“Rare is the composer who requires a marine coordinator,” writes Lizzie Simon in Saturday’s (3/25) Conde Nast Traveler. “But as the sun sets on April 8, shrimp boats will carry the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra and hundreds of amateur musicians into Lake Pontchartrain and down the urban waterways of New Orleans to perform the world premiere of Yotam Haber’s New Water Music. Haber, 40, will conduct the performance from a giant tower, waving flags…. He described the one-night-only production … as a merry ‘controlled chaos,’ designed to raise awareness for both the environmental plight of the area and the water passages of immigrant populations. Tickets are free and revelers on land will be encouraged to eat, drink and sing along as they listen to the piece…. Handel’s Water Music has long captivated his imagination. Commissioned 300 years ago by King George I, it premiered as the King sailed along London’s River Thames from Whitehall Palace to Chelsea, accompanied by a barge of 50 musicians. The spectacle steadily collected an astonished audience who followed the voyage on land in the kind of second-line-style parade common in New Orleans. … Said Mr. Haber, ‘I loved that idea.’ ”
Posted March 28, 2017
Pictured: New Orleans Airlift’s Delaney Martin and composer Yotam Haber will present New Water Music on the shore of Lake Pontchartain. Airlift is building the fleet for the performers for the Louisiana Philharmonic concert. Credit Cheryl Gerber
