On the Air for Symphonic Band, by Grammy®-winning composer Michael Daugherty, is a music fantasy on Arturo Toscanini, who conducted the NBC Symphony Orchestra in live radio broadcasts at Rockefeller Center in New York City from 1937 to 1954. Born in Parma, Italy, Toscanini (1867-1954) was internationally recognized as the most gifted conductor of his time, […]
Paterson: The Book of Goddesses wins Composer of the Year Award
Composer of the Year Award for The Book of Goddesses album from the Classical Recording Foundation. Award presented at Carnegie Hall by Christopher Rouse, with performance by MAYA, November 21, 2011. Recording on the AMR label released December 6, 2011.
Bruce: The Firework Maker’s Daughter
The Firework Maker’s Daughter is a new opera by award-winning composer David Bruce and librettist Glyn Maxwell, based on the fairy-tale adventure by acclaimed children’s author Philip Pullman. Staged by John Fulljames, with designs by Dick Bird and puppetry by Indefinite Articles, this tale of courage, friendship and growing-up will be a magical, theatrical event […]
Bruce: Prince Zal and the Simorgh
A new work for narrator and orchestra commissioned by the London Philharmonic Orchestra and City University London as part of the BrightSparks series, Prince Zal and the Simorgh marks a new direction in unusual canon of David Bruce’s works. Besides the standard orchestral instrumentation, Bruce employs a battery of Iranian percussion and a large Daf […]
Mason Bates Receives the Heinz Award
At the age of 35, Mason Bates is one of the youngest recipients to ever receive the prestigious Heinz Award, announced in September by Teresa Heinz and the Heinz Family Foundation. The award recognizes Bates’ unique talent for expanding the range of concert music, blending a brilliant gift at orchestral writing with tasteful use of […]
Bates’ Alternative Energy at Carnegie Hall
October brought the Chicago Symphony Orchestra to Carnegie Hall to open the 2012-13 season. Featured was Mason Bates’ Alternative Energy, led by Ricardo Muti with the composer performing the electronica part. Premiered last February in Chicago to rave reviews, the work has toured throughout the U.S. and will be given its Canadian premiere in February […]
Torke Daffodils
This year’s National Flute Association Convention saw the premiere of Michael Torke’s Daffodils for flute and piano. Commissioned by Emily Skala for the occasion of Bonnie Boyd’s “Lifetime Achievement Award” Tribute Concert, it was premiered on August 12, 2012, in Las Vegas, Nevada as part of the NFA’s annual convention. The title refers to Shakespeare’s […]
The Torque Series
The band world constantly embraces new literature, but there is a surprising dearth of strong works for the earlier grades. To meet that demand, Michael Torke has created The Torque Series. Each work in this series is approximately 4 minutes long, at a grade 4 difficulty level, yet still filled with the color and vitality […]
