News
October 30, 2024Albany Symphony Concert Schedule
Two-time GRAMMY Award-winning Albany Symphony is thrilled to present a dazzling program which includes Smetana’s “Moldau”, Joan Tower’s Cello Concerto, “A New Day” and Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World.” The concerts will take place at the legendary Troy Savings Bank Music Hall on Saturday, November 16, at 7:30pm and Sunday, November 17, at 3:00pm.
“We are so excited to share this gorgeous program with you,” said Music Director David Alan Miller. “When I heard Joan Tower’s new Cello Concerto, “A New Day,” an homage to her life partner, Jeff, who passed away recently, I knew I just had to share it with our Capital Region audience. It is such a luminous work, imbued with love, passion, and the wisdom of age. It is always such a joy to welcome Joan back to our community; she is not only one of the greatest composers of our time, but a dear friend of the Albany Symphony. For Joan’s work, we will be joined by a wonderful cellist, Raman Ramakrishnan, a professor and colleague of Joan’s at Bard College Conservatory of Music. Our program also includes Dvořák’s iconic Symphony ‘From the New World,’ essentially the work that set American music on its course. No orchestra plays this masterpiece more beautifully or authentically than our Albany Symphony, which is so steeped in American music. Smetana’s ‘Moldau’ completes the program, and celebrates the ‘undercurrent’ of our season-long theme, Water Music. We can’t wait to share all this great music with you in the acoustically perfect Troy Savings Bank Music Hall!”
The evening opens with the flowing, lyrical, “Moldau,” by Czech composer, Bedřich Smetana, which evokes the Vlatava River (the Moldau). The piece evokes the composer’s deep love of his homeland. “This composition depicts the course of the Moldau. It sings of its first two springs, one warm the other cold, rising in the Bohemian Forest, watches the streams as they join and follows the flow of the river through fields and woods… a meadow where the peasants are celebrating a wedding. In the silver moonlight the river nymphs frolic, castles and palaces float past, as well as ancient ruins growing out of the wild cliffs. The Moldau foams and surges in the Rapids of St. John, then flows in a broad stream toward Prague.”
“A New Day,” written in 2021 by GRAMMY Award-Winning composer Joan Tower, will feature cellist Raman Ramakrishnan. It is inscribed “with love to Jeff—my partner of 48 years.” In her program note, Tower reflected, “While composing this piece, I realized that our long time together was getting shorter, becoming more and more precious with each new day…” “A New Day” is in four movements: “Daybreak,” “Working Out,” “Mostly Alone,” and “Into the Night.” The piece has received rave reviews. Joan Tower is widely regarded as one of the most important American composers living today. During a career spanning more than 50 years, she has made lasting contributions to musical life in the United States as composer, performer, conductor, and educator. Her works have been commissioned by major ensembles, soloists, and orchestras across the country and the world. In 1990, Tower became the first woman to win the prestigious Grawemeyer Award for her composition, Silver Ladders. She was the first composer chosen for the Ford Made in America consortium commission of 65 orchestras. She is a professor at Bard College Conservatory of Music.
A member of the Horszowski Trio, cellist Raman Ramakrishnan, has performed across North America, Europe, India, Japan, and in Hong Kong, and recorded for Bridge Records and Avie Records. He was a founding member of the Daedalus Quartet, and played with the quartet for 11 years. Ramakrishnan was born in Athens, Ohio and grew up in East Patchogue, New York. His father is a molecular biologist and his mother is the children’s book author and illustrator Vera Rosenberry. He holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from Harvard University and a master’s degree in music from The Juilliard School. He lives in New York City with his wife, the violist Melissa Reardon, and their young son. He plays a Neapolitan cello made by Vincenzo Jorio in 1837.
The evening concludes with one of the most beloved symphonies of all time, Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, “From the New World.” The piece was composed in 1893 while Dvořák was the director of the National Conservatory of Music in New York City. It premiered at Carnegie Hall to ecstatic acclaim. Dvorak conceived the piece as a blueprint for future American composers to find their uniquely American voices. It is an anthem to America, and reflects Dvorak’s great interest in Spirituals and Native American Music. Astronaut Neil Armstrong took a tape recording of the symphony on the Apollo 11 mission, the first moon landing, in 1969.
The 2024-2025 season runs through the American Music Festival in June. It includes the Water Music NY: More Voices Festival, a Symphony Side-by-Side with the Empire State Youth Orchestra (ESYO), Magic of Christmas, Tiny Tots concerts for young people, and more! Season subscriptions are available and offer flexibility, convenience, and price savings. Through the Nielsen Associates’ Student Access Program, students can purchase discount subscriptions and enjoy the full benefits of being a subscriber for as little as $45. To purchase a subscription or single tickets, visit albanysymphony.com or call the Box Office at 518-694-3300.
Albany Symphony 2024/2025 Season:
**Artists, programs, venues, and dates subject to change
DVORAK’S “NEW WORLD”
Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, November 16 + 17, 2024
Raman Ramakrishnan, cello
*****
Bedřich Smetana: “The Moldau” from Má vlast
Joan Tower: Cello Concerto “A New Day”
Antonín Dvořák: Symphony No. 9 “From the New World”
HOLIDAY MOZART & VIVALDI
Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, December 21 + 22, 2024
Bokyung Byun, guitar
Karen Hosmer & Grace Shyrock, oboes
*****
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Eine Kleine Nachtmusik
Johann Sebastian Bach: Sinfonia from “Christmas Oratorio”
Nicky Sohn: Guitar Concerto (world premiere)
Antonio Vivaldi: Concerto for Two Oboes
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Symphony No. 35 “Haffner”
THE MAGIC OF CHRISTMAS
Palace Theatre, December 8, 2024
BEETHOVEN’S PASTORIAL
Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, January 11 + 12, 2025
Mark Bamuthi Joseph, speaker
*****
Carlos Simon: Fate Now Conquers
Daniel Bernard Roumain /
Marc Bamuthi Joseph: Forgiveness, Suite for Spoken Word & Orchestra
Ludwig Van Beethoven: Symphony No. 6, “Pastoral”
RACHMANINOFF’S PAGANINI RHAPSODY
Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, February 15 + 16, 2025
Harmony Zhu, piano
*****
Randall Thompson: A Trip to Nahant
Sergei Rachmaninoff: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini
Loren Loiacono: Sleep Furiously
Robert Schumann: Symphony No. 1, “Spring”
BARBER’S BREATHTAKING VIOLIN CONCERTO
Proctors, March 8, 2025
Lidiya Yankovskaya, guest conductor
Amaryn Olmeda, Violin
*****
Missy Mazzoli: Orpheus Undone
Samuel Barber: Violin Concerto
Antonín Dvořák: Symphony No. 7
BOLÉRO
Palace Theatre, April 5, 2025
Kala Ramnath, violin
*****
Maurice Ravel: Boléro
Reena Esmail: Concerto for Hindustani Violin
Hector Berlioz: Symphonie fantastique
MUSIC OF JOHN WILLIAMS
Palace Theatre, May 3, 2025
AMERICAN MUSIC FESTIVAL: WATER MUSIC
EMPAC, June 7, 2025
Stephen Williamson, clarinet
Third Coast Percussion
*****
Bobby Ge: Water Music (world premiere)
Clarice Assad: Percussion Concerto
Sophia Jani: What do Flowers do at Night?
Christopher Theofanidis: Clarinet Concerto
