NY Philharmonic Earns ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming

The New York Philharmonic is to be honored today with two 2009-10 ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming at the League of American Orchestras' Annual Meeting at its 65th National Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. The Philharmonic will receive the Award for American Programming on Foreign Tours, and a First Place Award for Programming of Contemporary Music.

The Orchestra will receive $3,000 and a plaque recognizing its commitment to new-music programming. In 2009-10, Alan Gilbert's inaugural season as Music Director, the Philharmonic played
a variety of new and contemporary works both on tour and at home. In January, following three performances in Avery Fisher Hall, the Philharmonic took John Adams's The Wound-Dresser, featuring baritone Thomas Hampson, The Mary and James G. Wallach Artist-in-Residence, on its EUROPE / WINTER 2010 tour. The poignant 1989 work, set to a Walt Whitman poem about his experiences visiting wounded Civil War soldiers in Washington, D.C., was performed for audiences in Barcelona, Madrid, Dortmund, Cologne, Paris, and London. Also performed was Bernstein's "Lonely Town Pas de Deux" from On the Town.

Compositions by Samuel Barber and John Philip Sousa were among the works performed on the Asian Horizons tour in October 2009. Also this season, the New York Philharmonic launched the Marie-Josée Composer-in- Residence position, currently held by Magnus Lindberg, and a new music series entitled CONTACT! - two of Alan Gilbert's new initiatives in his first season with the Orchestra. Among the many World Premiere-New York Philharmonic Commissions were Mr. Lindberg's EXPO, which was first performed on Opening Night and subsequently played on subscription concerts and on Asian Horizons (October 2009) and EUROPE / WINTER 2010 TOURS; Mr. Lindberg's Al largo, also a World Premiere- New York Philharmonic Commission, will be performed June 23-24 and 26 on the Orchestra's final subscription program of the 2009-10 season. Other World Premiere- New York Philharmonic Commissions included Christopher Rouse's Odna Zhizn, and
works by CONTACT! composers Marc-André Dalbavie, Arthur Kampela, Lei Liang, Nico Muhly, Matthias Pintscher, Sean Shepherd, and Arlene Sierra. Among the season highlights was the fully staged, widely acclaimed New York premiere of Le Grand Macabre, the only opera by the late György Ligeti, directed and designed by Doug Fitch, produced by Edouard Getaz, with the production created by Giants Are Small, featuring a large cast of opera and concert stars.

The League and ASCAP present the awards each year to orchestras of all sizes for programs that challenge the audience, build the repertoire, and increase interest in music of our time. More than a million dollars have been bestowed on orchestras since the awards were established in 1947.

"The New York Philharmonic is proud to receive these distinguished ASCAP awards," said President and Executive Director Zarin Mehta. "They are an acknowledgement of Alan Gilbert's commitment to bring adventurous programming and wide-ranging musical styles in interesting contexts to foreign audiences, and to support and encourage contemporary composers at home, creating a welcoming environment for exciting new works."

New York Philharmonic
Founded in 1842, the New York Philharmonic is the oldest symphony orchestra in the United States and one of the oldest in the world; on May 5, 2010, it performed its 15,000th concert. The Orchestra has always played a leading role in American musical life, championing the music of its time, and is renowned around the globe, having appeared in 429 cities in 62 countries, including the February 2008 historic visit to Pyongyang, DPRK. The Philharmonic's concerts are broadcast on the weekly syndicated radio program, The New York Philharmonic This Week and streamed on the Orchestra's Website, nyphil.org and are telecast annually on Live From Lincoln Center on U.S. public television. The Philharmonic has made nearly 2,000 recordings since 1917, with more than 500 currently available. The first major American orchestra to offer downloadable concerts, recorded live, the Philharmonic this season released the first-ever classical iTunes Pass. The Orchestra has built on the long-running Young People's Concerts® to develop a wide range of education programs, including the School Partnership Program, enriching music education in New York City, and Learning Overtures, fostering international exchange. Alan Gilbert became Music Director in
September 2009, succeeding Lorin Maazel in a distinguished line of musical giants.

Credit Suisse is the New York Philharmonic's exclusive Global Sponsor.

ASCAP
Established in 1914, ASCAP is the first U.S. Performing Rights Organization (PRO) representing the world's largest repertory totaling over 8.5 million copyrighted musical works of every style and genre from more than 380,000 songwriter, composer and music publisher members. ASCAP protects the rights of its members and foreign affiliates by licensing the public performances of their copyrighted works and distributing royalties based upon surveyed performances. ASCAP is the only American PRO owned and governed by its writer and publisher members. ASCAP has representation arrangements with similar foreign organizations so that the ASCAP repertory is represented in nearly every country around the world where copyright law exists. Visit ascap.com to learn more.