Premiere of Shorthand for Cello and String Orchestra, performed by Conductor and Cellist Eric Jacobsen
Monday, October 19, 2020
The Grove at Mead Botanical Garden | Winter Park, FL
US Premiere of Restless Oceans
Saturday, April 24, 2020
Location TBC
Morahan Arts and Media | Press Release from October 13, 2020
As part of its newly announced, revised 2020-2021 season, The Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra will perform two works by Composer-in-Residence Anna Clyne.
“It’s quite clear that Anna Clyne’s inspiration comes from within, from her heart,” says Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra Music Director Eric Jacobsen. “Her music is unique and unaffected, and her voice is unmistakably hers. I cannot wait to premiere this gorgeous piece, and I am so looking forward to sharing more of Anna’s works with Orlando audiences this season.”
On Monday, October 19, 2020 at 7:00 p.m. at The Grove at Mead Botanical Garden Clyne’s Shorthand for cello and string orchestra, with Music Director Eric Jacobsen as featured cello soloist, receives its world premiere. The piece’s version for cello and string quintet received its world premiere by The Knights with member cellist Karen Ouzounian in July 2020 in a live-streamed performance from Caramoor Center for Music and Arts in Katonah, NY. Shorthand takes its title from Leo Tolstoy’s novella, The Kreutzer Sonata, which itself was inspired by Beethoven’s Kreutzer Sonata for violin and piano, in which he writes, “Music is the shorthand of emotion. Emotions, which let themselves be desviolincribed in words with such difficulty, are directly conveyed to man in music, and in that is its power and significance.” Shorthand references two themes from Beethoven’s Kreutzer Sonata: the opening theme, as well as a second theme that Janácek also incorporated in his own String Quartet No. 1, “Kreutzer Sonata.” The program also includes the “Kreutzer” Sonata with violinist Lara St. John as soloist, Joan Tower’s Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman No. 2, and Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 1.
On Saturday, April 24, 2021 at 7:30 p.m. at a location to be announced, the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra gives the US premiere performances of Clyne’s Restless Oceans, a work she composed for Marin Alsop and the Taki Concordia Orchestra for performance at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos. The piece received its world premiere at the opening ceremony in 2019 where Marin Alsop was presented with the Forum’s prestigious Crystal Award in recognition of her championship of diversity in music. This work draws inspiration and its title from A Woman Speaks – a poem by Audre Lorde and was composed with this particular all-women orchestra in mind. In addition to playing their instruments, the musicians are also called to use their voices in song and strong vocalizations, and their feet to stomp and to bring them to stand united at the end. Clyne says, “My intention was to write a defiant piece that embraces the power of women. Restless Oceans is dedicated with thanks to Marin Alsop.” The piece will open a concert featuring Korngold’s Violin Concerto with violinist Colin Jacobsen as soloist, “Nigun” from Bloch’s Baal Shem, and Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 ‘Titan.’
Strict safety protocols will be enforced at Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra concerts this season, to ensure the safety of the patrons, staff, and musicians in attendance. Face masks and temperature checks will be required by all before being allowed admittance into venues. Attendance to these events will be limited, to ensure patrons can be seated at an appropriate physical distance, as per CDC and state recommendations. Venues will also be enforcing thorough cleaning and sanitation measures throughout the space, as well as providing hand sanitation stations for all in attendance.
Performance Information
Lara St. John Plays Beethoven | Monday, October 19, 2020 at 7:00 p.m.
The Grove at Mead Botanical Garden | 1300 S Denning Drive | Winter Park, FL
Link: https://orlandophil.org/event/lara-st-john-plays-beethoven/
Tickets: $10–25. Subscriptions are on sale for the full Focus Series at https://my.orlandophil.org/packages/fixed/440
Artists:
Eric Jacobsen, conductor and cello
Lara St. John, violin
Program:
Anna Clyne – Shorthand (World Premiere)
Eric Jacobsen, cello
Beethoven – “Kreutzer” Sonata
Lara St. John, violin
– Intermission –
Joan Tower – Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman No. 2
Mendelssohn – Symphony No. 1
Mahler’s ‘Titan’ | Saturday, April 24, 2021 at 7:30 p.m.
Location TBC
Link: https://orlandophil.org/event/mahlers-titan/
Tickets: Single tickets not yet available for this concert. Subscriptions are on sale for the full Focus Series at https://my.orlandophil.org/packages/fixed/440
Artists:
Eric Jacobsen, conductor
Colin Jacobsen, violin
Program:
Anna Clyne – Restless Oceans (2018)
Korngold – Violin Concerto
Colin Jacobsen, violin
– Intermission –
Bloch – “Nigun” from Baal Shem
Mahler – Symphony No. 1 ‘Titan’
About Anna Clyne
London-born Anna Clyne is a Grammy-nominated composer of acoustic and electro-acoustic music. Described as a “composer of uncommon gifts and unusual methods” in a New York Times profile and as “dazzlingly inventive” by Time Out New York, Clyne’s work often includes collaborations with cutting-edge choreographers, visual artists, filmmakers, and musicians.
Clyne has been commissioned by a wide range of ensembles and institutions, including BBC Radio 3, BBC Scottish Symphony, Britten Sinfonia, Carnegie Hall, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Houston Ballet, London Sinfonietta, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Seattle Symphony, and the Southbank Centre. Her work has been championed by such world-renowned conductors as Marin Alsop, Pablo Heras-Casado, Riccardo Muti, Leonard Slatkin, André de Ridder, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Osmo Vänskä.
From 2010–2015, Clyne served as a Mead Composer-in-Residence for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Music Director Riccardo Muti lauded Clyne as “an artist who writes from the heart, who defies categorization, and who reaches across all barriers and boundaries. Her compositions are meant to be played by great musicians and listened to by enthusiastic audiences no matter what their background.” She has also been in residence with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, L’Orchestre national d’Île-de-France, Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, Berkeley Symphony, and National Sawdust. Clyne serves as the mentor composer for the Orchestra of St Luke’s DeGaetano Composer Institute. Clyne is currently serving a three-year residency as Associate Composer with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, through the 2020-2021 season. The residency includes plans for a series of new works commissioned over three years.
Last season saw the premiere of Sound and Fury, premiered by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Pekka Kuusisto in Edinburgh; Breathing Statues, a new string quartet for Calidore Quartet, and Shorthand for solo cello and string orchestra, premiered by The Knights at Caramoor in New York. Other recent premieres include her Rumi-inspired cello concerto, DANCE, premiered with Inbal Segev at the 2019 Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, led by Cristian Macelaru; Snake & Ladder, a work for saxophone and electronics premiered by Jess Gillam at the 2019 Cheltenham Music Festival; Beltane with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and Thomas Dausgaard; Three Sisters, her mandolin concerto for Avi Avital and the Kremerata Baltica; and Restless Oceans with the Taki Concordia Orchestra and Marin Alsop at the Opening Ceremony of the World Economic Forum in Davos. In July 2019, Clyne wrote and arranged music from Nico’s Marble Index for The Nico Project, a theatrical work presented by the Manchester International Festival.
Upcoming premieres include Stride, a new work for string orchestra inspired by Beethoven’s Sonata Pathétique for the Australian Composers Orchestra, Scottish Chamber Orchestra, Lausanne Orchestra and River Oaks Chamber Orchestra; Color Field a new work inspired by the artwork of Mark Rothko for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, Overflow, a new work for wind ensemble inspired by the poetry of Emily Dickinson, for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, The Heart of Night for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra Chorus, Shorthand for solo cello and string orchestra inspired by Beethoven’s Kreutzer Sonata, Janáček’s first String Quartet and Tolstoy’s novella The Kreutzer Sonata for the Orlando Symphony; and Fractured Time for the Los Angeles-based Kaleidoscope Ensemble.
Clyne is the recipient of the 2016 Hindemith Prize; a Charles Ives Fellowship from the American Academy of Arts and Letters; awards from Meet the Composer, the American Music Center, the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, and the Jerome Foundation; and prizes from ASCAP and SEAMUS. She was nominated for the 2014 Times Breakthrough Award (UK).
Clyne’s music is represented on AVIE Records, Cantaloupe Music, Cedille, MajorWho Media, New Amsterdam, Resound, Tzadik, and VIA labels. Recent releases include DANCE/Cello Concerto featuring Inbal Segev, Marin Alsop, and the London Philharmonic; The Violin, an album of her works for multi-tracked violins with animations by artist Josh Dorman; Blue Moth, an album of her instrumental music for ensemble and tape; Night Ferry with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Riccardo Muti; and Prince of Clouds featuring Jennifer Koh and Jaime Laredo with the Curtis Chamber Orchestra on Cedille Records. Both Night Ferry and Prince of Clouds were nominated for 2015 Grammy Awards.
Clyne’s music is published exclusively by Boosey & Hawkes. www.boosey.com/clyne. Learn more at www.annaclyne.com.
About the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra
Celebrating its 28th Season, the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra is led by Music Director Eric Jacobsen and is comprised of creative musicians and artists from around the world. The Philharmonic annually presents the 10-concert FAIRWINDS Classics Series and Pops Series, as well as its Focus Series and Symphony Storytime Series at The Plaza Live, a historic Central Florida venue. The Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra’s mission is to enrich and inspire the diverse communities of Central Florida through the transformative power of live music, and it presents more than 170 live concerts and impacts more than 70,000 children, youth, and families annually through its Young People’s Concerts, Symphony Storytime Series, Notes in Your Neighborhood program, and free outdoor community concerts. A resident company of the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, the Philharmonic will perform in Steinmetz Hall when it opens. Learn more at orlandophil.org.
