Fanfares for an Uncommon Partnership
Amid the fanfare of the 10th-anniversary season of Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Music Director Robert Spano and Principal Guest Conductor Donald Runnicles are the 10 fanfares written in honor of the Spano-Runnicles creative partnership.
The majority come from members of the Atlanta School of Composers, the unique collective of 21st-century voices that Mr. Spano founded in his inaugural season, which is celebrating its own 10-year anniversary this season.
The fanfares are brief musical statements, reflecting divergent styles, cultures and influences, and afford audiences a glimpse into the thoroughly modern composers Mr. Spano has championed during his tenure.
“These fanfares are all unique and wonderful and help underscore the special nature of this season, Robert’s 10th with the Atlanta Symphony,” says John Sparrow, vice president for orchestra initiatives and general manager. “Each fanfare has a unique personality and musical flavor that I believe our audiences will continue to find fun and interesting. And — like all of our interactions with these composers — the journey of their creating these works is every bit as engaging as the musical end result.”
The first half of 2010-2011 season already has treated concertgoers to three fanfares by school members Christopher Theofanidis (Une Certaine Joie de Vivre), Adam Schoenberg (Up!), and Michael Gandolfi (Pageant).
The fourth came from composer and sound designer Mark Grey, who contributed Ahsha “to celebrate 10 years of Robert and Donald and to embrace Robert’s passion for Persia, its people, culture and art.” The seductive Ahsha opened the Jan. 27-29 concerts with Mr. Runnicles conducting and Mr. Spano as pianist in Mozart’s Concerto No. 20.
The first week of February presents an opportunity for concertgoers to hear the fifth fanfare in the series, Miaka Kumi (Swahili for “10 years”), by the Orchestra’s former composer-in-residence Alvin Singleton. As an homage to Mozart and the all-Mozart programs Thursday and Saturday, Feb. 3 and 5 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 6 at 3 p.m., Mr. Singleton has scored his work for a Mozart-sized orchestra.
Look for more fanfares in the second half of the season, including one by Atlanta School member Jennifer Higdon, as well as other friends of the Orchestra.
