Jessie Montgomery
The Boulder
Philharmonic calls its 2018–19 season Open Space, and will begin its
classical programming focusing on the openest space of all. Under the
title Infinite Space, the Phil will perform music about stars and
astronomers and planets.
You might guess one of the pieces: The Planets
by Gustav Holst, one of the best loved and most programmed pieces for
orchestra. The other two are completely new to Boulder audiences, having
both been written in this century: Jessie Montgomery’s Starburst and James Stephenson’s Celestial Suite.
“To take something well loved and
surround it with music that is a discovery for people — that is the
formula we have followed for a while,” Michael Butterman, the Boulder
Phil’s music director, says.
Neither of the new pieces is a world
premiere, but Butterman believes their inclusion is significant. “It’s
one thing to get an orchestra to play something once and enjoy the
cachet of a premiere, but to have it given a life beyond that is what
every composer wants,” he says.
Montgomery is affiliated with The Sphinx Organization, which supports African-American and Latinx string players. Starburst
was written for the Sphinx Virtuosi, a string orchestra that performs
without a conductor, while Montgomery was composer-in-residence to the
group.
“With a name like Starburst you
might expect a lot of percussion and brass,” Butterman says. “It’s
remarkable that she’s able to create a sense of dynamism and energy with
just [strings alone]. It has energy and explosiveness without using the
other timbres that you find in a full orchestra.”
No comments:
Post a Comment