New York classical music institutions are facing economic challenges. The Metropolitan Opera is having more dark nights compared to previous seasons, and the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s historic Next Wave Festival is not as grand as it used to be.

However, despite these challenges, there are still plenty of events happening in the city at both large and small venues. For example, just on Thursday and Friday, there were back-to-back premieres of ambitious song cycles by living composers.

On Thursday, Paul Pinto’s “The Approach” was unveiled at Merkin Hall. It is a multimedia, dramatic work written for the treble-voice quartet Quince Ensemble. The next night, Ted Hearne brought his “Dorothea,” which is built around poems by Dorothea Lasky, to New York for the first time at Zankel Hall.

In my opinion, Pinto’s music for Quince was the standout performance. However, after a slow start, Hearne’s cycle also showed some of the refinement of his previous works. While the first half of “Dorothea” felt static at times, it still had flashes of Hearne’s eclecticism.

One reason for the static feel in “Dorothea” was the overuse of Hearne’s electronically altered tenor voice. His previous projects have utilized multiple singers, including different facets of himself. However, in the early part of “Dorothea,” his voice dominated, overshadowing the contributions of other artists such as electric guitarist Taylor Levine and vocalist Eliza Bagg.

There was a breakthrough with Bagg’s performance of “Complainers.” Hearne’s comparatively spare setting showcased Bagg’s luminous sound in Lasky’s sardonic poetry.

When Hearne returned as lead singer in “Another World,” his vocals were less altered, resulting in a better overall performance. From there, the songs in the rest of the evening displayed R&B grooves and rock energy consistently.

Thursday’s performance of the first three “episodes” of Pinto’s “The Approach” was about half as long as “Dorothea,” but it still felt complete and inspired.

Pinto’s narrative, a magical-realist song cycle and love story for and about the women of Quince, had a playful, fourth-wall-breaking quality. The singers of Quince meet a female sailor on the subway after a rehearsal, resulting in a charming encounter. Pinto’s libretto carries traces of Robert Ashley’s comic-philosophic operas, with a chatty aesthetic and drone-style phrases. However, Pinto adds his own innovations, such as faster-moving texts and a greater emphasis on songfulness.

At Merkin Hall, the staging of “The Approach” was modest yet stylish. The Quince singers wore gowns that matched their respective characters, and video art added to the understanding of the fast-moving text.

Quince’s sound was the highlight of the performance. They also presented “her lover’s hand,” a satisfying three-song suite by composer Annika Socolofsky. Pinto sang his arrangement of the adapted work song “On Shaller Brown” before “The Approach.”

Despite leaner budgets, Pinto’s music proved that tough times do not require reduced ambitions. The performance was ecstatic and richly rewarding.