At the New York Philharmonic’s world premiere of Courtney Bryan’s “Gathering Song” last spring, from left: conductor Leslie B. Dunner, librettist and director Tazewell Thompson, vocalist Ryan Speedo Green, and Courtney Bryan. Photo by Chris Lee.
In Tuesday’s (11/1) New York Times, Seth Colter Walls writes, “The name Courtney Bryan is not one that you’ll currently find on many recordings. Aside from two independently released, jazz-tilting albums from 2007 and 2010, precious little of this pianist and composer’s finely woven, adventurous music is available to hear widely. But you can expect that to change, beyond live performances including the premiere of Bryan’s chamber work ‘DREAMING (Freedom Sounds),’ presented by the International Contemporary Ensemble at Merkin Hall on Wednesday. She also recently signed with the influential music publisher Boosey & Hawkes, whose biography of her online includes the promise of a third recording: ‘Sounds of Freedom.’ Bryan, 41, who was born in New Orleans and received a MacArthur ‘genius’ grant earlier this month, has been making her mark since earning her doctorate in composition from Columbia University in 2014. Symphony orchestras, chamber musicians, vocal groups and jazz performers have all been drawn to her sound. Last spring, the New York Philharmonic premiere of ‘Gathering Song,’ with text by the stage director Tazewell Thompson and hints of post-bop jazz harmony, displayed her place among the most exciting voices in contemporary American music.”
Bryan participated in the League of American Orchestras’ Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation Orchestral Commissions Program in 2018. Commissioned by the League, with the support of the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation, her work Rejoice was premiered by the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and Music Director Carlos Miguel Prieto in November of 2019.
