The New York Philharmonic has announced that it will receive $10 million from Henry R. Kravis to endow its new composer-in-residence position. The gift is being made in honor of Kravis’s wife, Marie-Josée Kravis; the Kravises have supported previous Philharmonic commissions, including Peter Lieberson’s The World in Flower (premiered May 2009), Esa-Pekka Salonen’s Piano Concerto (February 2007), and Stephen Hartke’s Symphony No. 3 (September 3). Magnus Lindberg will hold the first Marie-Josée Composer-in-Residence at the Philharmonic, a two-year post. The gift will also fund a biannual new-music prize with an award of $250,000 and a commission from the New York Philharmonic, beginning in the 2011-12 season, with further details to be announced at a later date. “I am awed by the level of commitment that the Kravises are showing for new music,” said Music Director Alan Gilbert, “and I am particularly pleased that it involves the Composer-in-Residence position, which is such an important part of what I hope to bring to the orchestra.” The appointment of Lindberg reinstitutes the role of composer-in-residence as a fundamental part of the Philharmonic’s programs. The Philharmonic’s previous composers-in-residence were David Amram (1966-67), Lester Trimble (1967-68), Fredric Myrow (1968-69), Jacob Druckman (1982-86), and David Del Tredici (1988-90). Tania León was the orchestra’s Charles H.A. Revson Composer Fellow (1993-96) and New Music Advisor (1996-97).
Posted September 14, 2009
Photo of Magnus Lindberg by Hanya Chlala Arena PAL
