, July 18 at 7:30 pm in Miller Theater on the Alfred University campus.
Jenks, formerly known as Han Lash, has described “As Luck” as a cross between Vivaldi and Lester Flatts.
The New York Times has described Jenks’s music as “striking and resourceful…handsomely brooding.” Jenks’s work has been performed at Carnegie Hall, Los Angeles' Walt Disney Concert Hall, Lincoln Center, the Times Center in Manhattan, the Chicago Art Institute, Tanglewood Music Center, Harvard University, The Aspen Music Festival & School, The Chelsea Art Museum, and on the American Opera Project’s stage in New York City.
Growing up in Alfred, Jenks began studying music and dance at an early age and was a serious performer and composer by his early teens. He was accepted to the prestigious Eastman School of Music at the age of 15 and enrolled in the bachelor's program at age 16. After studies in harp and composition at Eastman, Jenks received an Artist Diploma in harp from the Cleveland Institute of Music, a PhD in composition from Harvard University, and an Artist Diploma in composition from Yale University.
Jenks is Associate Professor of Music (Composition) at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. His music is published exclusively by Schott Music Co.
“As Luck” was commissioned by two anonymous patrons in celebration of the MostArts Festival’s tenth season.
