“With orchestral commissions hard to come by, few composers are likely to look a gift horse in the mouth,” writes Lara Pellegrinelli in Sunday’s (6/7) New York Times. “But that doesn’t mean they can’t be taken aback. ‘They were pretty much the last people I expected to approach me for a commission,’ Missy Mazzoli said of a recent request from the League of Composers/International Society for Contemporary Music that she create a work for its 2010-11 concert season. For one thing, the league’s orchestra, for which the piece was requested, has yet to make its debut. … The Orchestra of the League of Composers/I.S.C.M. (as it is known everywhere) will first perform on Wednesday, conducted by Louis Karchin at the Miller Theater. At a time when other arts organizations are struggling to stay afloat and in many cases curtailing their activities, starting an orchestra and handing out commissions may seem counterintuitive, if not perilous. But these bold endeavors show an old, established organization undergoing profound changes to ensure a viable future.” Wednesday’s program includes works by Britten, Carter, Christopher Dietz, Alvin Singleton, Stravinsky, Julia Wolfe, and Charles Wuorinen.
Posted June 8, 2009
