Musical America names Dawn To Dust composer Andrew Norman their 2017 Composer of the Year! “He has likened his start-and-stop rhythms and rapid-fire exchanges to video games, YouTube playback, and other digital-age phenomena. It is a voice singularly his own, and several major commissions from leading orchestras and soloists of our time have vindicated his vision. Contemporary composers often find themselves caught between two groups that stand in stark opposition to each other. On one…
Classical MPR’s YourClassical features the Utah Symphony’s Dawn To Dust recording as the “New Classical Track” and is hosting a giveaway of the recording! “What happens when you combine a level of discovery with familiarity? Thierry Fischer, the music director of the Utah Symphony, says it leads to a larger, younger audience in the concert hall. ‘I do believe that discovery is part of knowing yourself better,” he explains. “There are other things which can…
Classical MPR’s Julie Amacher features Thierry Fischer and the Utah Symphony’s new Dawn to Dust recording on New Classical Tracks! “The Utah Symphony celebrated its 75th anniversary this season with three newly commissioned works, all of which appear on this new recording, Dawn to Dust. It all started in the summer of 2014, when the Utah Symphony brought music and nature together by offering free concerts in each of Utah’s five national parks. Just before…
Audiophile Audition gives Utah Symphony’s Dawn To Dust recording four stars calling it a “Notable contemporary music from Utah in a lovely recording.” “Dawn To Dust contains live recordings of three significant and interesting works by leading composers Augusta Read Thomas, Nico Muhly, and Andrew Norman.… The first work on the disc is a lovely and dynamic contemporary ballet for orchestra by Ms. Thomas, called EOS – Goddess of the Dawn. It has a rich…
“Prediction: The visionary new music, system-testing percussion, and virtual rainbow of colors that distinguish Dawn to Dust, the latest hybrid SACD in Reference Recordings’ Fresh! series, guarantee that it will become a hit among music-loving audiophiles who dare play tracks beyond 3 minutes in length. The inventive genius that courses through the recording’s three compositions—Control (Five Landscapes for Orchestra) by Nico Muhly, 34; Switch by Andrew Norman, 37; and Eos (Goddess of the Dawn), a…
Classical Voice North America are fans of Andrew Norman and his new work Switch recorded by the Utah Symphony and Thierry Fischer on Dawn To Dust: “[Dawn To Dust] sets off into new territory with three commissioned pieces that the Utah Symphony performed and recorded last year.…Switch, by the omnipresent Andrew Norman, is the longest and most interesting piece here, virtually a percussion concerto for the nimble hands of Colin Currie, who is kept very…
The Wall Street Journal published a double-review of recent percussion concerto performances and featured the Utah Symphony and Colin Currie’s performance of Andrew Norman’s Switch at Carnegie Hall: “…the Utah Symphony and its music director, Thierry Fischer, presented Mr. Norman’s “Switch,” with Mr. Currie as the intrepid, energetic soloist. When the concerto began, the percussionist was nowhere in sight. A few minutes later, he bounded onstage from the auditorium and began his solo perambulations, moving…
Kate Molleson reviews the Utah Symphony’s Dawn to Dust recording in the July issue of Gramophone Magazine: “This disc contains premiere recordings of the three works commissioned by the Utah Symphony to celebrate its 75th birthday, and as a bright and upbeat showcase for the orchestra it does its job nicely.…First comes the five-movement EOS (the goddess of the dawn) by Augusta Read Thomas, who knows what she wants from an orchestra…This is neat, well-crafted…
ClassicalEar‘s Colin Anderson gives a four-star rating to the Utah Symphony’s new Dawn To Dust recording: “One thing is certain, that the Utah Symphony and music director Thierry Fischer are going places. This superbly recorded anthology reports a top-drawer orchestra. Augusta Read Thomas’s EOS (Goddess of the Dawn) pulsates with life and suggestion, orchestrated with colour, a gleaming score conveying very likeable music to the ears.… Much is promised at the beginning [of Andrew Norman’s…
The New York Times reviews the Utah Symphony’s Friday night performance and the “Switch” New York Premiere at Carnegie Hall! “The inspired players excelled in an ambitious program that featured the New York premiere of Andrew Norman’s ‘Switch,’ one of several recent Utah Symphony commissions. … ‘Switch’ explores nonlinear, narrative-scrambling techniques borrowed from video games. His restless music gurgles and explodes in often fragmented phrases, leaping breathlessly from one thing to another. ‘Switch’ actually begins…
“Dawn to Dust shows the broad diversity among contemporary American composers and presents a wide range of styles and quality of work. And each is played with fervor and passion. Nico Muhly’s Control…is distinctively American and calls to mind Aaron Copland’s Western inspired works. Andrew Norman’s Switch… is a tour de force piece that puts the virtuosity of both the soloist and orchestra on full display. It’s a fabulously dynamic piece that takes the listener…
“Utah Symphony and Thierry Fischer present an immaculately conceived performance of works by three of our most prominent composers of the moment: Augusta Read Thomas, Nico Muhly, and Andrew Norman. … Utah Symphony really wows in Augusta’s music: the way challenging runs pass through the entire orchestra with perfect precision and ensemble is truly something for the ears to behold… [Control is] a fascinating work, such a far evolution from Muhly’s earlier minimalist-influenced textures, although…
Online magazine Smile Politely highlights the upcoming Utah Symphony tour on their way to next week’s Carnegie Hall Performance! “The Utah Symphony will perform a concert of varied works at the Foellinger Great Hall of Urbana’s Krannert Center on April 27. This is an orchestra from a seemingly small market that has earned a world-class pedigree through a legacy of fine recordings and superb playing. Current Music Director, Thierry Fischer, is touring his superb ensemble…
“It’s no secret that 2016 has already been a strong year for albums featuring new and recent music… Now things get even better with the release of Dawn to Dust, a collection of three scores commissioned and performed by the Utah Symphony and its music director, Thierry Fischer. The highlight of the disc is the debut recording of Andrew Norman’s riotous Switch, a percussion concerto that’s played here with aplomb by Colin Curie. Over the…
“This is essential listening for fans of new American orchestral music. The triptych gives a fascinating cross-section of current trends, and RR’s “Fresh!” moniker is an incredibly accurate description of the results. The notes on the pieces are by the composers themselves, and it is interesting to see how the prose and musical writing mirror each other…Recorded sound is demonstration quality. Highly recommended!” —Marcus Karl Maroney, ConcertoNet Read the full review on ConcertoNet.com Dawn To…
Bruckner: Symphony No. 7; Bates: Resurrexit
Mark Donahue & John Newton, engineers; Mark Donahue, mastering engineer (Manfred Honeck & Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra)