The Impact of A.I. and Digital Tech on Music
Topic: Premieres / Repertoire / Commissions
New Works by Wang Jie Performed by Lviv Philharmonic
Henderson Symphony to Perform “Black Panther” Film Score Live at Free Screening
Review: Boston Symphony at Tanglewood, with Recent Works, Classics, Renée Fleming Stepping In
Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra and Its Music Director Take a Final Bow
Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra Broadens Repertoire—and Audiences
What Makes Symphonies So Great?
Tanglewood’s 2023 Festival of Contemporary Music Curated by Reena Esmail, Gabriela Frank, Tebogo Monnakgotla, and Anna Thorvaldsdottir
In Tuesday’s (7/25) Berkshire Edge (Massachusetts), David Noel Edwards writes, “One of the world’s premier showcases for new concert music, Tanglewood’s annual Festival of Contemporary Music, highlights works of pathbreaking young composers as well as respected pieces from the 20th century’s new music vanguard. The festival gives Tanglewood Music Center fellows a chance to collaborate directly with living composers and to experience the rewards and challenges of engaging with their latest compositions. Curators of this year’s festival are Reena Esmail, Gabriela Lena Frank, Tebogo Monnakgotla, and Anna Thorvaldsdottir. Kicking off the festival … on Thursday, July 27 at 1 p.m., Tanglewood Music Center’s Head of Composition Program Michael Gandolfi interviews the composers about how they curated the festival, with each program representative of their sound worlds…. Since its inception in 1964, the Festival of Contemporary Music has encouraged composers and their audiences to push limits and challenge conventions…. [It was] conceived as a means of rejuvenating the Boston Symphony Orchestra’s repertoire and that of other American ensembles.” The article discusses each of this year’s composers and the works they selected. Tanglewood’s Festival of Contemporary Music runs July 27-31.
Alexandria Symphony Orchestra to Mark 80th Anniversary Season with Premieres, Classics, and Local Focus
In Tuesday’s (7/25) Zebra (Alexandria, VA), Kevin Dauray writes, “The Alexandria Symphony Orchestra (ASO) is celebrating 80 years as a live music institution this year. Throughout their 2023-24 concert season, opening the end of September, ASO will highlight this … achievement with four commissioned compositions. ‘I am thrilled with the eclectic, multifaceted programs we are offering to celebrate the ASO’s 80th anniversary and to contribute to the 275th anniversary of the City of Alexandria in 2024,’ says [Music Director] James Ross…. The season and anniversary celebration begin Sept. 30 and Oct. 1 with ‘Toast (ASO at 80).’ Composer Lester Green, the special guest, accompanies the orchestra on keys to play Quinn Mason’s ‘Toast of the Town.’… In [November’s] ‘Tsenacomoco (ASO at 80),’ Native American composer Dawn Avery makes a connection between Alexandria’s own Native history and Dvořák’s exploration of Native and African-American musical styles…. ASO’s annual holiday concert will … feature a mix of traditional and contemporary music … February concerts include … Mozart’s Requiem … and a commissioned piece, ‘Aurora (ASO at 80)’ by Milad Yousufi … inspired by his experiences as a refugee from Afghanistan…. The commissioned piece [in April] is ‘Alexandria Shuffle (ASO at 80)’ by Jorge Amado.”
Jacksonville Symphony Associate Conductor Kevin Fitzgerald Honored at Mahler Competition
In Monday’s (7/24) News4Jax (Jacksonville, Florida), Jacksonville Symphony Associate Conductor Kevin Fitzgerald discussed his participation in the 2023 Gustav Mahler Competition in Bamberg, Germany, where he was awarded the prize for Best Performance of a Contemporary Piece. The competition was founded by the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra to assist young conductors at the start of their careers. Fitzgerald led the Bamberg Symphony in the world premiere of Bernd Richard Deutsch’s “Con Moto.” Fitzgerald has served as associate conductor of the Jacksonville Symphony since 2022; he is also assistant conductor at the Alabama Symphony Orchestra (2018 – present) and founder and music director of ÆPEX Contemporary Performance (2015 – present).