The steady crescendo of the past two weeks of the 2016 NY PHIL BIENNIAL culminates in a grand finale on June 11, when Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic pay tribute to three Philharmonic friends: Pierre Boulez, Steven Stucky, and Per Nørgård. This final Biennial Beat video takes you inside.
Renowned Danish composer Nørgård is the second recipient of The Marie-Josée Kravis Prize for New Music at the New York Philharmonic, one of the world’s largest new-music prizes. His Eighth Symphony, well received at its premiere in Helsinki, will be given its U.S. Premiere.
This powerful, lyrical work will be paired with a somewhat unusual piece by Pierre Boulez, an icon of 20th-century music and former Music Director of the New York Philharmonic. Composed in 1976 as a 70th birthday present for his friend, new-music advocate Paul Sacher, Boulez scored Messagesquisse for solo cello accompanied by six additional cellos. This performance will feature Philharmonic cellist Eric Bartlett as soloist plus his colleagues from the Philharmonic cello section.
Also on the program: the New York Premiere of the Pulitzer Prize–winning Second Concerto for Orchestra by the late Steven Stucky, one of his most popular works and a stunning showpiece for the Orchestra. Stucky is a composer with a long and close relationship with the New York Philharmonic, having been commissioned twice and also as the host of the Orchestra’s Hear & Now series.
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