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Blu Ocean Artists feature in season-opening performance of American Composers Orchestra

Excerpt from ACO Season Announcement


American Composers Orchestra (ACO) announced its 2022-2023 season in August, under the leadership of Artistic Director Derek Bermel and President Melissa Ngan.


ACO is dedicated to the creation, celebration, performance, and promotion of orchestral music by American composers, with a commitment to diversity, disruption, and discovery. This season’s slate of performances includes eight premieres of new works by American composers, as well as the re-launch of ACO’s EarShot CoLABoratory workshop program; the continuation of ACO’s national EarShot Readings program for emerging composers with orchestras across the country; and its Sonic Spark Education program reaching at least 500 students in New York City schools.


ACO Artistic Director Derek Bermel says, “Our 2022-23 season showcases the creativity and diverse viewpoints of four generations of living American composers. ACO also celebrates the virtuosity of our New York City community of artists, including soloists Jeffrey Zeigler and Kaki King and the ensembles Sandbox Percussion and Attacca Quartet. We look forward to welcoming audiences this season for a rich tapestry of musical storytelling.”


ACO’s season-opening performance on Thursday, October 20, 2022 is The Natural Order at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall, a concert that explores humankind’s relationship to the Earth in an age of climate anxiety. The performance will be conducted by Mei-Ann Chen and features the Attacca Quartet, Sandbox Percussion, and cello soloist Jeffrey Zeigler. The Natural Order includes the New York premiere of Mark Adamo’s Last Year, a dystopian reflection on Vivaldi’s Four Seasons performed by Zeigler and ACO. Viet Cuong’s highly charged re(new)al is a concerto for Sandbox Percussion, inspired by the power of hydro, wind, and solar energies. inti figgis-vizueta’s Seven Sides of Fire, developed in ACO’s EarShot CoLABoratory program and written for the Attacca Quartet and ACO,explores the current wildfire crisis through the lens of American Indigenous fire ecology and traditions. Yvette Janine Jackson’s Hello, Tomorrow! for orchestra and electronics, also developed through CoLABoratory, builds on her previous electroacoustic radio operas and invites listeners to draw upon their own experiences to construct a narrative. The Natural Order grapples with the centuries-long struggle to harmonize with Mother Nature sharing both apocalyptic and aspirational visions of humanity’s future.



Click here to read full season announcement on ACO website

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