Fairfax Symphony Orchestra to Present Peter Boyer's RHAPSODY IN RED, WHITE, AND BLUE

The Fairfax Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Music Director Christopher Zimmerman, will present the Virginia premiere of Peter Boyer's Rhapsody in Red, White, and Blue, with piano soloist Jeffrey Biegel, on Sunday, June 9, 2024, at 4:00 p.m. at George Mason University's Center for the Arts. Biegel commissioned the work from Boyer to commemorate the 100th anniversary of George Gershwin's landmark masterwork Rhapsody in Blue, which is also on this concert program. This special program that honors the past and looks to the future of American classical music closes with Amy Beach's "Gaelic" Symphony. Biegel and Zimmerman discuss the new Rhapsody and its influences in a pre-concert talk at 3:00 p.m.

"Our season finale is a celebration of great American orchestral music, old and new, known and unknown," said Christopher Zimmerman, FSO conductor and music director. "The centerpiece is a brand-new piano concerto by the young American composer Peter Boyer, inspired by Gershwin's beloved "Rhapsody in Blue" with which it is paired. Again, we bring in the virtuoso performer for whom the piece was written, the great American pianist Jeffrey Biegel. The FSO ends its season with a performance of the only symphony written by unjustly neglected American composer Amy Beach. Written in 1894, this was the first symphony composed and published by a female American composer and it's a beauty! Inspired by other great composers of her time (e.g. Dvorak and Elgar) this music has irresistible power, charm, and beauty."

Rhapsody in Red, White, and Blue takes the form of a single multi-sectional movement - like Gershwin's original - that contains allusions to blues influences and depictions of iconic American vistas. Biegel gave the world premiere of the work in June 2023 with the Utah Symphony; he is currently in the midst of an ambitious Rhapsody National Initiative to perform it with at least one orchestra in all 50 states, a goal he is set to complete by the 2026-27 concert season. Biegel said of his vision..."why not celebrate being an American - celebrating our diversity through unity and celebrating Rhapsody in Blue with a new 'Rhapsody.'"

The Rhapsody National Initiative has been endorsed by numerous luminaries, including fellow pianists, orchestra executives, and George Gershwin's own nephew. Grammy Award-winning producer David Foster said of the project, "I can't wait to witness this incredible collaboration celebrating 100 years of one of the world's most treasured compositions, Rhapsody in Blue, with my dear friend Jeffrey Biegel at the piano. No one brings the essence of Gershwin and his genius more to our ear than J-man - as I like to call him. He, like Gershwin's music, is world class!"

Biegel has also recorded Rhapsody in Red, White, and Blue, with the composer himself conducting the London Symphony Orchestra. The recording will be released as part of the Naxos American Classics series on February 23, 2024, with pre-release exclusivity for Apple Music Classical on February 9.

DC-area audiences may be familiar with Boyer's work through recent local milestones. The prolific composer was commissioned by the United States Marine Band to write Fanfare for Tomorrow, which was premiered at the inauguration of President Joe Biden on January 20, 2021. The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts also commissioned Boyer's Balance of Power to commemorate the National Symphony Orchestra's 90th anniversary season in 2020-21. After the work received its premiere (delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic), The Washington Post commented that "the applause went on like a fourth movement."

Before introducing local audiences to Boyer's new American classic, Biegel also joins the FSO for the work that inspired it all: George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue, which was originally premiered on February 12, 1924 with Gershwin himself as soloist. Instantly recognizable from its clarinet glissando opening, Rhapsody in Blue ushered in a new era in American music history and is now one of the most popular concert works in the symphonic repertoire.

Amy Beach's "Gaelic" Symphony, premiered in 1986 when Beach was not even 30 years old, was the first-ever symphony composed and published by a female American composer. Beach drew inspiration from old English, Scottish, and Irish folk songs, which gave the work its subtitle. The symphony was well reviewed after its premiere and continues to receive praise from audiences and critics to this day.

ABOUT JEFFREY BIEGEL

Jeffrey Biegel's career reflects an unprecedented journey as a pianist having created the most diverse commissioning projects. 2020 focused on composing Waltzes of Hope, and Three Reflections: JFK, RBG and MLK for solo piano, and piano and orchestra. 2021 saw the premiere of his Reflection of Justice: An Ode to Ruth Bader Ginsburg with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and Ellen Taaffe Zwilich's Remembering Ruth Bader Ginsburg for mezzo-soprano, piano and orchestra, with mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves. In 2022, he premiered his own concerto, Three Reflections: Freedom (JFK), Justice (RBG), Equality (MLK). 2023 featured the premiere of Peter Boyer's Rhapsody in Red, White & Blue with the Utah Symphony. He plans to premiere Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Melissa Manchester's AWAKE for piano and orchestra in 2024-25 and will premiere a new piano concerto by Adolphus Hailstork with the Pacific Symphony. Kenneth Fuchs's Piano Concerto: "Spiritualist" with the London Symphony Orchestra led by JoAnn Falletta received a 2019 Grammy Award for Best Classical Compendium; and digital recordings were released on Mr. Biegel's Naturally Sharp label: Cyberecital: An Historic Recording, A Pianist's Journey, and the 2021 release of George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue 1924 version with the Adrian Symphony Orchestra, Bruce Kiesling conducting.

ABOUT Peter Boyer

Peter Boyer is one of the most frequently performed American orchestral composers of his generation. His works have received over 700 performances by more than 250 orchestras, and tens of thousands of broadcasts by classical radio stations around the United States and abroad. He has conducted recordings of his music with the London Symphony Orchestra, the Philharmonia Orchestra, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra. His Grammy-nominated major work Ellis Island: The Dream of America has received over 275 performances and was nationally televised with the Pacific Symphony on PBS' Great Performances. Boyer has received commissions from prestigious American institutions and ensembles, including the Kennedy Center for the National Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Pops, Cincinnati Pops, and "The President's Own" United States Marine Band, for the inauguration of President Biden.

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