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Harbison Premieres

Photo credit: G. Schirmer archives John Harbison

Amidst a very successful 70th birthday season, this spring John Harbison will have several World Premieres which will include the genres of oral, chamber, and symphonic music.

The first, A Clear Midnight will premiere on March 29 at Indiana University in Bloomington. This work was written for five vocal soloists and string quintet in memory of five students at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music who lost their lives in a plane crash on April 20, 2006.

On April 24, the Music and Theater Arts Section at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will celebrate and honor Mr. Harbison, a member of the MIT faculty, with a 70th birthday celebration concert. It will feature the World Premiere of the French Horn Suite, a horn quartet commissioned by MIT lecturer Jean Rife and performed by the commissioner with her colleagues John Boden, Ken Pope and Peter Solomon.

The Seven Ages, a septet written for mezzo-soprano, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, and percussion, will receive its World Premiere on April 27 at Merkin Hall in New York City. Commissioned by the Koussevitzky Music Foundation, it will be performed by Pamela Dellal and the New York New Music Ensemble.

The Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra has commissioned and will premiere Mary Lou (Four Symphonic Poems of Mary Lou Williams) on May 3 in Pittsburgh, PA. Conducted by Daniel Meyer, this work draws its inspiration from Mary Lou Williams, one of the most influential women in jazz history.

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