American Symphony Orchestra Presents SOUNDS OF THE AMERICAN CENTURY

The American Symphony Orchestra will present Sounds of the American Century, the next concert in its Vanguard series at Carnegie Hall, on Friday, January 25 at 8 pm. The program illustrates how New York City composers of the mid-20th century sought to define a new American sensibility in orchestral music, and will be highlighted by the New York premiere of Vivian Fine's Concertante for Piano and Orchestra.

The piece is one of some 140 works she wrote over the course of 68 years, making her one of America's most important composers. The young guest soloist Charlie Albright, named Artist-in-Residence for Harvard University's Leverett House, a position last filled by cellist Yo-Yo Ma, is also the recipient of an Avery Fisher Career Grant and a Gilmore Young Artists Award. Leon Botstein shares the stories behind the music in a lively 30-minute Conductor's Notes Q&A at 7 PM in Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage.

Free for all ticket holders. The final concert in ASO's Carnegie Hall season, The Key of Dreams, will offer the U.S. premiere of Martin 's opera Julietta in Czech on March 22. Sounds of the American Century Friday, January 25, 2019 7 PM Conductor's Notes Q&A 8 PM Concert, Carnegie Hall, Stern Auditorium/Perelman Stage Leon Botstein, conductor Charlie Albright, piano Robert Mann: Fantasy for Orchestra Vivian Fine: Concertante for Piano and Orchestra (New York Premiere) Jacob Druckman: Prism William Schuman: Symphony No. 3 The abstract works of Robert Mann, legendary founder of the Juilliard Quartet, and Jacob Druckman whose works were commissioned by the New York Philharmonic and the Chicago Symphony explored the possibilities of orchestral color and sound.

Mann passed away in January 2018, making his Fantasy for Orchestra serve as a fitting tribute on this program. Pulitzer Prize-winner and Lincoln Center founding president William Schuman was a great champion of American music. His Symphony No. 3 was a pronounced popular success, premiered by the Boston Symphony in 1941 under Koussevitzky's baton, to whom it was dedicated. Schuman and Fine, whose Concertante for Piano and Orchestra is given its NY premiere at this performance, brought their compositional craft to the classical tradition of orchestral music with works marked by vitality, brilliance, and structural clarity. Tickets, priced at $25 / $40 / $55, are available at carnegiehall.org, CarnegieCharge at 212.247.7800, or the box office at 57th St & 7th Ave. American Symphony Orchestra The American Symphony Orchestra was founded in 1962 by Leopold Stokowski with a mission of making orchestral music accessible and affordable for everyone.

Music Director Leon Botstein expanded that mission when he joined the ASO in 1992, creating thematic concerts that explore music from the perspective of the visual arts, literature, religion, and history, and reviving rarely-performed works audiences would otherwise seldom hear performed live. The Orchestra has made several tours of Asia and Europe and performed in countless benefits for organizations including the Jerusalem Foundation and PBS. Many of the world's most accomplished soloists have performed with the ASO, including Yo-Yo Ma, Deborah Voigt, and Sarah Chang. The Orchestra has released several recordings on the Telarc, New World, Bridge, Koch, and Vanguard labels, and numerous live performances are also available for digital download. In many cases, these are the only recordings of some of the rare works that have been rediscovered in ASO performances. The ASO's online-only issue of Weber's Euryanthe, recorded at the 2014 Bard Music Festival, was reviewed by the Wall Street Journal as "Musically rich, lyrical and expansive. Leon Botstein Leon Botstein has been music director and principal conductor of the American Symphony Orchestra since 1992.

He is also music director of The Orchestra Now, an innovative training orchestra composed of top musicians from around the world. He is co-artistic director of Bard SummerScape and the Bard Music Festival, which take place at the Richard B. Fisher Center for the Performing Arts at Bard College, where he has been president since 1975. He is also conductor laureate of the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra, where he served as music director from 2003 11. Last year he assumed artistic directorship of Campus Grafenegg and Grafenegg Academy in Austria. Mr. Botstein also has an active career as a guest conductor with orchestras around the globe, and has made numerous recordings, as well as being a prolific author and music historian. He is the recipient of numerous honors for his contributions to the music industry.

For more information, please visit americansymphony.org.

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