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American Composers Orchestra (ACO) has announced a new co-commission in cooperation with the record label BIS, for Symphonic B A C H Variations for Piano and Orchestra, a piano concerto by composer and conductor José Serebrier. The ACO commission is made possible by a special grant from long-time ACO board member Paul Underwood. The Swedish label BIS will undertake the recording with pianist Yevgeny Sudbin, exclusive BIS artist, with an orchestra to be announced.
BIS previously commissioned José Serebrier’s Flute Concerto with Tango, which they recorded with soloist Sharon Bezaly and the Australian Chamber Orchestra. American Composers Orchestra gave the US premiere in 2012. José Serebrier has received commissions from the Harvard Musical Association, National Endowment for the Arts, the Joffrey Ballet and many others. His works have been recorded by Leopold Stokowski, Sir John Eliot Gardiner and others.
Yevgeny Sudbin has been hailed by The Telegraph as “potentially one of the greatest pianists of the 21st century.” As BIS Records’ only exclusive artist, all of Sudbin’s recordings have met with critical acclaim and are regularly featured as CD of the Month by BBC Music Magazine or Editor’s Choice by Gramophone.
Paul Underwood, the supporter of this major new work, is a well-known figure on the new music scene. In addition to dozens of commissions and world premieres that he has underwritten, he has for many years been the lead supporter of ACO’s annual Underwood New Music Readings, a program that provides career-building opportunities to emerging composers from around the country. The Readings have become a rite-of-passage for a generation of aspiring composers. The 2017 Underwood New Music Readings will be held June 21-23 in New York City.
Though a performance of Serebrier’s new concerto has not yet been scheduled, ACO’s 2016-17 season includes the world premiere performances of two other Underwood commissions: David Hertzberg’s Symphony on March 24 at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, and Carlos Simon’s Portrait of a Queen on May 23 at Symphony Space.