In Tuesday’s (2/16) Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky), Andrew Adler writes, “As composer George Tsontakis explained it, the idea for him to write a new piece for the Louisville Orchestra was hatched on a sliver of paper. Tsontakis, who won the 2005 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition, was seated at dinner next to Nana Lampton, chief executive of American Life & Accident insurance company. ‘She started asking me all these kind of questions,’ Tsontakis recalled, such as, ‘ “How do you write pieces?” “Well, we get commissions,” ’ he answered. … ‘The next thing, she had written on a paper napkin: “For the anniversary of American Life.” So it was commissioned on a napkin.’ What resulted was concise score called, perhaps fittingly, ‘Impetuous.’ It will get its first performances Thursday, when the orchestra, under music director Jorge Mester, plays a pair of concerts at the Kentucky Center’s Whitney Hall. Tsontakis, 58, is a bit of an impetuous fellow himself. He’s a composer who freely admits he’s not emotionally bound to his profession. His interests range widely, from architecture to acting. … Tsontakis is also deeply involved with Yaddo, the venerable artists’ colony in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.’ ”
Posted February 18, 2010
