The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra has just released its first CD, a recording of three works by American composer Paul Fetler, on the Naxos label. On the recording, Music Director Arie Lipsky leads the orchestra—also known informally as A2SO—in Fetler’s Three Poems by Walt Whitman (1976), with Ann Arbor poet Thomas H. Blaske as narrator; Capriccio (1985); and Violin Concerto No. 2, with Aaron Berofsky as soloist. The works were recorded live at Ann Arbor’s Michigan Theater in 2007 and 2008. Paul Fetler is professor emeritus at University of Minnesota, where he taught composition for many years. The recording came about after W. Guy Barast, formerly the orchestra’s development, wrote a successful grant proposal to the NEA for a $10,000 grant to support the project; around the same time, a new American Federation of Musicians union regulation allowing the recording of CDs live at a concert was instituted, setting in motion the orchestra’s programming and recording of Fetler’s compositions in its concerts.
Posted December 21, 2009
