Tulsa Symphony musicians in virtual performance of Noam Faingold’s We Persist
“An original work by Tulsa composer Noam Faingold, designed specifically to be performed by a ‘socially distanced’ orchestra, had its world premiere by members of the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra at 10 a.m. Monday,” writes James D. Watts Jr. in Monday’s (7/13) Tulsa World (Oklahoma). “The composition, titled ‘We Persist,’ was released on roottulsa.com and on the Root Tulsa YouTube page. The finished product is a video featuring 45 Tulsa Symphony musicians, all of whom were recorded individually, and whose performances are blended together into an orchestral whole. While a number of orchestras around the world have created such virtual performances, the Tulsa Symphony’s performance of Faingold’s work is one of the first original compositions written for this format. Faingold … said he was inspired to create ‘We Persist’ in response to the coronavirus pandemic during the first few weeks of being self-quarantined…. Faingold said he approached the Tulsa Symphony about presenting the work, and the orchestra agreed to collaborate on the project. Underwriting for the premiere was provided by the George Kaiser Family Foundation and several other Tulsa-based donors…. ‘The musicians brought to it a depth and quality that I could never have predicted,’ Faingold said.”
