“Scottish composer James MacMillan is the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s composer of the year in the upcoming season,” writes Elizabeth Bloom in Sunday’s (1/31) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Also planned by Music Director Manfred Honeck are “programs centered on several ‘musical cities,’ including Rome, New York, Paris, St. Petersburg, Prague and Los Angeles; a two-week Vienna festival in April 2017 with pianists Rudolf Buchbinder and Till Fellner; and a Brahms symphony cycle.… Three of [MacMillan]’s works—including the U.S. premiere of his Symphony No. 4, a PSO co-commission—will be scattered throughout the season…. [PSO] oboist Cynthia Koledo DeAlmeida, violist Randolph Kelly and timpanist/percussionist Edward Stephan … will be showcased in several concerts. The orchestra continues to experiment with inventive approaches to the concert experience. One program will offer a semi-staged performance of Haydn’s ‘The Creation,’ directed by Sam Helfrich, and another will pair Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, ‘From the New World,’ with NASA footage.” The orchestra will continue its annual reading of works by young composers from area universities. Soloists scheduled to perform in 2016-17 include violinists Midori, Simone Porter, Gil Shaham, and Pinchas Zukerman; cellist Maximilian Hornung; and pianists Behzod Abduraimov, Helene Grimaud, Jon Kimura Parker, and Francesco Piemontesi.
Posted February 2, 2016
