Six New 'Brandenburg' Concerti Completed

NEW YORK, Jan. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- The New York City-based Orpheus Chamber Orchestra announces the completion of six new "Brandenburg" concerti. Orpheus' three-year, six-part New Brandenburg commissioning project paired six celebrated living composers with one of J.S. Bach's original "Brandenburg" concerti, widely regarded as some of the finest musical compositions to emerge from the Baroque era. Orpheus challenged each composer to write a companion piece inspired by an original Bach "Brandenburg." This groundbreaking project culminates in the premiere of the final concerto, Sea Orpheus by Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, inspired by Bach's "Brandenburg" No. 5, at a concert at Carnegie Hall in New York City at 8pm on Saturday, February 6.

This February 6 performance will be broadcast live at WQXR 105.9 (in the NYC listening area) and streamed online throughout the country at wqxr.org, for those unable to attend the live performances but interested in hearing this new set of concerti. WQXR will also feature Orpheus' New Brandenburg project during the week of February 1. Re-broadcasts of each of the five previous New Brandenburgs are scheduled for that week at 8pm, leading up to the final live performance on February 6. Orpheus will be taking this final New Brandenburg on a tour of the eastern United States to Richmond (VA), Durham (NC), Purchase (NY), Atlanta (GA), and Easton (PA).

Sir Peter Maxwell Davies' Sea Orpheus will feature the acclaimed pianist Christopher Taylor in the premiere. Maxwell Davies, an English composer and conductor, currently serves as "Master of the Queen's Music." With over 200 published works in every medium performed worldwide, Peter Maxwell Davies is acknowledged as one of the foremost composers of our time. Davies is also a conductor and was Associate Conductor/Composer of the BBC Philharmonic and Royal Philharmonic for ten years. Sir Peter Maxwell Davies is being honored around the world this year with many concerts celebrating his 75th birthday; he will attend the premiere of Sea Orpheus at Carnegie Hall.

Other composers involved with Orpheus' New Brandenburg commissioning project include Stephen Hartke, Christopher Theofanidis, Melinda Wagner, Paul Moravec, and Aaron Jay Kernis.

The Grammy Award-winning Orpheus Chamber Orchestra is known not only as one of the world's premiere chamber orchestras but for being one of the few ensembles of their size that perform without a conductor. Instead of assigning one person to rule over the group's musical decisions, the orchestra rotates core groups of leaders for each piece. This "Orpheus process" has been recognized as a valuable management model for businesses, corporations, and other nonprofits, and Orpheus has demonstrated their "shared-leadership" approach to numerous groups in these fields.

More information on Orpheus and its New Brandenburg commissioning project can be found at http://www.orpheusnyc.org.

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SOURCE Orpheus Chamber Orchestra