“In the 25 years since the Tucson Symphony Orchestra started its Young Composers Project it has never commissioned an alumnus to write a new work. Until now,” writes Cathalena Burch in Monday’s (2/12) Arizona Daily Star (Tucson, AZ). “Last year, the orchestra, to celebrate the inaugural season of its new conductor José Luis Gomez, commissioned a YCP alumnus to compose a special work for this weekend’s Classics concert. The orchestra … will perform the world premiere of Anthony Constantino’s ‘Luminosity’s Witness.’ … Constantino, 23 … is now studying for his master’s/Ph.D. at the University of California at Los Angeles.… Constantino [talked] about … the thrill of writing a piece for his hometown orchestra.… ‘When Mark Blakeman was the [TSO] president, they asked me to come in and talk to them. They pitched a commission and they wanted it to be about Tucson.… For me the first thing that came to mind is the great sunsets. My parents’ house is kind of on top of a hill and as a kid I would watch the sunsets. Having lived on the East Coast and West Coast, I have never seen sunsets like the ones we have in Tucson.’ ”
Posted February 13, 2018
