Nashville Symphony Reaches Kickstarter Goal to Record New Album

Nashville Symphony has successfully reached its $15,500 Kickstarter campaign goal to record the music of composer Joan Tower. Thanks to generous assistance from classical music fans in Nashville and around the world, the orchestra will record two Tower works, Violin Concerto and Stroke, live in concert 8 p.m. November 21-23 at Schermerhorn Symphony Center. The performance is part of the Nashville Symphony's Aegis Sciences Classical Series and will be released on the Naxos label next year. Tickets start at $25, and the public is invited to be a part of the experience.

"We couldn't have done this recording project without the support of our fans both near and far," says Nashville Symphony Music Director Giancarlo Guerrero. "Ever since its founding in 1946, the Nashville Symphony has put a special emphasis on the music of living American composers, and our continued focus on keeping classical music relevant for today's audiences fits perfectly with our role as Music City's hometown orchestra. We are proud to be one of the many artists creating new and exciting music every day in this amazing community."

Tower's first recording with the Nashville Symphony, Made in America, earned three GRAMMY Awards in 2008, and this new recording builds on the composer's productive relationship with the orchestra. In addition to performing two recent works by Tower, the Nashville Symphony will also perform Beethoven's Symphony No. 3, popularly known as the Eroica Symphony. Though the Beethoven piece is not intended for a future release, Guerrero explains, "placing these newer works alongside one of the greatest pieces of music ever written shows just how powerful Tower's own music is, and just how effectively it speaks to today's audiences."

In addition to support from Nashville Symphony fans on Kickstarter, the forthcoming Joan Tower recording is made possible in part by the Women's Philharmonic Advocacy Performance Grants, concert sponsor Bradley Arant Boult Cummings and series sponsor Aegis Sciences Corporation.