In Thursday’s (2/28) Nashville Scene, John Pitcher writes, “Don’t call Mason Bates a classical dinosaur. A 36-year-old California-based composer, Bates has spent much of his career on the cutting edge of contemporary music. His sparkling, effervescent works often fuse traditional acoustic music with the sounds of techno pop. In fact, he’s as likely to spin records onstage as conduct ensembles. Nashvillians will get to experience Bates’ innovative music this weekend, when Giancarlo Guerrero leads the Nashville Symphony Orchestra in a performance of the composer’s new Violin Concerto. Violinist Anne Akiko Meyers premiered the concerto in Pittsburgh in December. She’ll give the work its second-ever performance this weekend at the Schermerhorn Symphony Center. … Meyers first encountered Bates, a composer-in-residence at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, when she hired him to compose cadenzas for the Beethoven Violin Concerto. … Initially, Meyers figured Bates would compose an electronic work, a ‘Concerto for Violin, Orchestra and Turntable.’ But Bates decided to go unplugged. ‘Mason explained that he didn’t need electronics to write this concerto,’ says Meyers. ‘As far as he’s concerned, the symphony orchestra is the world’s biggest and greatest synthesizer.’ ”
Posted March 1, 2013
