From a Grand Teton Music Festival press release:
Grand Teton Music Festival steps onto the world’s musical stage this week with the unveiling of a brand-new musical work commissioned by -- and written for -- the Festival by Minnesota-based American composer Stephen Paulus.
This world premiere features longtime Festival friend and cellist Lynn Harrell alongside the Festival Orchestra with Music Director Donald Runnicles conducting in the Festival’s acoustic home, Walk Festival Hall in Teton Village. These Festival Orchestra concerts take place at 8 p.m. Friday, August 14, and Saturday, August 15. Tickets: $25-50 Adults, $10 Students. 307-733-1128 or www.gtmf.org.
Accessible, engaging, and fresh, Mr. Paulus will be in residence the final week of the Festival for events that explore the connection between the modern-day composer and our society, find out what it means to create new classical music, and introduce us to his music, written especially for the Grand Teton Music Festival. What can audiences expect from the commission?
“Stephen has a gloriously lyrical and colorful style which speaks to orchestra and audience immediately. After being enormously impressed by his Violin Concerto that we featured at the Festival a couple of seasons ago I was eager to bring Stephen together with Lynn Harrell in order to create a new Cello Concerto,” explains Music Director Donald Runnicles.
Mr. Harrell also expressed great enthusiasm for Paulus’s new music, exclaiming, “Playing this new concerto is like a revitalization of my musical existence!”
The world premiere of this new work is not only an exciting way for the Grand Teton Music Festival to close its 2009 summer season, but it also makes a bold statement about the Festival’s vision for the future.
Music Director Donald Runnicles eloquently put this achievement into context: “It is important and exciting for the Grand Teton Music Festival to not only bring to life the masterworks of our tradition, but also to play a role in the creation of new music for future audiences.”
For tickets and information, call 307-733-1128 or visit http://www.gtmf.org/
