“Teddy Abrams is a young conductor with huge ideas,” writes Eric C. Simpson in Monday’s (3/16) Miami Herald. “Abrams, 27, who will lead the New World Symphony this Friday and Saturday, is still in his first year as music director of the Louisville Symphony, and he is already doing his part to change the way that audiences and orchestras interact. His programming is challenging industry norms.… Abrams’s programming in Louisville has rivaled that of even large, progressive-minded institutions.… In 2015-16 the Louisville Symphony’s 10-concert ‘Classics’ series, which makes up the meat of the orchestra’s offerings, will include two programs devoted entirely to American music, presenting, among other items, the world premiere of a piano concerto by Chase Morrin. Also on the docket … are Philip Glass’s Violin Concerto, Martinů’s Symphony No. 6, and a commission by composers from the Curtis Institute of Music…. Abrams feels he can take this approach in part because whatever he programs, the challenge of audience engagement remains largely the same.… ‘Any chance I get, I’m essentially evangelizing for the orchestra. Because each time I build a connection, it makes people that much more open to and excited about the possibility of the music that we play.’ ”
Posted March 18, 2015
