“On the evening of Nov. 2, the Yaddo Artist Medal was presented to composer David Del Tredici, who is this year’s senior composer in residence with the Albany Symphony Orchestra,” writes Joseph Dalton in Wednesday’s (11/15) Albany Times Union (N.Y.). At the presentation, “Not wanting to give a boring acceptance speech, the composer showed up dressed as Count Dracula [and] made a plea for civil rights for the undead…. Del Tredici at age 80 still likes to be naughty and keep things interesting. The element of high whimsy definitely shows up in his orchestral music. Liberal use of a wind machine is one of his trademarks. ‘He’s a wonderfully creative, fascinating, charming individual,’ says the ASO’s David Alan Miller…. The wind machine as well as thunder sheets will be heard in the stormy score to [the 2005 work] ‘Rip Van Winkle,’ which is part of the ASO’s concert … on Saturday night.… Come springtime, plenty more Del Tredici music will be heard locally, thanks to the ASO and its American Music Festival.”
Posted November 16, 2017
