Living Legends

Virtual Concert Premiere:

Wednesday, June 9, 7:30pm

Jesse Montgomery: Banner

Reena Esmail: Teen Murti

Keiko Abe: The WAVE Marimba Concerto

Gabriela Lena Frank: Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout

Eriko Daimo, Marimba
Yaniv Dinur, Conductor

The New Bedford Symphony Orchestra has been selected to perform a virtual concert at the League of American Orchestra’s national conference, which is also being held virtually, in June. We are very proud of this accomplishment as a national audience will now be able to enjoy the outstanding artistry of our orchestra. The concert will be available for viewing until July 9, 2021, but we hope you will join us and all of the conference attendees for the premiere at 7:30pm on June 9!

The program features music by four women of color who are among the leading composers of our time. Their pieces grapple with questions of self-identity and draw inspiration from the folk music of their traditions – African, Indian, Japanese, and Latin American.

Jesse Montgomery’s music welds classical music together with elements of improvisation, language, and social justice. Montgomery’s Banner is a brilliant rendition of the National Anthem interwoven with “Lift Every Voice and Sing” – often called the Black National Anthem.

Rena Esmail’s works combine Indian and Western musical traditions. Teen Murti (Three Statures) revolves around three different raags–Hindu melodic frameworks of improvisation–which are separated by short interludes. Each raag represents a tableaux, a concept inspired by Mussorgsky’s Pictures in an Exhibition.

Keiko Abe is one of the finest marimba players in the world, responsible for the development of the instrument, as well as expanding its repertoire and playing technique. Abe’s Marimba Concerto opens with a wild ritual based on Japanese traditional music, followed by a quiet prayer and a dream-like cadenza. The finale is built upon non-stop feverish triplets. The meaning of “percussion” goes beyond the instruments to clapping, stomping, and even shouting. Award-winning marimbist, Eriko Daimo, joins the orchestra as guest soloist for this piece. Ms. Daimo is one of the leading artists of her field.

Gabriella Lena Frank’s Leyendas (Legends) consists of six movements inspired by Andean music. Originally written for string quartet and later arranged for string orchestra, the piece encompasses traditional dances, songs, as well as folk characters, and uses extended playing techniques to imitate traditional Andean instruments.