A dynamic new initiative for the RPO

When Andreas Delfs, music director of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra, provides the downbeat for the premiere of James Lee III's Sensational Dynamism on Saturday evening, it will mark a milestone in the orchestra's history.

The RPO officially announced this today Today's votes, a five-season multimedia initiative that will deeply engage the orchestra in creating, documenting and disseminating contemporary American music through premieres, recordings, video and podcasts.

According to Delfs, Voices of Today is absolutely dynamic and promises to be sensational, showcasing the diverse creative voices in the American concert music landscape while vastly raising the profile of the RPO.

So often a new piece is commissioned, performed once or twice and then never heard of again, says the conductor. With Voices of Today we hope to create and keep alive valuable pieces by the most diverse and exciting living composers.

Voices of Today has been in the planning stages for several years, beginning with a gift from Stephen Ashley, an arts patron and RPO board member, in memory of his wife, Janice Ashley. The RPO's artistic director, James Barry, recalls that Ashley wanted to support the orchestra's creation and performance of contemporary music with something transformative.

Often an orchestra appoints a composer-in-residence or commissions a new piece, sends out a release and that's where the story ends, says Barry. We wanted to swing a little differently: to be able to change our theme so that there would always be a new story.

After consultation, Ashley, Barry and Delfs literally ended up on the same page: a one-page resume that the conductor and artistic director presented to Ashley with the basic plan for Voices of Today. After further refinements, the CV became an ambitious plan to bring the orchestra into the world of 21^stcentury media as a source of new concert music that pushes traditional boundaries by embracing non-traditional instruments, technology, theater, movement and visual arts.

Voices of Today has already resulted in a number of commissions that were premiered by the orchestra last season. An enterprising concert combined Stravinsky's Rite of Spring with new choreography performed by Garth Fagan Dance, and the premiere of Richochet (A Ping-Pong Concerto) by Andy Akiho, performed by the Genesee Valley Table Tennis Club. Last season's finale combined Beethoven's Ninth with Derrick Skyea's To Seek is Jubilance as a companion piece with a contemporary take on the symphony theme We all are Brothers.

These new pieces are attractive, and Read's two-piano concerto Sensational Dynamism promises to be a virtuoso crowd-pleaser. (Last weekend, the prolific Lee heard the premiere of his Clarinet Concerto in Baltimore.)

Delfs thinks this new piece, inspired by the movements of gymnasts, is aptly titled. It's a fantastic piece and a rhythmic powerhouse, very inspired by jazz, he says. It reminded me of my old Chick Corea and Keith Jarrett records.

Sensational Dynamism features the up-and-coming piano duo The Naughtons, and several future commissions will pair renowned contemporary composers with equally high-profile soloists. In 2025 and 2026 there will be the premieres of a Sinfonia Concertante for oboe, bassoon, violin, cello and orchestra by Roberto Sierra, with the first players of the RPO; a double violin concerto for Gil Shaham and Adele Anthony by Avner Dorman; a piano concerto by Aaron Jay Kernis for Jean-Yves Thibaudet; and a cello concerto by Jennifer Higdon for Julian Schwarz.

Skyes To Seek is Jubilance represented another goal of Voices of Today: creating companion pieces to well-known works. The initiative also includes other contemporary American works; this season already includes recent works by Kevin Puts, Mizzy Mazzioli and Behzad Ranjbaran, with Lowell Liebermann's Frankenstein Waltzes coming later in November, with many more to come.

The Online hub of Voices of Todayalso launched today, it will house a growing collection of special podcasts and filmed performances of select new works supported by the initiative. And so audiences can connect with the RPO's creative partners, see live video performances of their work and listen to their stories through the Voices of Today podcast, consisting of interviews conducted by former WXXI classics director music Julia Figueras. You can already see and hear the video interviews with Derrick Skye and Andy Akhito on the site.

The RPO also has a history of recording dating back to the 1930s. The orchestra's notable albums include a 1939 recording of William Grant Still's now-classic African American Symphony, which the RPO premiered in 1931. Among former RPO music directors, Erich Leinsdorf conducted the first commercial recording of Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances, and David Zinman led the acclaimed LPs of music by Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Dvok, and Janek.

Voices of Today also sees the RPO re-entering the world of recording, this time defined by what Barry calls new territory: the world of integrated media.

The orchestra's upcoming recordings will be produced and distributed by Azica Records, whose release of the RPO and Yolanda Kondonassis performing Higdon's Harp Concerto won a 2020 Grammy Award. After discussions with several other possible labels, Delfs and Barry Azicas met with Alan Bise.

We felt comfortable with our relationship right away, says Barry, and he's a great producer.

The collaboration continues with five albums, starting with Four, a fall 2025 release with Sensational Dynamism, To Seek is Jubilance and Roberto Sierras Sinfonia Concertante. (The album title reflects that Skye's work features four singers, Lees' piano concerto for four hands, and Sierra's concerto for four RPO soloists.) The five albums will be available as CDs and can be streamed and downloaded.

For his part, Bise has said: Every work written by a composer of vital importance deserves to be added to the recorded catalog and be available in perpetuity to listeners around the world. Azica is proud to be part of that legacy.”

We wanted to go back to the roots of what made our orchestra famous, Delfs explains. There is a long history of recordings and of new music commissions, which contains so much good stuff. I also felt that we could fill gaps in the repertoire with certain types of pieces and show off the quality of our players. And I want this new music to have a life after Rochester.

The classical music audience is notoriously wary of new music, but Delfs notices that the RPO audience is increasingly interested in the new pieces that the orchestra has presented.

It's all about juxtaposition: Performing an exciting new piece in the context of a familiar one can help them hear a warhorse with new ears, he says.

He points to the successful combination of Kevin Put's concerto Contact with Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony this season.

After a few years of this type of programming, we have built the trust of our audience, Delfs notes.

As a musical director I have to look for one reason to be for our orchestra, he adds. The future must always be connected to the past. Our ancestors put the RPO on the map in presenting new music, and I'm very excited that we can revive this tradition in a new, fresh way.

The Rochester Philharmonic Orchestraconducted by Andreas Delfs, presents James Lee III's Sensational Dynamism (Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra) with The Naughtons on November 9 and 10 in Kodak Hall at the Eastman Theater. Also on the program: Verdis Overture from La Forza del Destino, Alwyn's Autumn Legend and Strauss Also sprach Zarathustra. Information and tickets are available here.