Albany Symphony to Host THE WILD AND WHIMSICAL WORLD OF DAVID MALLAMUD Concert, Recording Session

In January 2016, the Dogs of Desire, the Albany Symphony's rock-inspired new music ensemble, and Music Director David Alan Miller will perform and record a concert of American composer David Mallamud's most successful commissions for the ensemble over the past ten years, including his homage to Parisian music hall culture, Last Call at the Folies Bergere, the Glam-Metal Opera, Lizardman, (text by Broadway lyricist Michael Cooper) Victorian Parlor Songs, a salsa-drenched Latin Daytime Soap Opera, (text by Aaron Jafferis), and an Irish-inspired piece Immram. Both the public concert and private recording session will take place at Skidmore College's Zankel Hall in Saratoga Springs, NY.

Mallamud says of the compositions to be performed and recorded, "I consider the pieces on this album the best of a decade of work I've written for the Dogs of Desire, all of which reflect a specific genre of music that I've playfully heightened or exaggerated through my own modern and personal perspective." Mallamud is a long-time friend and frequently-commissioned composer of the Dogs of Desire, so both composer and maestro are excited to collaborate on this recording. Said Miller of the project, "David Mallamud has created a fantastic body of absolutely unique works for the Dogs of Desire. His ability to synthesize every possible style in outrageously funny, charming and individual ways has made him one of our very favorite composers. Also, audiences who may not have had any exposure to contemporary concert music are invariably charmed by his wit and disarming charm. And his music always just sounds great!"

All the pieces on the program have been previously performed, however never all together, and this will be the first time any have been recorded for a studio album. Co-producing the album are Grammy award-winning David Alan Miller and Grammy-nominated Broadway album producer Kim Scharnberg; and seven-time Grammy award winner Joel Moss will serve as sound engineer and mixer.

Several notable vocalists will also be participating on this project, including Tony-nominated Christiane Noll (Ragtime, Jekyll & Hyde) and Broadway's Brian Charles Rooney (Threepenny Opera), who will both perform in concert and on the recording. Joining for the recording will be American tenor, film actor and two-time Grammy nominee Amick Byram (Prince of Egypt, A Million Ways to Die in the West), Broadway's Sierra Boggess (School of Rock, The Phantom of the Opera), Janet Dacal (Wonderland, In the Heights), Morgan James (Motown: The Musical, Godspell), and American Idol's Constantine Maroulis (Rock of Ages, Jekyll & Hyde), as well as Dan Webb of the sea shanty band, Rant & Roar.

The public concert will be performed on Friday, January 22, 2016 at 8 PM. General Admission tickets to the concert are $25 and can be purchased by calling the Albany Symphony Box Office at (518) 694-3300 or online at albanysymphony.com. The next day, a closed recording session will capture the orchestra tracks and subsequent sessions in New York City and Los Angeles will record the vocalists.

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