Music Director David Alan Miller and the musicians of your Albany Symphony celebrate the end of David's 30th year as the Capital Region's maestro with a special season finale featuring innovative new music from two of America's premier living composers: Pulitzer Prize-winner John Corigliano and Hollywood's most lauded film music creator, John Williams. The concert, which also features a work by the late Pulitzer Prizewinner Steven Stucky and the Albany Symphony debut of composer Gabriella Smith will be presented in the historic Troy Savings Bank Music Hall in Troy, N.Y., on Saturday, June 4, at 7:30pm, and will also be streamed live online.
"Our season will culminate in a magnificent evening of absolutely incredible recent orchestral music. Pulitzer Prizewinner John Corigliano's dazzling new Saxophone Concerto, 'Triathlon,' features astounding virtuoso and old friend of the Symphony Timothy McAllister, who will play a different member of the sax family—soprano, alto, and baritone—in each movement of the work. We are also deeply honored that the legendary John Williams has allowed us to give the American Premiere of his new 'Prelude and Scherzo' for Piano and Orchestra with my dear friend Gloria Cheng as soloist. A fabulous new work by Gabriella Smith, 'Field Guide,' celebrating birdsong, and Steven Stucky's luminous 'Radical Light' round out this engaging program," said Music Director Miller.
Timothy McAllister, whose virtuosity as a soloist and advocacy for contemporary music have made him one of the leading saxophonists of today, played the world premiere of Corigliano's "Triathlon" in April 2022 with the San Francisco Symphony. "It grabbed a listener's attention from the first notes, and lingered long in the memory after everything else had passed," wrote the San Francisco Chronicle's Joshua Kosman in his review. "McAllister gave a fluent demonstration of what his instrument—all his instruments—can do. He tore his way nimbly through intricate passagework, shaped lyrical melodies with the grace of an opera singer, and gave the piece all the theatrical panache it wanted."
Grammy and Emmy Award-winner Gloria Cheng is similarly a champion of new music who has collaborated with scores of composers, including John Williams on both movie music and his concert music, and with Steven Stucky. On Thursday, June 2, Cheng will present a solo piano recital in Troy Music Hall that includes several works written by Stucky's friends and former students that she recorded in 2018 as a tribute to the late composer. Cheng's recital, along with the Albany Symphony Season Finale Concert and several other events that week, are part of the Symphony's 2022 American Music Festival: TrailBlaze NY. After the festival week, the Symphony goes on tour across the New York State Capital Region and Upper Hudson Valley to present free outdoor concerts in communities along the Empire State Trail. Learn more at TrailBlazeNY.org.
TICKETS AND STREAMING INFORMATION
Tickets and livestream access for the Albany Symphony Season Finale: TrailBlaze! ($20-$62) on Saturday, June 4, at 7:30pm as well as access to the Season Finale online livestream ($37 per household) are available at 518-594-3300 and AlbanySymphony.com. After the event and livestream, all patrons will have access to the concert recording on demand for 30 days. Tickets for the Gloria Cheng recital ($10 general admission) and other 2022 American Music Festival events are also available. See the complete event schedule at TrailBlazeNY.org.
ABOUT THE ALBANY SYMPHONY
The Albany Symphony celebrates our living musical heritage through its adventurous programming, commissioning and recording of new work, and broad community engagement beyond the concert hall.
Recognized as one of the American's most innovative and creative orchestras, the two-time GRAMMY® Award-winning Albany Symphony is renowned for virtuosic performances featuring classic orchestral favorites, lesser-heard masterworks, and a diverse array of new music from leading and emerging voices of today. The Symphony has received more ASCAP Awards than any other orchestra in America, as well as several GRAMMY® nominations, including the orchestra's most recent win in 2021. Led by Music Director David Alan Miller, now in his 30th year, the Symphony presents a core classical series throughout the region, each featuring a world-premiere or recent composition; a multi-day American Music Festival that celebrates established and emerging living composers; performances by its cutting-edge new music chamber ensemble, the Dogs of Desire; and a family series and holiday concerts in collaboration with youth performing arts groups. The Albany Symphony's award-winning education programs serve all ages, from Tiny Tots concerts to library talks and pre-concert Classical Conversations. Symphony in Our Schools brings musicians into classrooms for interactive music education, and Literacy-through-Songwriting, its in-school composer residency program, empowers youth to tackle issues of diversity and self-expression through songwriting, storytelling, improvisation, and teamwork. Founded in 1930 in New York's Capital Region, the Albany Symphony serves a diverse regional audience covering more than seven counties and parts of three states. In addition to an eight-concert subscription season, an annual multi-day American Music Festival including performances by the orchestra's genre-bending ensemble Dogs of Desire, and a host of education and community outreach events, the Albany Symphony regularly serves as an ambassador for new music and Upstate innovation beyond the Capital Region. The Symphony is the only organization to have made multiple appearances at Carnegie Hall's invitational Spring for Music festival, and past special Symphony initiatives include 2017's Water Music NY tour, which drew nearly 25,000 people to concert events in seven towns along the historic Erie Canal. In each of the canal towns, the Symphony commissioned emerging composers to collaborate with local arts organizations to create a new orchestral piece to express each town's unique heritage. As a leader in the creation, performance, and recording of new orchestral music, the Albany Symphony is reshaping the nation's musical legacy.
ABOUT DAVID ALAN MILLER
Two-time Grammy Award winning conductor David Alan Miller has established a reputation as one of the leading American conductors of his generation. As music director of the Albany Symphony since 1992, Miller has proven himself a creative and compelling orchestra builder. Through exploration of unusual repertoire, educational programming, community outreach, and recording initiatives, he has reaffirmed the Albany Symphony's reputation as the nation's leading champion of American symphonic music and one of its most innovative orchestras. He and the orchestra have twice appeared at "Spring For Music," an annual festival of America's most creative orchestras at New York City's Carnegie Hall, and at the SHIFT Festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Other accolades include Columbia University's 2003 Ditson Conductor's Award, the oldest award honoring conductors for their commitment to American music, the 2001 ASCAP Morton Gould Award for Innovative Programming, and, in 1999, ASCAP's first-ever Leonard Bernstein Award for Outstanding Educational Programming. Frequently in demand as a guest conductor, Miller has worked with most of America's major orchestras, including the orchestras of Baltimore, Chicago, Cleveland, Detroit, Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and San Francisco, as well as the New World Symphony, the Boston Pops, and the New York City Ballet. In addition, he has appeared frequently throughout Europe, the UK, Australia, and the Far East as guest conductor. Since 2019, Miller has served as Artistic Advisor to the Little Orchestra Society in New York City, and, from 2006 to 2012, served as Artistic Director of "New Paths in Music," a festival of new music from around the world, also in New York City. Miller received his most recent Grammy Award in 2021 for his recording of Christopher Theofanidis' Viola Concerto, with Richard O'Neill and the Albany Symphony, and his first Grammy in 2014 for his Naxos recording of John Corigliano's "Conjurer," with the Albany Symphony and Dame Evelyn Glennie. His extensive discography also includes recordings of the works of Todd Levin with the London Symphony Orchestra for Deutsche Grammophon, as well as music by Michael Daugherty, Kamran Ince, Michael Torke (London/Decca), Luis Tinoco, and Christopher Rouse (Naxos). His recordings with the Albany Symphony include discs devoted to the music of John Harbison, Roy Harris, Morton Gould, Don Gillis, Aaron J. Kernis, Peter Mennin, and Vincent Persichetti on the Albany Records label. He has also conducted the National Orchestral Institute Philharmonic in three acclaimed recordings on Naxos. A native of Los Angeles, David Alan Miller holds a bachelor's degree from the University of California, Berkeley and a master's degree in orchestral conducting from The Juilliard School. Prior to his appointment in Albany, Miller was associate conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. From 1982 to 1988, he was music director of the New York Youth Symphony, earning considerable acclaim for his work with that ensemble. Miller lives in Slingerlands, New York, a rural suburb of Albany.
