American Composers Orchestra – Modern Yesterdays at Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall

The prolific American Composers Orchestra (ACO) performs brand-new commissions. Conducted by Daniela Candillari and featuring guitarist and composer Kaki King, this program includes new orchestral renderings by composer DJ Sparr of King’s guitar pieces, including her acclaimed album Modern Yesterdays, which “extends the guitar’s role in contemporary music to one of nearly limitless possibility without leaving the realm of deeply pleasurable listening” (AllMusic). These arrangements by DJ Sparr are truly a feat of sonic imagination and ingenuity since the intricate original pieces are not notated. Anchored by a 40-member orchestra, including musicians llmar Gavilan (Harlem Quartet), Edward W. Hardy (The Woodsman), Monica Ellis, Kevin Newton, and Brandon Patrick George (Imani Winds), the program will also include Floodplain, by 2019 Pulitzer Prize winner Ellen Reid, which describes a landscape in which reality shifts virtually overnight; Fate Now Conquers, by 2021 Sphinx Medal of Excellence recipient Carlos Simon, which draws inspiration from one of Beethoven’s journal entries to represent fate’s unpredictability; and a new work by ACO Underwood Commission winner Carlos Bandera that presents a unique perspective on the power of music to bridge time, drawing inspiration from the mythological motif of the cosmic ocean.