Three women, three discoveries. Jaap van Zweden conducts Rome Prize winner Young’s composition culminating in wonder, Grammy–nominated León’s evocation of Louis Armstrong, and Pulitzer Prize winner Reid’s alluring tapestry of sound and color. The broadcast includes profiles of these three fascinating women.
Nina C. YOUNG (b. 1984)
Tread softly (2019–20; World Premiere–New York Philharmonic Commission)
Tania LEÓN (b. 1943)
Stride (2019; World Premiere–New York Philharmonic Co-Commission)
Ellen REID (b. 1983)
When the World as You’ve Known It Doesn’t Exist (2019; World Premiere–New York Philharmonic Co-Commission)
These three works were commissioned as part of Project 19, the Philharmonic’s multi-season initiative celebrating the centennial of the 19th Amendment.
Lead support for Project 19 was provided by the Howard Gilman Foundation, the Donald A. Pels Charitable Trust, and Dr. Agnes Hsu-Tang and Mr. Oscar L. Tang, with generous support from Sheree A. and Gerald L. Friedman; The Hauser Foundation; The Gerald L. Lennard Foundation; Margaret Morgan and Wesley Phoa; Kimberly V. Strauss, The Strauss Foundation; the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation; and an anonymous donor.
Tania León’s commission was made possible with generous support from Margaret Morgan and Wesley Phoa, with additional support for the performances from the Francis Goelet Charitable Lead Trusts.
Wolfe’s Grammy-nominated oratorio brings to life the immigrant women who sang, labored, and, tragically, perished in the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. The costumed chorus wields scissors as Jaap van Zweden conducts.
Julia WOLFE (b. 1958)
Fire in my mouth (2018; World Premiere–...
Philharmonic musicians perform chamber works by six contemporary composers who chose to spend time living and working in America. Taken together, these works weave together influences from all over the world to form a uniquely American tapestry of sound.
CHEN Yi (b. 1953)
At the Kansas Cit...
An opera about a woman who disguises herself as a man to free her husband from political imprisonment. No, it’s not Beethoven’s Fidelio; it is David Lang’s fresh take on the same themes of love and liberty, but expressed in his contemporary, clear, American musical voice.
David LANG (b...
