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The New World Initiative Events in December

 

It’s December, but this year New York City rings with more than sleigh bells and carols. Dvořák abounds, thanks to The New World Initiative, a centerpiece of our 175th season celebration, which offers New Yorkers the chance to connect with each other through a wide variety of performances of Dvořák’s New World Symphony, a work associated with the Orchestra since its premiere and so a piece of the city’s cultural history.

We kicked it off in September, with our Opening Gala Concert (you can see it here). Now, four other NYC–based groups are performing excerpts, especially “Goin’ Home,” based on the memorable English horn melody heard in the sympho­ny’s Largo.

On December 4 the Greenwich Village Orchestra’s autism-friendly Annual Family Concert features an audience sing-along of “Goin’ Home.”

Head to Brooklyn on December 6 and 9 for the Borough of Manhattan Community College Select Chorus’s premier­e of an original choral piece based on it, written by Eun Ho Kim, its composer-in-residence.

On December 10 Corona Youth Music Project is performing an arrangement of the symphony’s 4th movement.

And on the 15th the middle- and upper-school choirs, orchestras, and jazz ensem­bles of the Berkeley Carroll School will perform “Goin’ Home” in the school’s win­ter concert.

Check out these and future events, as well as videos of the NWI performances to date, at newworldinitiative.com.

New World Symphony Manuscript Parts Now Available in Digital Archives

NY Philharmonic Dvorak

On December 16, 1893, the New York Philharmonic gave the World Premiere of Dvořák's New World Symphony.

Here's another first: for the first time ever, you can see the manuscript parts used at the premiere, a 1917 recording of the Largo, an early first-edition marked score, the program from the premiere, and business documents relating to the premiere and Dvořák. They're just a click away, in the New York Philharmonic Leon Levy Digital Archives

It's all part of the Philharmonic's Dohnányi / Dvořák: A Philharmonic Festival, December 4–13, 2014, which culminates in performances of the New World Symphony, December 11–13, led by legendary conductor and Dvořák interpreter Christoph von Dohnányi.  

The notes and markings — in different colored pencils, some erased but legible — illuminate the rehearsal and revision process leading up to the World Premiere. The Philharmonic used the parts in subsequent performances until 1931, and markings reflect interpretive decisions from these performances as well.

The New York Times did a cool slideshow. Check it out:

 

Calling All NYC Composers: Take the New World Challenge!

 

As part of The New World Initiative — the New York Philharmonic’s season-long, citywide immersion in Dvořák’s New World Symphony — the Philharmonic is launching the New World Composition Challenge, inviting New York City–based composers to create works of not more than three minutes that contain or reference themes from Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, From the New World.

The contest is open to all New York City musicians, professional or amateur, and entrants may use any combination of instruments or voices, from solos to large ensembles, in any musical style or genre.

Visit newworldinitiative.com/participate for contest details. The deadline for submission is Friday, April 14, 2017. Cash prizes will be awarded to 11 winners to be announced on Monday, May 22, 2017.

Happy composing!

What’s New with The New World Initiative

The New World Initiative — the New York Philharmonic’s season-long, citywide immersion in Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, From the New World — is in full swing.

Participating musicians and ensembles have spread the sounds of Dvořák’s “Goin’ Home” melody throughout the city. From full orchestral performances, arrangements written by and for women in an internment camp during World War II, to the ethereal tones of the musical saw, each interpretation offers a unique glimpse into New York City’s multifaceted culture.

With the goal of introducing the New World Symphony to as many New York City students as possible, the Philharmonic, in partnership with the NYC Department of Education, developed a curriculum exploring the work’s African American and Native American influences and the theme of “home,” using materials from the Philharmonic’s Archives. This curriculum was presented to more than 400 teachers at a professional development day in November, which included performances of the work.

Get a taste for the variety of ways people are engaging with The New World Initiative in the above video, and learn more about The New World Initiative here.

175th Anniversary Opening Gala Concert: Video

This past Wednesday launched the New York Philharmonic’s 175th anniversary season, Music Director Alan Gilbert’s farewell season, and The New World Initiative — the Philharmonic’s season-long, city-wide project revolving around Dvořák’s New World Symphony and its theme of “home.” Alan Gilbert led works tied to the Philharmonic’s rich history of premieres by John Corigliano, Gershwin with Aaron Diehl as soloist, and Dvořák.

It was also the Orchestra’s first-ever live concert broadcast on Facebook. In case you missed it, above is video of Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, From the New World.

Alan Gilbert Conductor
Aaron Diehl Piano (New York Philharmonic debut)

John Corigliano STOMP for Orchestra
Gershwin Concerto in F

Intermission

Dvořák Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Op. 95, From the New World

Host: Terrance McKnight
Director: Habib Azar

The New World Initiative Launches with Facebook Live Broadcast of Opening Gala Concert

NY Philharmonic The New World Initiative Facebook Live Dvorak

For the first time ever, you’ll be able to catch a New York Philharmonic concert from the comfort of your own phone. The Philharmonic’s 175th anniversary season Opening Gala Concert will be broadcast live on Facebook this Wednesday, September 21 at 7:30 p.m.

Featuring Dvořák’s New World Symphony, the New York Premiere of John Corigliano’s STOMP for Orchestra, and Gershwin’s Concerto in F with pianist Aaron Diehl in his Philharmonic debut, the Opening Gala Concert kicks off The New World Initiative — a season-long, citywide project revolving around Dvořák’s New World Symphony and its theme of “home.” Throughout the 2016–17 season, The New World Initiative will explore the New World Symphony through performances, community outreach, and education projects on the occasion of the Philharmonic’s 175th anniversary season, honoring the Orchestra’s hometown and its role as an adopted home for many.

Dvořák wrote the symphony, which features the Largo melody known as “Goin’ Home,” while he was living here in New York City. The Philharmonic gave the World Premiere of the New World Symphony in December 1893, marking the Orchestra’s first World Premiere of a work written in New York City that would become part of the standard repertoire.

Among The New World Initiative activities: the New York Philharmonic Education department is developing a curriculum for New York City public schools on the New World Symphony, and the Philharmonic is inviting New York City ensembles to join in by performing the symphony during the 2016–17 season. Check out the 74 ensembles and counting — receiving benefits like arrangements, marked conducting scores, and sheet music, and free access to the Opening Gala Concert dress rehearsal and Open Rehearsals throughout the season — and sign up to participate at newworldinitiative.com.

Facsimiles of N.Y. Philharmonic's Original New World Parts Brought to Iran Concert by China Philharmonic

NY Philharmonic Dvorak

Music can unite us around our common humanity and make the world a bit smaller, so we are proud that the New York Philharmonic will be represented by a piece of our heritage at the China Philharmonic’s performances this week in Tehran, Iran.

The China Philharmonic performs Dvořák’s New World Symphony tonight in Tehran on its historic Silk Road tour. The New York Philharmonic Archives houses the manuscript parts used at that work’s world premiere, given by the Philharmonic in 1893.

The Archives sent China Philharmonic Music Director Long Yu — a good friend of the New York Philharmonic and collaborator on our Shanghai Orchestra Academy and Residency Partnership — a bound copy of the first desk manuscript parts along with the world premiere program and a description of the Philharmonic’s first performance of the work for him to take to Iran.

New York Philharmonic

We are honored that a little bit of New York Philharmonic history will be part of this significant occasion.

Alan Gilbert Leads Philadelphia Orchestra in 'Thrilling' Janáček

Alan Gilbert rehearses with The Philadelphia Orchestra

Last week Music Director Alan Gilbert was the guest conductor of The Philadelphia Orchestra in a program centered on Janáček's Glagolitic Mass. The rare work was performed alongside Sibelius's Night Ride and Sunrise and Dvořák's The Golden Spinning Wheel. (Rehearsal photo above: Facebook.com/The Philadelphia Singers)

The Philadelphia Inquirer wrote, "Thursday's performance will likely stand among the more thrilling of the season. ... Gilbert's artistic cool was a good temperamental match [for the Janáček], shaping and building the piece's wild musical paragraphs but never actually taming them."

Superconductor wrote that in the Dvořák, "Mr. Gilbert's experience as an opera conductor served to drive the story forward, with bright orchestra colors coming from the Philadelphia woodwinds and strings, contrasting with wine-dark figures in the brass and a repeated sense of perpetual forward motion throughout."

Read about Gilbert's guest-conducting stint with the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in September.