Orpheus Chamber Orchestra opens its season Oct. 8 at Carnegie Hall with a program of Stravinsky, Bach and Beethoven. The evening leads off with the world-premiere of Aaron Jay Kernis’ Concerto with Echoes.
Press and News
September 27, 2009
Orpheus Chamber Orchestra opens its 37th season Oct. 8 at Carnegie Hall with a program of Stravinsky, Bach and Beethoven. The evening leads off with the world-premiere of Aaron Jay Kernis’ Concerto with Echoes. Kernis recently discussed his new work, the latest installment in the Orchestra’s New Brandenburg commissioning project:
August 21, 2009
Variety and Laura Karpman talk about the how her Ask Your Mama and how it came to be; based on an epic 1961 poem by Langston Hughes, the 104-minute score boasts an eclectic lineup including opera star Jessye Norman, jazz singer Nnenna Freelon, hip-hop band the Roots, and the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra (George Manahan will conduct). Thanks to a recording Karpman discovered during her two years of research and writing, Hughes’ voice can be heard during portions of the show.
August 18, 2009
Although I don’t know Tchaikovsky from Brahms, the beauty of this festival is that I don’t have to. It’s about what you feel when the music starts, not about what you know. The combination of music, set against the canyonlands background is, in a word, stirring.
August 11, 2009
Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim visited the Merestead estate in Westchester County, which will soon be home to composers when the it becomes an expansion of Copland House in a public-private partnership between the County and Copland House.
This disc features three world-premiere recordings of the music of pianist/composer John Musto. It sometimes seems as if Musto had decided not to leave a single sound effect unexploited, and the players abet him with gleeful enjoyment. Clarinetist Derek Bermel, himself a composer, displays a dazzling brilliance; violinist Nicholas Kitchen, cellist Wilhelmina Smith, flutist and conductor Paul Lustig Dunkel, and pianist Michael Boriskin (who also wrote the program notes) stand out for their virtuosity.