Bruce MacCombie's "Samsara Rounds" Sees World Premiere by James DePreist and The Juilliard Orchestra

Bruce MacCombie's new orchestral work, Samsara Rounds, is given its world premiere by The Juilliard Orchestra under James DePreist on February 17 at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall. A former Dean of The Juilliard School, MacCombie was commissioned to compose this work by the school with support from the Trust of Francis Goelet. MacCombie writes of his piece:

Samsara is a Buddhist concept having to do with our being ‘travelers on the wheel of life.' Samsara Rounds is a meditative work which opens with a quiet prologue and proceeds with a tune derived from a symmetrical scale embarking on a rather obsessive journey by making the rounds of the orchestra and highlighting various solo instruments and instrumental sections until gradually reaching a climactic point before dropping to a quiet epilogue.

Bruce MacCombie was awarded one of the first Goddard Lieberson Fellowships by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. The award noted that "Mr. MacCombie composes polished gems of musical understatement. Characterized by a fresh and penetrating wit, they sparkle and yet are clothed in mystery." During the 1979-80 season, various works were presented by the Composers Forum in New York, where Bernard Holland, writing in the New York Times, referred to MacCombie as "a deft and evocative craftsman." Since then, his works have been commissioned by organizations such as the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the Seattle Symphony, the 20th Century Consort, the Jerome Foundation, and the International Guitar Foundation. Performances of his music have been given at Carnegie Hall, the Seattle Opera House, the Kennedy Center, the Warsaw Autumn Festival, the Hong Kong Arts Festival, Alice Tully Hall, the Hirshhorn Museum, the Royal Academy of Music, and other venues and festivals throughout the U.S. and Europe.

For tickets to the The Juilliard Orchestra, please visit www.juilliard.edu

Bruce MacCombie
Samsara Rounds (2008)
for orchestra
pic.0.2.ca.2.bcl.2.cbsn-4.3.3.1-timp.perc-amp pno-str
14'