VIDEO: Boulez - Dérive 2
Natalie Draper's "Timelapse Variations" Featured in NASA Video
Award-winning composer Natalie Draper had her Symphony Number One collaboration, Timelapse Variations, featured by NASA. The video has already reached tens of thousands of people through published articles by CNN, Smithsonian Magazine...
VIDEO: Ben Goldberg's Catalyst (World Premiere)
Nicholas Bentz featured on WBJC Podcast
SNO Co-founder and founding Concertmaster Nicholas Bentz was interviewed as All-Classical WBJC's inaugural Student Composer of the Month. Podcast host John Scherch talks to Nick about his future plans as a composer and violinist, his history with launching Symphony Number One and his perspectives as a composer. Nick even discusses one of the seven "totems" that guided his compositional process as he created Approaching Eternity for Symphony Number One. Listen to the podcast below:
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Album cover for Approaching
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Revisiting the Boss Saxophone Concerto
Nearly two years after its premiere, Symphony Number One co-founder again took up the Boss Saxophone concerto, this time with the University of Texas New Music Ensemble. Here is a video from that performance, which happened to take place the same night as Symphony Number One gave the premiere of Nicholas Bentz’s Approaching Eternity.
Our 2nd commercial release, Emergence, was an EP featuring Andrew Boss’ Saxophone Concerto. It is available in all formats on iTunes, Spotify, and Amazon.
Approaching Eternity in Photos
Take a look at a new trove of photos from last April when we premiered Approaching Eternity by Nicholas Bentz in April of 2017 at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Baltimore. Photo Credit: Dan Rorke.
Music Director Jordan Randall Smith leads the orchestra in Bentz’s Approaching Eternity.
Principal Cellist Mike Newman and cellist Rob Erb Kaufman perform Nick’s work with its challenging writing for strings.
Bassoonist Mateen Milan was an guest artist with the orchestra at the time, but later auditioned to join the group.
Former Associate Concertmaster Kristin Bakkegard leads the orchestra
Current and former Principal Hornist Scott Ullman and Kelso Jones (respectively) perform with guest artist Gabriel Luciano and the woodwinds of Symphony Number One.
The composer in his own words: Nicholas Bentz gives a description of the basis for his sprawling new work, Approaching Eternity for Chamber Orchestra. just moments before the orchestra gives the second performances.
Take a look at this clip of Approaching Eternity, then learn more about our latest album (which includes Approaching Eternity), Approaching.
Hangrui Zhang - Baltimore Prelude
“Baltimore Prelude is a piece that summarizes my experience with the city of Baltimore. In my experience, Baltimore is a vibrant and energetic city, which I have enjoyed. The musical materials and fragments represent the highlights of my experience. Similar to the technique of montage in filmmaking, they are playfully interacting with each other and shifting the sonic image at a fast pace. It is a piece with energy and excitement, reflecting the various images of the city."
Composer's Notebook: Ben Goldberg
I’m thrilled to be joining Symphony Number One in my new role as Composer-In-Residence for the 2017-2018 season. I’ve admired their mission since their inception, and it’s great to be aboard. I would like to thank Jordan Randall Smith and the administrative team for this significant opportunity. We have a lot of great projects in the works and I’m looking forward to creating some memorable musical experiences in the coming year.
Composer's Notebook: Nicholas Bentz, Pt. II
The question I most often get in regards to Approaching Eternity, is how one deals with composing a piece of its length. It doesn’t take much research to find that a piece combining the medium of a large chamber symphony with the breadth of an hour-long swath of time is a rarity in this period of music composition. It’s no fault of the composer here – many factors outside of the composer’s control (mostly economic) have contributed to the unfortunate and gaping hole in the repertoire that we now have, but now is the time to fill that space. But regardless, the composer of the 21st century isn’t normally expected to fulfill a commission like this, so how do we all go about it?
Composer's Notebook: Nicholas Bentz
The piece is conceived as one large swath of music, with seven distinct sections that flow into each other without pause. Each of these sections is demarcated by a cryptic ‘totem’ that relates to a piece of visual art, poetry, literature, or even film, that served as a creative impetus for the section. The sections, when woven together, create a life cycle beginning with the first movement: Ode to the Abyss.
Our fourth album is here! You can order your copy of Approaching directly from the Symphony Number One store!
Featuring:
Click on the links above to learn more about and sample each piece.