Press

Press

  • Miles Davis’ ‘Birth of the Cool’ is being re-created live in concert – The Philadelphia Inquirer, 3/23/2023

    Birth of the Cool is widely considered among the greatest jazz albums created, and many artists cite it as an influence. On Wednesday, March 29, Orchestra 2001 will present what it believes is the first local performance of the album’s 12 tunes in their entirety.


    “We were going through this music, and suddenly, one of the parts from Birth of the Cool shows up. And I had worked with Mulligan, so I recognized his handwriting. And once I saw that, I said, ‘Oh my god, the nonet stuff is here.’” 


    Read the Full Article by Peter Dobrin.


    READ MORE

  • A celebration of Philadelphia's diverse creativity – Al Día, 5/27/2022

    On Wednesday, May 25, the Arts + Business Council hosted its 37th annual Arts + Business Council Awards ceremony to honor three organizations for their respective impacts on inspiring a brighter and more inclusive future for the City: Orchestra 2001, Visit Philadelphia, and The Barnes Foundation.


    "The first organization honored was Orchestra 2001. The collective of virtuoso performers were honored for their Emerging Markets project, an ongoing series of informal musical events that were deliberately performed in areas in which Philadelphians shop, work and play."


    Read the full article by Jensen Toussaint for Al Día.


    READ MORE

  • Sounds of Brazil and Classical Music Come Together in This New Work by Orlando Haddad – WRTI, 6/17/2021

    Composer Orlando Haddad, known especially for the original Brazilian jazz he performs with his musical and life partner Patricia King Haddad in their duo Minas, has a new classical work for chamber ensemble. Commissioned by Orchestra 2001, and inspired by folklore about the Amazon rainforest, Lendas Amazônicas integrates elements of both Brazilian music and the western classical canon.


    Read the full article by Susan Lewis for WRTI.


    READ MORE

  • ¡Conexiones! en Esperanza – Impacto, 5/14/2020

    Impacto entrevistó por Zoom a Adam Lesnick y a Francisco Cortés Alvarez cuyas tres composiciones fueron comisionadas y estuvieron inspiradas en los murales fronterizos entre México y Estados Unidos. Los títulos de sus composiciones son Upside Down, Kikito y El Muro de la Hermandad. “La primera es música muy loca, donde todo se está cayendo, es un poco ansiosa, que no transmite sensaciones de paz o tranquilidad. Hay algo que no está bien, algo que se está cayendo”, dice el compositor...


    Impacto interviewed Adam Lesnick and Francisco Cortés Alvarez, whose three compositions were commissioned and inspired by the border murals between Mexico and the United States. The titles of his compositions are Upside Down, Kikito and El Muro de la Hermandad. “The first one is very crazy music, where everything is falling down, it is a little anxious, which does not transmit feelings of peace or tranquility. There is something that is not right, something that is falling, "says the composer...


    Read the full article (available in Spanish and English languages) by Leticia Roa Nixon for Impacto:


    READ MORE

  • The River of Life meets the Delaware – Broad Street Review, 9/21/2019

    "The ensemble was superb—with five people managing myriad instruments and preparations, including a bucket of water deployed for the water gong, water bells, and chime—magically making it all fit together."


    Read the full article by Margaret Darby for Broad Street Review:


    READ MORE

  • How Was Frank Zappa Influenced by Classical Composers of the 20th Century? – WRTI, 4/23/2018

    "The word genius is thrown around a lot, but how could you not use it to describe Frank Zappa? Without any significant classical training, he was able to absorb and understand the music of the greatest composers of the 20th century, and put it through the sausage machine of his own personality and emotions.


    What came out on the other side was something entirely new and -- I’ll choose another overused word that’s apt in this case -- unique. No one has ever made music quite like Zappa’s, and with such a pure intent: to bring whatever he heard in his head to life, regardless of genre, style or possible stereotypes."


    - Conductor Jayce Ogren's description of Frank Zappa in WRTI's article: "How Was Rock Iconoclast Frank Zappa Influenced by Classical Composers of the 20th Century?" 


    Read the Full Article by Debra Lew Harder:


    READ MORE

  • Frank Zappa's obscure 'Yellow Shark' score is being performed in Philly – The Inquirer, 4/18/18

    What’s on the recording is not the same as what’s written in the fresh scores sent to Philadelphia from the Germany-based publisher Schott Music. "A lot of things were created in the moment. … I’m not trying to replicate exactly what’s on the recording,” said [Jayce] Ogren. “I’m taking cues from it. My guess is that Zappa told the players to use their imagination."


    Read the full article by David Patrick Stearns  for The Inquirer:


    READ MORE

  • Steve Mackey and Orchestra 2001 bring their out-there opera, 'Slide,' to Manayunk – The Inquirer, 11/15/2017

    "Mostly, Slide is a series of songs, some infused by guitar-based rock but not remotely enslaved by pop song forms. There’s the richness of a symphonic movement with the dramatic momentum of an operatic scene. Instrumentation shifted so constantly that the piece was truly on the move even though the dramatic surface is stationary — it’s mainly psychiatric brooding."


    Read the full article by David Patrick Stearns  for The Inquirer:


    READ MORE

  • Balancing Act – Swarthmore News & Events, 3/31/2016

    What better way to stoke Swarthmore’s Spring Arts Celebration than staging one of the most complex and colorful productions in recent College history?


    “The number of creative talents involved, the different departments represented, and the scale of what we’re trying to do make it really quite exciting,” Andrew Hauze ’04, lecturer of music, says of Stravinsky’s “Soldier” and Other Tales.


    The production, scheduled for Sat., April 2, in Lang Concert Hall, bursts with collaboration. It taps the talents of the departments of theater and music and dance, the professional musicians of Orchestra 2001, and an alumnus composer.


    READ MORE

  • Orchestra 2001 presents an Asian buffet – The Inquirer, 2/10/2015

    "The East-meets-West nexus in classical music still comes with so much creative leeway and remains so uncodified that a program titled "New Music From Asia" means that the only possible preconceived notion is the complete lack of one."


    Read the full article by David Patrick Stearns  for The Inquirer:


    READ MORE

  • Encounters in space and time – Broad Street Review, 2/10/2015

    "The classical tradition may seem fixed, but it’s actually shaped by a never-ending dialogue. In the last week, Orchestra 2001 and the Mendelssohn Club presented concerts that highlighted two aspects of that dialogue: Orchestra 2001 looked at the current state of the cultural dialogue between Asia and the West, and the Mendelssohn Club recreated a historic moment in the dialogue of the eras."


    Full Article HERE.

  • New music for an old struggle – Broad Street Review, 1/25/2014

    "Most of the items on the Orchestra 2001 program contained unspoken statements. The most important of these came from the pieces that featured the young musicians in the Play On, Philly! orchestra."


    Full Article HERE.

Share by: