I just found out about the American Composers Orchestra from an article in the New York Times. They just performed their second concert of the season at Zankel Hall on Friday, and received a great review in the New York Times.
Muscians from the ACO performing Friday.
The concert was titled “A Time and Place,” and the pieces that were performed were from specific periods and settings. The first piece played was “Central Park in the Dark,” which, according to the New York Times, “evokes sensations and sounds that might be experienced while sitting on a park bench on a summer night.” Then came Ryan Francis’s “High Line,” which was inspired by the High Line in Manhattan, which is a park that was built on abandoned elevated railways. You can watch a video introducing the piece below.
Although the first two pieces played centered on New York City, there were pieces played in the program that were reflective of other parts of America, such as “The Fire at 4 a.m.” inspired by the Great Plains, or Christopher Trapani’s “Westering,” which has a Western feel.
The American Composers seems like a great organization and I think going to one of their concerts would be an exciting and worthwhile experience.
ACO is a longstanding and important cultural organization in New York. That makes it an important cultural organization in the world. The concerts are not uniformly indicative of the latest trends, but as a whole the work of the organization if very important to the ongoing development and conservation of live orchestral music. Their concerts are worth attending. (And they usually have cheap or free seats for students!)