Jennifer Higdon. Photo by Andrew Bogard.
In Monday’s (4/6) Syracuse.com (NY), Linda Loomis writes, “Jennifer Higdon’s Concerto for Orchestra and Cello, commissioned especially for cellist Julian Schwarz, will be performed by him and The Syracuse Orchestra on May 9. It will be conducted by his father, Gerard Schwarz. It’s Higdon’s 17th concerto, but will be the first to involve a father and son collaboration…. The concerto is having its world premiere in Upstate New York, with its second presentation taking place … with The Syracuse Orchestra. Schwarz performed it with the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra in April … In the 2007–08 season, the League of American Orchestras ranked [Higdon’s “blue cathedral”] as the most frequently played piece composed in the preceding 25 years…. The seed for the new cello concerto was planted several years ago when Higdon and Julian’s father … conductor Gerard Schwarz, had a discussion at the Frost School of Music in Miami … He asked Higdon to consider writing a cello concerto for his son. Cellist Schwarz said the new work is innovative…. ‘I am especially excited about this given my long-standing relationship with the players in Syracuse. The writing of the concerto will allow me to feel like I am playing chamber music with friends,’ he said.”
