Albany Symphony CDs
David Del Tredici: Adventures Underground
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About the Composer
An American composer, born in 1937 in California, David Del Tredici led and nurtured the Neo-Romantic movements in music. At age 12, he began studying piano with Bernhard Abrannowitsch, later he studied with Robert Helps. He attended the University of California, Berkeley, primarily in piano, where he received his B.A. in 1959. At Princeton, he studied with Roger Sessions and Earl Kim, earning his M.F.A. in 1964. He won fam with his composition, In Memory of a Summer Day, a part of his “Alice in Wonderland” that won him a Pulitzer Prize. At age 17, he made his first formal appearance with the San Francisco Symphony and performed until 1960 as a concert pianist. His first composition, Soliloquy (1958) was outstanding. Darius Milhaus inspired him to become a composer. He earned many compositional honors.
To name some, in 1966, he received a Guggenheim fellowship followed by a Woodrow Wilson fellowship, Brandeish and Friedheim Awards. He received grants from the NEA and the Rockefeller Foundation. Del Tredici’s compositions had been commissioned and performed by outstanding European and American orchestras. His works include The Spider and the Fly (1998), Dracula (1999), Miz Inez Sez (2000) and many more. He had been a professor at f Harvard University (1966 – 1972), Boston University (1973-84), Yale (1999), and Juilliard (1993 – 1996). Currently, he is a Music Professor at the City College of New York, sits on the Boards of Director of Yaddo, the MacDowell Colony and the Aaron Copland Fund for Music.
Joan Tower: Strike Zones
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“Most percussion instruments are struck (hence the word ‘strike’ in the title) and I decided to have the percussion placed across the front of the stage with the soloist moving from one ‘zone’ to another – starting with the more fragile vibraphone and ending with a tour de force of drums. The other ‘zones’ include a marimba solo, a cymbal/hi-hat group, an ensemble of smaller/softer instruments (like the maraca, piccolo woodblock, castanet), a xylophone solo, and a trio with two other players placed in the hall echoing/‘reverberating’ the glockenspiel (with crotales) and the castanets (with more castanets),”
ABOUT THE COMPOSER
Joan Tower (b. 1938) is widely regarded as one of today’s most important American composers. Recognizing her more than 60-year career and lasting contributions as composer, performer, and educator, Chamber Music America honored her with its Richard J. Bogomolny National Service Award in 2020, Musical America chose her to be its 2020 Composer of the Year, and in 2019 the League of American Orchestras awarded her its highest honor, the Gold Baton. In 1990 Tower became the first woman to win the prestigious Grawemeyer Award with Silver Ladders, written for the St. Louis Symphony as Composer-in-Residence.
Concerto for Viola and Chamber Orchestra:
2021 GRAMMY Award Winner for Best Classical Instrumental Solo
Christopher Theofanidis: Concertos
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About the Composer
Christopher Theofanidis' (b. 1967) music has been performed by many of the world's leading performing arts organizations, from the London Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, and the New York Philharmonic to the San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, and the American Ballet Theatre.
A two-time Grammy nominee, Theofanidis is currently on the faculties of Yale University and the Aspen Music Festival. This recording of two of his concertos is performed by the Albany Symphony conducted by David Alan Miller, which is known for its commissioning and performances of music by American composers. Chee-Yun, violin soloist is a winner of the Young Concert Artists International Auditions and has performed with many of the world's foremost orchestras. Viola soloist Richard O'Neill is the newly appointed violist of the Takács Quartet. An EMMY Award winner, two time Grammy nominee and Avery Fisher Career Grant recipient, he has appeared as soloist with the world's top orchestras.