Atl Symphony Releases Second Recording on ASO Media

Today, Tuesday, June 28, 2011, the Grammy® Award-winning Atlanta Symphony Orchestra released its second recording on its record label, ASO Media. Distributed by Naxos of America, this release features Music Director Robert Spano leading the Orchestra in Atlanta School of Composers member Christopher Theofanidis's Symphony No. 1 and the late Peter Leiberson's Neruda Songs with mezzosoprano Kelley O'Connor.

Mr. Theofanidis's Symphony No. 1 was commissioned by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra with the
generous participation of the Savannah Music Festival and the Immanuel & Helen Olshan Texas Music Festival. Mr. Spano led the world premiere at Atlanta Symphony Hall in April 2009.
Ms. O'Connor was the first artist to perform Mr. Lieberson's Neruda Songs after the death of his wife, Lorraine Hunt Lieberson. She has since performed the work with numerous orchestras around the world, including the Chicago Symphony, Berlin Philharmonic, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and in Edinburgh, Scotland, in April 2011, the week following the composer's death. Mr. Spano led Ms. O'Connor in the work at Atlanta Symphony Hall last summer in June 2010. Of their ongoing collaboration, she has said: "Whenever I perform with Robert Spano, it is as if we are composingthe music at that exact moment. Yes, it existed before, but this is our version; we lovingly create it together and send it out into the world. There is a certain intimacy in performance that comes from sharing a musical language, and it is so special when the audience joins us in this experience."

The Orchestra's inaugural release on ASO Media, which was launched in February 2011, featured Mr. Spano leading the Orchestra in Atlanta School of Composers member, and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer, Jennifer Higdon's new concerto, On A Wire, featuring the chamber ensemble eighth blackbird. A new choral work of Michael Gandolfi, also an Atlanta School member, was on this recording - his QED: Engaging Richard Feynman highlights the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chorus, which celebrated its 40th anniversary during the 2010-11 season. Both works were commissioned by the Atlanta Symphony, and given world-premiere performances in June 2010 at Atlanta Symphony Hall.

The third release on ASO Media is scheduled to arrive in fall 2011, and will include two works by
Rachmaninov: Piano Concerto No. 3 with Garrick Ohlsson, and Symphonic Dances.
The ASO Media label is one of the many legacies of Mr. Spano's tenure with the Atlanta Symphony
Orchestra. The 2010-11 season, which marked his 10th year as Music Director, also celebrated the
10th anniversary of the Atlanta School of Composers, a continuing commitment by Mr. Spano and the Orchestra to nurture and champion contemporary music through multi-year partnerships with a new generation of American composers, including Michael Gandolfi, Osvaldo Golijov, Jennifer Higdon, Christopher Theofanidis, and Adam Schoenberg. Since the beginning of Mr. Spano's tenure in 2001, he and the Orchestra have performed more than 100 concerts featuring contemporary works (composed since 1950).

ASO Media is the latest in a growing list of American orchestras to bring their own labels to Naxos for distribution.