In Sunday’s (5/5) Birmingham News (Alabama), Michael Huebner writes, “Alabama Symphony Masterworks concerts have come equipped with multiple spotlights all season long. Because of the ongoing music director search, listeners usually encounter a high-credentialed guest conductor, a star-level soloist (or two, or three) and maybe a 20th or 21st century work, which plays directly into the orchestra’s specialty. Concerts on Friday and Saturday are shaping up to be at least that high a level. The guest conductor is Edwin Outwater, whose career is expanding exponentially and globally, while based in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario. The soloist for Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K. 466, is Anton Nel, a native of South Africa who teaches at the University of Texas at Austin. … The program also includes Haydn’s Symphony No. 100 in G major (‘Military’) and ‘From Here On Out,’ by Nico Muhly, one of New York’s most dynamic young composers. Composed for the American Ballet Theatre and choreographer and dancer Benjamin Millepied, the work draws from the minimalist pulsations of Philip Glass, enriched by a colorful sonic tapestry. Outwater has recorded the work with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony.”
Posted May 7, 2013
