Composer Derrick Syke and Rochester Philharmonic Music Director Andreas Delfs rehearse Syke’s “To Seek is Jubilance,” part of the orchestra’s Voices of Today initiative.
In Friday’s (11/8) Rochester Beacon (New York), David Raymond writes, “When Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra music director Andreas Delfs gives the downbeat on Saturday night for the premiere of James Lee III’s ‘Sensational Dynamism,’ it will inaugurate a milestone in the orchestra’s history. Today, the RPO officially announces Voices of Today, a five-season multimedia initiative that will involve the orchestra intimately in creating, documenting, and disseminating contemporary American music through premieres, recordings, video, and podcasts. According to Delfs, Voices of Today … [will showcase] the diverse creative voices in the American concert music landscape while greatly raising the RPO’s profile. ‘So often, a new piece is commissioned, performed once or twice, and then is never heard from again,’ says the conductor. ‘With Voices of Today, we hope to create worthy pieces from the most diverse and exciting living composers and keep them alive.’ Voices of Today has been in the planning stages for several years, beginning with a gift from Stephen Ashley, an arts patron and RPO board member, in memory of his wife, Janice Ashley. The RPO’s Vice President of Artistic Planning and Operations, James Barry, recalls that Ashley wanted to support the orchestra’s creation and performance of contemporary music with ‘something transformative.’… Voices of Today has already resulted in a number of commissions premiered last season by the orchestra.”
