Interlochen Arts Academy Orchestra to Participate in NY PHIL BIENNIAL, 6/5

Michigan's Interlochen Arts Academy Orchestra - the only high school orchestra invited to participate in the NY PHIL BIENNIAL - makes its debut at the immersive new-music festival on June 5, with a program titled "Young Americans." This unique performance features music by composers only a generation older than the gifted young orchestral musicians themselves, with a program consisting entirely of world and New York premieres. The orchestra will be led by a perfect exemplar of the genre-defying trend in today's music: Los Angeles-based conductor Christopher Rountree, the founder, conductor and creative director of the path-breaking Los Angeles chamber orchestra "wild Up," which mixes elements of traditional classical music with new music, performance art, and pop.

On the "Young Americans" program are the New York premieres of Machine (2002) by 2010 Pulitzer Prize-winner Jennifer Higdon and So Far So Good (2012) by Nico Muhly, "the ebullient star of New York's young-composer scene" (New Yorker), along with the world premieres of Chaconnes, by the "striking and resourceful" (New York Times) Yale composition professor Hannah Lash, and Bound to the Bow, by Interlochen alumna and SCI/ASCAP Young Composer Prize-winner Ashley Fure. The world premieres were commissioned by Interlochen for this NY PHIL BIENNIAL concert. Fure, who studied composition at Interlochen and describes her style as "sculpted noise," traveled to Michigan to prepare the orchestra for the non-traditional techniques required to perform her new work, as documented in a preview video available here.

Nico Muhly's So Far So Good will also feature the world premiere of an original dance piece choreographed by another young American, Christopher Williams, who has been lauded as "one of the most exciting choreographic voices out there" (New York Times). Commissioned by Interlochen for this performance, Williams's choreography will be performed by the Interlochen Arts Academy Dance Company. A video of Williams working with his cast members is available here.

New York Philharmonic President Matthew VanBesien, himself an alumnus of Interlochen, finds the institution a natural fit for the NY PHIL BIENNIAL:

"Our partnership with Interlochen and its accomplished young musicians for the second NY PHIL BIENNIAL reflects the Philharmonic's growing collaborations with leading music education organizations across the globe. This partnership is a wonderful opportunity to collaborate with the next generations of music lovers to champion new music."

Interlochen President Jeffrey S. Kimpton adds:

"We are thrilled to be invited to collaborate with the New York Philharmonic for their Biennial. To partner with the Philharmonic in this prestigious festival offers our students, faculty and the entire Interlochen community a remarkable experience."

Interlochen Center for the Arts, one of America's leading institutions for fine arts education, attracts students from around the world to its 1,200-acre scenic campus in northwestern lower Michigan, and the cross-disciplinary collaboration represented in the NY PHIL BIENNIAL concert is a regular feature of the Interlochen curriculum. Besides performing approximately eight major concerts each year, often in collaboration with renowned guest artists and conductors and including major symphonic works, concertos, and new music, the Interlochen Arts Academy Orchestra workshops operas with the vocal department, performs with choir, dance theatre and other ensembles, and is the resident orchestra for the annual ballet production. Also embodying this collaborative spirit is Interlochen's annual interdisciplinary performance, "Collage," performed as part of the summer Arts Festival. With songs on stage, actors in the aisles, and writers in the wings, "Collage" provides a rapid-fire, immersive program that offers a sneak peek into the daily life of Interlochen Arts Camp students of every discipline.

About Interlochen Center for the Arts

The nonprofit Interlochen Center for the Arts is a recipient of the National Medal of Arts and the only organization in the world that brings together a 2,500-student summer camp program; a 500-student fine arts boarding high school; opportunities for hundreds of adults to engage in fulfilling artistic and creative programs; two 24-hour listener-supported public radio stations (classical music and news); more than 600 arts presentations annually by students, faculty and world-renowned guest artists; and a global alumni base spanning eight decades, including leaders in the arts and all other endeavors. For information, visit Interlochen online at www.interlochen.org.

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