In Friday’s (5/11) Birmingham News (Alabama), Michael Huebner writes, “A palpable buzz spread through Carnegie Hall Thursday night, not only from more than 700 people who traveled from Birmingham to hear the Alabama Symphony in New York, but from the rest of the 1,700 who came for the fourth installment in the Spring for Music festival. … [Before the concert] ASO Board president Ruffner Page then told [WQXR’s Elliott] Forrest about the orchestra, the city, and the strides the orchestra has made since its bankruptcy in the 1990s. The concert was part of the festival’s six-concert series that is showcasing orchestras from as close as New Jersey and as far away as Edmonton, Canada. Music Director Justin Brown took the podium for the 7:30 p.m. event to conduct New York premieres of Avner Dorman’s ‘Astrolatry’ and Paul Lansky’s ‘Shapeshifters’ before launching into Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7. All were well received, but the Beethoven generated an immediate standing ovation. … Native New Yorker Ed Berko, who moved to Birmingham three years ago to become an executive at Protective Life, recalled many previous performances at Carnegie Hall. ‘I lived near Lincoln Center and came here often,’ he said. ‘This was a great performance. Justin Brown is a world-class musician, a real star. He has brought this symphony to national fame.’ ”
Posted May 11, 2012
