From Die Hard to the architecture of Richard Neutra and R.M. Schindler, from Blade Runner to the fiction of James M. Cain and Raymond Chandler, and from fires, riots, and earthquakes to the lives of so many Americans who have looked to Southern California as a panacea, Gabriel Kahane’s The Ambassador draws its inspiration from a multitude of sources to tell intimate, human stories against the backdrop of Los Angeles architecture and popular culture.
Order the CD here.
Think the electric guitar is just for rock bands and teenagers in garages? D.J. Sparr begs to differ. As a composer and guitarist, he’s changing the landscape. Symphony Magazine has more…
Newmusicbox’s Alex Gardner profiles Joel Puckett. Click here to hear the interview.
Naxos recently released the world-premiere recording of GRAMMY-nominated composer/conductor Peter Boyer’s Symphony No. 1. The recording, featuring the London Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO) under Boyer’s direction, also includes four additional works by the composer: Silver Fanfare, Festivities, Celebration Overture and Three Olympians. Watch the video trailer, below, and hear some samples of this exciting new recording:
“The five works included on this recording represent a cross-section of my orchestral music composed over a period of some 15 years, from one of my earliest commissions to my most recent,” said Boyer. “It was a thrilling experience to conduct my music with the superb London Philharmonic Orchestra at Abbey Road Studios, and it’s deeply gratifying to have Naxos release this recording worldwide.”
Boyer’s 24-minute, three-movement Symphony No. 1, the centerpiece of his LPO recording, was commissioned by the Pasadena Symphony, and premiered by them under his baton in April 2013. The work contains music both deeply lyrical and rhythmically driving, and concludes with a powerful sense of affirmation. Boyer’s musical language draws inspiration from such iconic American composers as Aaron Copland, Leonard Bernstein, and John Williams, and these influences can be heard in the symphony. Boyer dedicated the score of his symphony to the memory of Leonard Bernstein, and this dedication was accepted by Bernstein’s children.
Of the four additional works on the Naxos recording, three are short, exuberant pieces written for celebratory occasions, which demonstrate Boyer’s gifts for composing propulsive, colorful music for large orchestras. Silver Fanfare was composed as the first movement of the six-movement work On Music’s Wings, commissioned by the Pacific Symphony and its music director Carl St.Clair in celebration of its 25th anniversary in 2004. Festivities, here given its world-premiere recording, was commissioned and premiered by conductor Gerard Schwarz and the Eastern Music Festival, in celebration of its 50th anniversary in 2011. Celebration Overture was one of Boyer’s earliest commissions, composed in 1997 at the age of 27, for the inaugural season of the Henry Mancini Institute.
Reflecting the composer’s interest in mythology, Three Olympians for string orchestra was commissioned by the Conductors Institute at Bard College in 2000. Each of its movements was inspired by a Greek god of Olympus: Apollo, Aphrodite, and Ares.
Recorded at London’s historic Abbey Road Studio One, the Naxos recording was produced by Tim Handley, winner of the GRAMMY Award for Producer of the Year, Classical (2005). The recording engineer was Abbey Road’s Jonathan Allen, whose many credits include the recent film musical Les Miserables.
Cindy McTee’s compositions embody the musical and cultural energy of modern-day America. Circuits, ‘a boisterously jazzy sprint’ (Detroit Free Press), is followed by, Symphony No. 1: Ballet for Orchestra, a smartly assembled work whose diverse ideas ‘seemed to unfold naturally within an orchestral fabric that used the ensemble’s full coloristic range’ (The New York Times). The use of computer music in Einstein’s Dream lends sonic complexity to a piece that celebrates the scientist’s work on quantum theory. Double Play, commissioned by the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, ‘hums with craftsmanship and a catholic array of influences across several centuries’ (The Washington Post).
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Jake Heggie/Gene Scheer’s MOBY-DICK will be broadcast nationally on PBS Great Performances. This is San Francisco Opera‘s production from last year, with a cast featuring Jay Hunter Morris (Ahab), Stephen Costello (Greenhorn/Ishmael), Morgan Smith (Starbuck), Jonathan Lemalu (Queequeg), Talise Trevigne (Pip), Robert Orth (Stubb), Matthew O’Neill (Flask), and Joo Won Kang (Gardiner); conducted by Patrick Summers and directed by Leonard Foglia in the Robert Brill production with projections by Elaine McCarthy. The opera was commissioned by The Dallas Opera with San Francisco Opera, San Diego Opera, State Opera of South Australia, and Calgary Opera.
On this world premiere recording, Grammy-winning tenor Jay Hunter Morris plays the role of Captain Ahab in Herman Meville’s epic tale of a fierce, obsessive whaling-boat captain who descends into madness and puts his crew in mortal danger is brought to the stage in this thrilling production from San Francisco Opera. Composer Jake Heggie is in his ‘finest creation since Dead Man Walking,’ and librettist Gene Scheer adaptation is ‘a vibrant, compelling piece of musical theater’ (San Francisco Chronicle).
Watch the video on YouTube.
Purchase the DVD here.
Believing that the creation of art should mark every special occasion, OPERA America commissioned the OPERA America Songbook in celebration of the opening of the National Opera Center in September 2012. Composers with strong ties to the organization were invited to write a song for voice and piano on the theme of opening a new home, the joy of singing or the excitement of new beginnings. This collection of songs represents the distinctive voices of some of today’s most important established and emerging opera composers. Produced by OPERA America, the Songbook was recorded, edited and mastered at Gurari Studios in New York City in the summer of 2012.
Both audio recordings and a published collection are available for the Songbook.
Purchase recordings from ITunes.
Purchase sheet music from Hal Leonard.
The Silk Road Ensemble with Yo-Yo Ma have released A Playlist without Borders–a CD and DVD celebrating the group’s 15th anniversary. The CD features David Bruce’s Cut the Rug, commissioned by the ensemble. Cut the Rug will feature in their Carnegie Hall 15th anniversary celebration concert on October 16th
The San Diego Symphony will premiere David Bruce’s Night Parade, a 12 minute work for full orchestra, this October 4th, in San Diego’s Copley Hall, before bringing the work to Carnegie Hall on 29th Oct and to Beijing’s National Center for the Performing Arts on November 8th as part of their first ever international tour.
