ALBUMHarbison: Piano Concerto & Stock: Inner SpaceAmerican Composers Orchestra & St. Louis Symphony Orchestra
ALBUMPlaying It UNsafeAmerican Composers Orchestra & Jeffrey Milarsky
ALBUMCage / WuorinenAmerican Composers Orchestra & Dennis Russell Davies
ALBUMMcPhee: Tabuh-tabuhan - Ung: Inner Voices - Harrison: Suite for Symphonic StringsAmerican Composers Orchestra & Dennis Russell Davies
ALBUMSessions: Symphonies Nos. 6, 7 & 9American Composers Orchestra & Dennis Russell Davies
ALBUMGlass: Heroes SymphonyGidon Kremer, Vienna Philharmonic, Christoph von Dohnányi, American Composers Orchestra & Dennis Russell Davies
ALBUMCage: The SeasonsAmerican Composers Orchestra, Margaret Leng Tan & Dennis Russell Davies
ALBUMPhilip Glass: Heroes SymphonyAmerican Composers Orchestra & Dennis Russell Davies
ALBUMUng: Inner Voices / McPhee: Tabuh-Tabuhan / Harrison: Suite for Symphonic StringsDennis Russell Davies & American Composers Orchestra
ALBUMSessions: Symphonies Nos. 6, 7 & 9American Composers Orchestra & Dennis Russell Davies
ALBUMRobert Beaser: Chorale Variations, The Seven Deadly Sins & Piano ConcertoDennis Russell Davies & American Composers Orchestra
ALBUMBeaser: Concerto for Piano, The Seven Deadly Sins, Chorale VariationsAmerican Composers Orchestra, Dennis Russell Davies, Jan Opalach & Pamela Mia Paul
ALBUMMilton Babbitt: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra/The Head of the BedParnassus & American Composers Orchestra
ALBUMMusic of Elliott CarterAmerican Composers Orchestra & Paul Lustig Dunkel
About American Composers Orchestra
Artist Biography
Specializing in performing symphonic works strictly by American composers, the American Composers Orchestra was originally conceived in 1975 by composer Francis Thorne and conductor Dennis Russell Davies. Realizing that the majority of American-based orchestras failed to play works composed by Americans, the duo set out to correct the problem on their own. With Davies serving as the orchestra's principal conductor and music advisor, composer Nicolas Roussakis and conductor/flutist Paul Lustig Dunkel also signed on shortly thereafter, leading to the A.C.O.'s inaugural concert on February 7, 1977, at Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center. The orchestra proved to be a success, leading to a permanent home at Carnegie Hall beginning on its tenth anniversary, during the 1985-1986 season (Robert Beaser was named composer-in-residence in 1988 and six years later, became the orchestra's artistic advisor). The A.C.O. has featured countless renowned special guests over the years, including Leonard Slatkin, Michael Tilson Thomas, Leonard Bernstein, Itzhak Perlman, André Watts, and Emanuel Ax, among others.
Since its formation, the American Composers Orchestra has tirelessly stuck to its original mission, programming 500 works by more than 400 American composers and leading to recordings on such labels as Argo, CRI, ECM, Point, Music Masters, Nonesuch, Tzadik, and New World, plus several special awards from the American Academy of Arts and Letters; Broadcast Music, Inc.; and the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers. By the early 21st century, the American Composers Orchestra was led and conducted by both Steven Sloane (also its music director) and Beaser, while its founding conductor, Dennis Russell Davies, became the A.C.O.'s first conductor laureate during the spring of 2002. The American Composers Orchestra also encourages musical education for youngsters, as it formed the Music Factory in 1999, an educational program that unites composers with students from public elementary and high schools. The American Composers Orchestra has also served as a launching pad for such composers as Ellen Taaffe Zwilich and Joseph Schwantner, both of whom were granted their very first orchestral commissions courtesy of the A.C.O. ~ Greg Prato
Hometown
United States of America
Genre
Classical
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