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Peter Boyer

Boyer RHAPSODY IN RED, WHITE & BLUE to be premiered in all 50 states

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The Rhapsody in Red, White & Blue project by composer Peter Boyer and pianist Jeffrey Biegel continues to expand its reach, securing performance commitments from 54 orchestras in all 50 of the United States. In addition, reaching beyond the United States to achieve an international presence, Boyer and Biegel recorded the new Rhapsody with the world-renowned London Symphony Orchestra for the acclaimed Naxos American Classics Series. Naxos will release this recording on February 23, 2024, with a two-week exclusive period for Apple Music beginning February 9, 2024.

Biegel, a prolific pianist with an extraordinary record of commissioning new works for piano and orchestra, commissioned Boyer to compose this new work in celebration of the centennial of George Gershwin’s iconic Rhapsody in Blue (premiered February 12, 1924). Since 2020, Biegel has pursued a highly ambitious “Rhapsody National Initiative,” with the goal of performing Boyer’s new work with at least one orchestra in each of the 50 United States. As of January 2024, this remarkable vision has been fulfilled, and Boyer’s new Rhapsody will be performed by orchestras in all 50 states by the 2026-27 season (details below). This is believed to be an unprecedented feat for a new concerto by an American composer.

The Rhapsody in Red, White & Blue was recorded with Biegel as soloist, and Boyer conducting the London Symphony Orchestra at the famed AIR Studios, Lyndhurst Hall on November 27, 2023. Simon Rhodes, Senior Engineer at Abbey Road Studios, known for his work on projects such as the first two Harry Potter film scores, the Avatar film scores, and hundreds of classical albums and other film scores, was producer and engineer for the recording. Naxos will release the Rhapsody recording on February 23, 2024.This is Boyer’s fourth recording for the American Classics Series, and his third recording with the LSO as composer and conductor. (Photos by Benjamin Ealovega)

Boyer’s ca. 18-minute Rhapsody was premiered on June 30, 2023, with Biegel and the Utah Symphony conducted by Benjamin Manis, on the opening night of the Deer Valley Music Festival in Park City, Utah. An outdoor audience of more than 3,000 rewarded the new work with a prolonged standing ovation — a reaction which has been repeated by audiences at each subsequent performance, by nine different orchestras to date.

The following orchestras and conductors are participating in the “Rhapsody National Initiative” (as of 1/17/24):

01 Aberdeen University/Civic Symphony (SD), Christopher Stanichar, conductor
02 Arapahoe Philharmonic (CO), Devin Patrick Hughes, conductor
03 Augusta Symphony Orchestra (GA), Dirk Meyer, conductor
04 Brevard Symphony Orchestra (FL), Christopher Confessore, conductor
05 Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra (NY), Stuart Chafetz, conductor
06 Butler Philharmonic (OH), Scott Woodard, conductor
07 Central Ohio Symphony (OH), Jaime Morales-Matos, conductor
08 Duluth Superior Symphony Orchestra (MN), Dirk Meyer, conductor
09 East Tennessee Symphony Orchestra (TN), Jeremy Francisco, conductor
10 Endless Mountain Music Festival (PA), Stephen Gunzenhauser, conductor
11 Evanston Symphony Orchestra (IL), Lawrence Eckerling, conductor
12 Fargo-Moorhead Symphony Orchestra (ND), Christopher Zimmerman, conductor
13 Fairfax Symphony Orchestra (VA), Christopher Zimmerman, conductor
14 Greater Bridgeport Symphony (CT), conductor TBD
15 Gulf Coast Symphony (FL), Andrew Kurtz, conductor
16 Idaho State Civic Symphony (ID), Nell Flanders, conductor
17 Juneau Symphony (AK), Christopher Koch, conductor
18 Kamuela Philharmonic (HI), Brian Dollinger, conductor
19 Lake Washington Symphony Orchestra (WA), Michael Miropolsky, conductor
20 Las Cruces Symphony (NM), Ming Luke, conductor
21 Lubbock Symphony Orchestra (TX), David Cho, conductor
22 Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra (DE, MD), Michael Repper, conductor
23 Mid-Texas Symphony (TX), Akiko Fujimoto, conductor
24 Missoula Symphony Orchestra (MT), Julia Tai, conductor
25 The Missouri Symphony (MO), Wilbur Lin, conductor
26 Montgomery Symphony Orchestra (AL), Jamie Reeves, conductor
27 Muscatine Symphony Orchestra (IA), Brian Dollinger, conductor
28 New England Music Camp (ME), Simon Gollo, conductor
29 New Hampshire Philharmonic Orchestra (NH), Mark Latham, conductor
30 New Jersey Youth Symphony (NJ), Helen Cha-Pyo, conductor
31 North Charleston Pops (SC), Nick Palmer, conductor
32 North Mississippi Symphony Orchestra (MS), Steven Byess, conductor
33 Orchestra Omaha (NE), Kenneth Meints, conductor
34 Pacific Symphony (CA), Carl St.Clair, conductor
35 Paducah Symphony Orchestra (KY), Raffaele Ponti, conductor
36 Peninsula Music Festival (WI), Rune Bergmann, conductor
37 Rhode Island Philharmonic Orchestra (RI), Aram Demirjian, conductor
38 Rogue Valley Symphony (OR), Martin Majkut, conductor
39 Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestra (WA), Juan Felipe Molano, conductor
40 Shreveport Symphony (LA), Michael Butterman, conductor
41 Signature Symphony (OK), Scott Seaton, conductor
42 South Arkansas Symphony Orchestra (AK), Kermit Poling, conductor
43 South Bend Symphony Orchestra (IN), Alastair Willis, conductor
44 Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra (AZ), Linus Lerner, conductor
45 Southwest Symphony (UT), Lucas Darger, conductor
46 Springfield Symphony Orchestra (MA), Peter Boyer, conductor
47 Traverse Symphony Orchestra (MI), Kevin Rhodes, conductor
48 UNLV Symphony Orchestra (NV), Taras Krysa, conductor
49 Utah Symphony (UT), Benjamin Manis, conductor
50 Vermont Youth Orchestra (VT), Mark Alpízar, conductor
51 Western Piedmont Symphony (NC), Matthew Troy, conductor
52 West Virginia State Philharmonic Orchestra (WV), Scott Woodard, conductor
53 Wichita Symphony Orchestra (KS), Daniel Hege, conductor
54 Wyoming Symphony Orchestra (WY), Christopher Dragon, conductor

The commission of Boyer’s Rhapsody in Red, White & Blue was made possible through a generous consortium of sponsors. The Billy Rose Foundation was the lead sponsor of the commission, and the exclusive sponsor of the recording.

The score is available for purchase here.

Peter Boyer commissioned to celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III

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Peter Boyer has been commissioned to compose a new work to celebrate the Coronation of King Charles III. The commission is from ORA Singers and their Artistic Director and founder, Suzi Digby OBE. The premiere will be part of a Coronation Celebration at St. Paul’s Church, Covent Garden (“The Actors’ Church”), London, on May 3, 2023, three days before the Coronation.

Boyer’s new work, titled Today We Ask, sets text written specially for the occasion by Welsh poet Grahame Davies, known for his collaborations with composers such as Karl Jenkins and Paul Mealor. In addition to ORA Singers, Boyer’s new work calls for brass quintet and timpani.

The concert will feature music from Coronations and Royal occasions through four centuries, including works by Byrd, Purcell, Handel, and Vaughan Williams, and such contemporary masters as John Rutter, Judith Weir, James MacMillan, and Bob Chilcott. ORA Singers will be joined by the renowned actor Simon Callow CBE (Amadeus, Shakespeare in Love), reading first-hand accounts of Coronations across the centuries.

More information is available from St. Paul’s, Covent Garden and ORA Singers.

New Boyer CD instantly hits the top of the charts

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Naxos Releases Recording of Composer Peter Boyer with the London Symphony Orchestra

Boyer’s fourth album features Balance of Power, commissioned by the Kennedy Center; Fanfare for Tomorrow, commissioned for President Biden’s inauguration; and other premiere recordings, conducted by the composer.

On July 8, 2022, Naxos releases American composer/conductor Peter Boyer’s newest recording, with the London Symphony Orchestra under his direction. The album includes eight of Boyer’s works, with six world premiere recordings.

The centerpiece of the album is Balance of Power, a three-movement, 19-minute work commissioned by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in honor of the 95th birthday of Henry Kissinger, former U.S. Secretary of State. The National Symphony Orchestra premiered Balance of Power at the Kennedy Center in September 2021. The recording also features Fanfare for Tomorrow, commissioned and premiered by the U.S. Marine Band at the inauguration of President Joseph Biden, in a new orchestral version.

The album includes two works originally commissioned and recorded by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra as the Cincinnati Pops: Rolling River (Sketches on “Shenandoah”), a setting of the American folk tune, and In the Cause of the Free, on the theme of Veterans Day. Additional works include Curtain Raiser, an exuberant opener; Elegy for English horn, harp and strings; Fanfare, Hymn and Finale, originally commissioned for the 220th anniversary of the U.S. Marine Band; and Radiance, a string orchestra work composed especially for this recording.

“It was truly a thrill to record this new album of my music with the London Symphony Orchestra, one of the world’s greatest orchestras,” said Boyer. “Speaking as both a composer and conductor, one could not ask for a finer or more versatile ensemble. The glorious sound of the LSO has been part of my life since I was young, both through their work on iconic film scores including Star Wars and so many others, and through their incredible legacy of recordings.”

This is Boyer’s third album in the Naxos American Classics Series, following his GRAMMY-nominated Ellis Island: The Dream of America with the Philharmonia Orchestra, and his Symphony No. 1 with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Boyer stated: “I’m delighted to have my work included again in a series which features many of the greatest American composers—from Copland, Gershwin, Barber, Bernstein, Ellington, and Ives to contemporary giants such as Adams and Corigliano. It’s certainly meaningful to be in such musical company.”

Recorded at London’s Henry Wood Hall with more than 90 musicians, the album was produced by Simon Rhodes, Senior Engineer at Abbey Road Studios and four-time GRAMMY winner, whose credits include some 200 film scores for composers including John Williams, James Horner, and Thomas Newman.

Boyer’s debut recording as composer/conductor was with the LSO at Abbey Road Studios in 2001, for The Music of Peter Boyer, originally released by Koch International Classics. After more than twenty years, tracks from that recording continue to be broadcast widely on American classical radio.

Photos by Benjamin Ealovega

Order the CD here.

Boyer’s ELLIS ISLAND 20th Anniversary

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20 years after its premiere performance, Peter Boyer’s Ellis Island: The Dream of America has established itself as an enduring tribute to the foundation of America and its multi-national roots. With text compiled by Boyer from the Ellis Island Oral History Project, Ellis Island is a 45 minute work for 7 actors and orchestra, with stunning visual projections that are used in conjunction with performances. The work has had over 250 performances by more than 100 orchestras throughout the country, has been recorded with the composer conducting, was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2006, and has featured some of our country’s greatest actors.

In 2017, the Pacific Symphony gave a unique performance, conducted by Carl St. Clair, that was broadcast on PBS’ Great Performances.

For further information about the work, please click here.

To request a rental quote, please click here.

To purchase a score, please click here.

Boyer Fanfare for Tomorrow at Biden/Harris’ inauguration

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Fanfare for Tomorrow, was performed as part of the one-hour Prelude music of the Inauguration ceremony, conducted by the Marine Band’s Director, Colonel Jason K. Fettig.

“The President’s Own” United States Marine Band, America’s oldest continuously active musical organization, is believed to have made its inaugural debut in 1801 for Thomas Jefferson, the first President to be inaugurated in Washington, D.C., and to have performed at all subsequent Inaugurations. Since premiering Boyer’s work Fanfare, Hymn and Finale in 2018, commissioned to celebrate the Marine Band’s 220th anniversary, this superb ensemble has performed my music nearly 25 times, including on their 2018 and 2019 tours.

Fanfare for Tomorrow began as a brief piece for solo French horn, originally commissioned by the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestra last year, as part of their Fanfare Project in response to the pandemic. Boyer significantly expanded and developed that music for a full concert band for this commission (with an orchestra version to follow).

Read the NY Times article about the inaugural program.

The score and parts to Fanfare for Tomorrow are available for purchase here.

There is also an orchestra version, which is available on rental.

Peter Boyer Featured at BMI

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This month BMI features Peter Boyer’s story about his career as a composer, interviewed here by Deirdre Chadwick.

Boyer’s Ellis Island: The Dream of America continues to find new audiences as its message about the essence of what makes America so profoundly unique and great resonates even more today than when it was written in 2002. It has been performed over 200 times by nearly 100 orchestras, and was recently featured on PBS’ Great Performances, with the Pacific Symphony.

Peter Boyer to receive the Ellis Island Medal of Honor

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The Ellis Island Honors Society (EIHS) has announced that Peter Boyer will be among the recipients of the 2019 Ellis Island Medal of Honor, a highly prestigious annual award which is officially recognized by the United States Congress.

As described on the website of the EIHS: “The Ellis Island Medals of Honor are presented annually to a select group of individuals whose accomplishments in their field and inspired service to our nation are cause for celebration. The Medal has been officially recognized by both Houses of Congress as one of our nation’s most prestigious awards, and is annually memorialized in the Congressional Record.”

Since the Ellis Island Medal of Honor was founded in 1986, it has been awarded to distinguished and diverse Americans, including Presidents Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan, as well as five additional Presidents of the United States. Past Medalists have included Vice President Joseph Biden, Senators John Glenn and John McCain, Supreme Court Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and William Rehnquist, Generals Colin Powell and Norman Schwarzkopf, and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel.

Other notable Medalists have included Buzz Aldrin, Muhammad Ali, Hon. Hillary Clinton, Walter Cronkite, Joe DiMaggio, Kirk Douglas, Olympia Dukakis, Michael Eisner, Gloria Estefan, Renée Fleming, Lee Iaccoca, Quincy Jones, Rita Moreno, Arnold Palmer, Rosa Parks, Gregory Peck, Itzhak Perlman, Chita Rivera, Martin Scorcese, Paul Simon, Frank Sinatra, Eli Wallach, and Barbara Walters, among many others.

The group of 2019 Medalists will include Paula Abdul, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, former Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt, IBM CEO Ginni Rometty, The Coca-Cola Company CEO Muhtar Kent, and former Morgan Stanley Chairman and CEO John J. Mack, among others.

The letter from the EIHS notifiying Boyer of his selection for the Medal of Honor specifically cited his work Ellis Island: The Dream of America, and its PBS Great Performances production with the Pacific Symphony.

The gala event will take place on May 11, 2019 at Ellis Island. More than 300 service members participate in an opening ceremony that includes a joint-service color guard representing all five branches of the military. The medals are presented during a black-tie dinner in the historic Great Hall.

Boyer stated: “I am truly overwhelmed to learn that I will be receiving the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. I’ve long been aware of the many distinguished Americans who have received this special recognition, and it’s touching to learn that I will join this group. I’m most grateful to Chairman Nasser Kazeminy and all the members of the Board of the Ellis Island Honors Society for their support of my work, which is deeply meaningful to me.”

For more information, please click here.

Great Performances presents Ellis Island

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THIRTEEN’s Great Performances Presents the U.S. Broadcast Premiere of Peter Boyer’s “Ellis Island: The Dream of America” with Pacific Symphony Friday, June 29 on PBS in Honor of  Immigrant Heritage Month

 

Features dramatic performances by Barry Bostwick, Camryn Manheim, Michael Nouri and other guest stars

THIRTEEN’s Great Performances and Pacific Symphony, led by Music Director Carl St.Clair, pay tribute to America’s history with a performance of composer Peter Boyer‘s “Ellis Island: The Dream of America,” a Grammy-nominated contemporary classical work celebrating the historic American immigrant experience. Great Performances – Ellis Island: The Dream of America with Pacific Symphony premieres nationwide Friday, June 29 at 10 p.m. on PBS (check local listings) in honor of Immigrant Heritage Month. It will be available to stream the following day via pbs.org/gperf and PBS apps.

Using texts from the Ellis Island Oral History Project and historic Ellis Island images in combination with an original orchestral score, “Ellis Island” features seven, first-hand stories of immigrants dramatically interpreted by guest stars Barry Bostwick, Camryn Manheim, Michael Nouri, Lesley Fera, Lucas Near-Verbrugghe, Samantha Sloyan and Kira Sternbach. Over 40 percent of the U.S. population can trace their ancestry through Ellis Island, and immigration remains at the forefront of global news. Great Performances – Ellis Island captures the emotions, elation and uncertainties of America’s epic immigrant experience.

The special was recorded by Great Performances at the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in 2017 during Pacific Symphony’s 17th American Composers Festival. Peter Boyer’s “Ellis Island: The Dream of America” premiered in 2002 to great acclaim. It has since received nearly 200 performances by more than 80 orchestras, and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Classical Contemporary Composition in 2005.

A co-production of Pacific Symphony and THIRTEEN Productions LLC for WNET in association with PBS SoCal, Great Performances – Ellis Island: The Dream of America with Pacific Symphony was directed for stage and television by Matthew Diamond and produced by John Walker; with Shawn Murphy as audio producer, production design by Matt Steinbrenner, lighting design by Bob Barnhart and projection design by Perry Freeze. For Great Performances, Bill O’Donnell is series producer and David Horn is executive producer.

Major funding for the program is provided by The Ellis Island Honors Society, The Hal and Jeanette Segerstrom Family Foundation, the Jewish Federation and Family Services of Orange County, Nasser and Yvonne Kazeminy, and Seth & Yasuko Siegel and Blossom Siegel.   Major funding for Great Performances is provided by the Anna-Maria and Stephen Kellen Arts Fund, The Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation, the Irene Diamond Fund, the LuEsther T. Mertz Charitable Trust, The Agnes Varis Trust, The Starr Foundation, the Kate W. Cassidy Foundation, The Philip and Janice Levin Foundation, Ellen and James S. Marcus, The Abra Prentice Foundation and PBS.

Great Performances is produced by THIRTEEN Productions LLC for WNET, one of America’s most prolific and respected public media providers. Throughout its more than 40-year history on public television, Great Performances has provided viewers across the country with an unparalleled showcase of the best in all genres of the performing arts, serving as America’s most prestigious and enduring broadcaster of cultural programming.

“A work of rare authenticity and directness”

Los Angeles Times

“A sweeping opus…Boyer’s masterwork”

The Buffalo News

“A searing emotional experience”

The Hartford Courant

Interested in performing Ellis Island? Request a rental quote here.

You can purchase a score here.

Visit the Ellis Island page for more information.

Read VARIETY’s piece on Peter Boyer

Boyer’s ELLIS ISLAND to be filmed for broadcast on Great Performances

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WNET. (PRNewsFoto/WNET)

Peter Boyer’s Grammy-nominated work Ellis Island: The Dream of America will be produced as a program for PBS’ Great Performances, America’s preeminent performing arts television series, with Pacific Symphony.

The Ellis Island performances with Pacific Symphony, conducted by Music Director Carl St.Clair, on April 7th and 8th, 2017 at the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall in Costa Mesa, from their annual American Composers Festival, will be filmed for a national broadcast debut on PBS’ Great Performances in the 2017-18 season, with subsequent broadcasts planned over the next three years.

The actors will be:

• Tony Award-winning Barry Bostwick (“Spin City,” “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” the original Broadway “Grease”)
• Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning Camryn Manheim (“The Practice,” “Ghost Whisperer,” “Elvis”)
• Michael Nouri (“Flashdance,” “The Proposal,” “Finding Forrester,” “Damages”)
• Lesley Fera (“Pretty Little Liars,” “24,” “CSI: Miami”)
• Samantha Sloyan (“Scandal,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Hush”)
• Lucas Near-Verbrugghe (“Our Idiot Brother,” “Lazy Eye”)
• Kira Sternbach (“Neighbors,” “My Normal”)

Each of these actors will read the words from one of the real American immigrant stories which Boyer adapted from the Ellis Island Oral History Project. All the actors will participate in the reading of “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus (“Give me your tired, your poor…”), the sonnet associated with the Statue of Liberty, which serves as the work’s Epilogue.

The producer of Ellis Island on Great Performances is John Walker, who has received fourteen Emmy nominations and two Emmy wins for his remarkable body of work. The director is Matthew Diamond, whose directing credits range from The Metropolitan Opera HD Live to The Wiz Live. The recording engineer will be Shawn Murphy, renowned for his work for composers such as John Williams and James Newton Howard.

Orchestras included in PBS’ Great Performances series in recent seasons have included some of the world’s finest: The New York Philharmonic, Los Angeles Philharmonic (their John Williams tribute), and Vienna Philharmonic. With this filming and later broadcast of Boyer’s Ellis Island, Pacific Symphony joins this elite company. This will be the first-ever national television broadcast from the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall.

Read The Orange County Register’s feature on Peter Boyer and Ellis Island.

Boyer’s SILVER FANFARE opens the 2016 Hollywood Bowl Season

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Boyer-Hwood-BowlPeter Boyer’s Silver Fanfare will open the Hollywood Bowl’s 2016 season, for the second year in a row, as the piece chosen to begin Opening Night at the Bowl with Steely Dan on June 18. The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, conducted by Thomas Wilkins, will perform Boyer’s work while a video montage from past Bowl Opening Nights is projected. Silver Fanfare also opened the 2015 Bowl season in the same fashion, at a sold-out gala concert headlined by iconic rock band Journey.

Hollywood Bowl - Opening Night 2015 - Show Photo by: Greg Grudt/Mathew Imaging

Hollywood Bowl – Opening Night 2015 – Show
Photo by: Greg Grudt/Mathew Imaging

Commissioned and premiered by the Pacific Symphony to celebrate its 25th anniversary season, Silver Fanfare has been performed by orchestras including the Boston Pops, Cincinnati Pops, and Nashville Symphony, and Boyer’s recording with the London Philharmonic Orchestra on Naxos has been broadcast extensively on American classical radio stations.