St. Louis Symphony Orchestra music director David Robertson, Stephanie Berg and Jeanne Sinquefield
The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra announced Thursday that it will perform new works by two young composers associated with the Mizzou New Music Initiative (MNMI) as part of its 2013-14 season. The announcement came during a “town hall” event at Powell Symphony Hall in St. Louis as the orchestra unveiled its entire season schedule for next year.
The SLSO will play Stephanie Berg’s Ravish and Mayhem as part of a concert program scheduled for Friday, January 10 and Saturday, January 11, 2014 at Powell Hall. The performances will be the first times that a work composed under the auspices of MNMI will be played by a major American symphony orchestra.
Berg, a native of Parkville, MO, earned her master’s degree in composition last year at the University of Missouri and now lives in Columbia. Chosen in 2012 as one of the resident composers for what now is known as the Mizzou International Composers Festival (MICF), she wrote Ravish and Mayhem, which then was premiered last July during the festival by the new music ensemble Alarm Will Sound. The piece subsequently has been re-arranged and expanded into a score for a full symphony orchestra, which will be played for the first time in March 2013 by the Columbia Civic Orchestra.
The SLSO also will perform Patrick Harlin’s Rapture during its concerts on Friday, September 27 and Saturday, September 28, 2013. Harlin also was one of the eight resident composers at last summer’s MICF, and currently is studying for a doctorate in composition at the University of Michigan. Both his work and Berg’s were selected from among a list of four compositions chosen by 2012 MICF faculty members Steven Stucky, Donnacha Dennehy, W. Thomas McKenney and Stefan Freund for submission to the SLSO’s artistic staff.
As a graduate teaching assistant on full scholarship, a member of the Mizzou New Music Ensemble, and past winner of the annual Sinquefield Composition Prize, “Stephanie has benefited from being a part of many programs established by the Mizzou New Music Initiative,” said Stefan Freund, associate professor of music at Mizzou and co-director of the Initiative. “The selection of Ravish and Mayhem for performance by the St. Louis Symphony demonstrates the broad impact the MNMI is having by providing young composers with amazing opportunities, including those on the very highest levels.”
“Our goal always has been to provide opportunities for composers at all stages of their development, from grade school to grad school and then on into their professional lives,” said Jeanne Sinquefield of the Sinquefield Charitable Foundation, which funds the Mizzou New Music Initiative. “When outstanding young composers like Stephanie and Patrick are able to have their works played by a top orchestra like the St. Louis Symphony, it shows that we’re well on the way to reaching that goal.”
You can hear a recording of Stephanie Berg’s Ravish and Mayhem at https://soundcloud.com/stephanie-berg, and a recording of Patrick Harlin’s Rapture at http://www.patrickharlin.com/#!music.
For information on purchasing tickets for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and a complete season schedule for 2013-14, visit the SLSO’s website at http://www.stlsymphony.org/.