New York Youth Symphony album
13 January 2023
When Covid halted live performance in 2020, the New York Youth Symphony - an orchestra for musicians between the ages of 12 and 22 - decided to channel its musical efforts into recording its first album. Following the murder of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matters protests it was agreed that the album should be made up of works by Black composers. Because of the pandemic the album had to be recorded one section of the orchestra at a time so they could be socially distanced - and the recordings were painstakingly stitched together. Now, amazingly, the eponymous New York Youth Symphony album has been announced as one of the five nominees for the “Best Orchestral Performance” Grammy - an incredible achievement for a youth orchestra, nominated alongside some of the biggest and best professional orchestras in the world. I’ve been listening to the album, which is conducted by Michael Repper and produced by Judith Sherman, a 13-time Grammy winner, who is also nominated as classical producer of the year. It includes works by Jessie Montgomery, Valerie Coleman and Florence Price - whose ‘Symphony No 1’ we saw performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra at last year’s Edinburgh Festival (reviewed here in September 2022). The first piece on the album by Florence Price is ‘Ethiopia's Shadow in America’ - a three movement work composed in 1932 which was lost for many years and only rediscovered in 2009. It’s an entertaining and moving work with a lovely slow movement. The album also features Florence Price’s ‘Piano Concerto in One Movement’, played by Michelle Cann - a very tuneful, cheerful work. For more about the story of the New York Youth Symphony Grammy nomination, see: https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/entertainment/2022/11/16/new-york-youth-symphony-nominated-for-a-grammy
posted by Robin Simpson @ 11:17 am
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