The Boston Modern Orchestra Concert to Hold Tribute to American Composers

The Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP), 2016 Musical America Ensemble of the Year, begins its 21st season advocating for the best in contemporary and 20th century orchestral music. On Saturday, October 8, at Jordan Hall, BMOP presents distinctive and exciting symphonic works by four prominent voices that have helped to shape the American concert scene over the past three-quarters of a century: The Schubert Birds by Michael Colgrass; Symphony Concertante by Gail Kubik, featuring soloists Terry Everson (trumpet), Jing Peng (viola), and Vivian Choi (piano), and Partita in C by Harold Shapero featuring Vivian Choi (piano). Highlighting the evening's program is Steven Stucky's Chamber Concerto: a special tribute to one of new music's leading champions.

"We are very excited to kick-start our 21st season with music by American masters," says Gil Rose, Artistic Director and Conductor of BMOP. "This season opening concert concentrates on national character and the American experience. In spite of certain European models, these works remain fundamentally American in sound and philosophy."

The evening's program begins with The Schubert Birds (1989) by Pulitzer Prize winning composer, percussionist, and author Michael Colgrass (b.1932). Colgrass describes the work as a concerto for orchestra based on the music of early 19th century composer Franz Schubert and 20th-century jazz saxophonist Charlie "Bird" Parker. Colgrass interprets Schubert and Parker as kindred spirits who infused their music and music making with a similar lyricism and irrepressible personal character. Colgrass brings the two musicians together by combining a Parker-style bluesy variation with permutations of Schubert's Kupelweiser Waltz melody. According to Musical America, The Schubert Birds "is ultimately a multifaceted, thought-provoking, even disturbing work that bears repeated listening."

Symphony Concertante (1952) earned Gail Thompson Kubik (1914-84) the 1952 Pulitzer Prize for Music. Exuberant, rhythmically vibrant, and colorfully orchestrated, it is a perfect example of Kubik's witty, Neoclassical style. A composer for the concert hall and motion picture screen, as well as a violinist and teacher, Kubik profoundly influenced American music and its use in the cinema. Partita in C for piano and orchestra (1960) by composer Harold Shapero (1920-2013) is an idiosyncratic mix of Stravinskyan aesthetic and a diatonic American accent. A Massachusetts native, Shapero was a central figure of American Neoclassicism, a school of composition that thrived in the 1940s and 50s. At a time when many American composers were exploring complex methods and procedures, especially 12-tone technique, Shapero was fascinated by the meeting of disparate techniques, as well as the astringent harmonies of Stravinsky.

Concluding the program is Chamber Concerto (2010) by Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Steven Stucky (1949-2016). According to the Star Tribune, "Chamber Concerto is lyrical, colorful, atmospheric and, in its dark Largo section, gripping; it also manages to evade the self-congratulatory quality that bedevils scores written to exhibit the virtuosity of their players." Much of Stucky's music reflects his identity as an American composer in its subject matter, sense of place, and style. According to the Orange County Register, he "seems always to have something concrete to say." In addition to being a consummate orchestral composer, Stucky was an indefatigable educator and champion of new music. His association with BMOP began in 2010 with the performance of Stucky's American Muse, followed by his Concerto for Orchestra in 2014.BMOP continues to honor Stucky with the upcoming CD Steven Stucky: American Muse (TBR 11.2016) on the BMOP/sound record label.

About BMOP

The Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP) is the premier orchestra in the United States dedicated exclusively to commissioning, performing, and recording music of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. A unique institution of crucial artistic importance to today's musical world, BMOP exists to disseminate exceptional orchestral music of the present and recent past via performances and recordings of the highest caliber. Founded by Artistic Director Gil Rose in 1996, BMOP has championed composers whose careers span nine decades.

Each season, Rose brings BMOP's award-winning orchestra, renowned soloists, and influential composers to the stage of New England Conservatory's historic Jordan Hall in a series that offers orchestral programming of unmatched diversity. The musicians of BMOP are consistently lauded for the energy, imagination, and passion with which they infuse the music of the present era. For more information, please visit BMOP.org.

(Photo Credit: Liz Linder)