Joseph Schwantner's "Chasing Light..." in World Premiere by Reno Chamber Orchestra

As the selected composer in the second round of the Ford Made in America program, the largest orchestral co-commissioning program in US history, Joseph Schwantner sees the world premiere of his Chasing Light... by the Reno Chamber Orchestra under the direction of Theodore Kuchar on September 20. The performance kicks off a nationwide run of performances by the 59 orchestras of the consortium over the course of the 2008/09 and 2009/10 concert seasons. Chasing Light ... is inspired in part by a poem written by Joseph Schwantner himself. Explaining his sources, Schwantner comments:

Chasing Light ... draws its spirit, energy and inspiration from the celebration of vibrant colors and light that penetrate the morning mist as it wafts through the trees in the high New England hills. Like a delicate dance, those images intersected with a brief original poem that helped fire my musical imagination.

Spearheaded by Meet the Composer and the League of American Orchestras and made possible by the philanthropic arm of the Ford Motor Company, the Ford Made in America program gives orchestras with small budgets representing all 50 states an opportunity they would not have on their own: the tools to engage their communities with the work of established American composers of international repute. The new round of Ford Made in America promises to build upon the success of the first round, which featured the commission of a new piece by composer Joan Tower that was heard by 75,000 audience members across the nation.

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To learn more on the music of Joseph Schwantner, go to www.schott-music.com and www.schwantner.net.

To learn more on Ford Made in America, visit www.fordmadeinamerica.org.

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Joseph Schwantner
Chasing Light... (2008)
for chamber orchestra
2(2.pic)2.2.2-2210-timp.perc-amp pno-str
17'

(09/09/2008)