“CityMusic Cleveland is used to tackling creative projects. But its current effort, the one it’s presenting this week, could very well take the cake,” writes Zachary Lewis in Tuesday’s (3/11) Cleveland Plain Dealer. “That’s because its latest offering under guest conductor James Feddeck exposes and celebrates a fascinating process going on … here in Northeast Ohio: refugee immigration. In commissioning and performing ‘Roots to Branches,’ a new work for percussion, narrator and orchestra by Dan Visconti, the group aims to relate through music the news and stories of thousands of people from all over the world forging new lives along the shores of Lake Erie. ‘Everything about it seemed like a good fit with our mission,’ said Rebecca Schweigert Mayhew, CityMusic’s vice president of community engagement… It isn’t every day an organization dedicated to free performances of classical music sets out to raise social awareness. But that’s exactly what going on with ‘Roots to Branches.’ … And so they tapped Visconti, an award-winning composer with deep roots in the city and an interest in vernacular music.” Also on the program are a work for solo cello by Chinary Ung and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 (“Eroica”). Read Dan Visconti’s latest article for Symphony, about programs for young composers, here.
Posted March 12, 2014
Pictured: composer Dan Visconti
