The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage
Orchestra 2001
An Opera, an Operetta, and a Songbook
2008 Grantee
$40,000
In its 20th anniversary season, Orchestra 2001 was awarded $40,000 to present “An Opera, an Operetta, and a Songbook,” which offers three perspectives of orchestral vocal composition: “A Scandal in Bohemia,” a chamber opera by Thomas Whitman in collaboration with librettist Nathalie Anderson based on a story by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle; “Tides,” an operetta by Ronald G. Vigue; and “American Songbook VI: Voices from the Morning of the Earth” by Pulitzer-prize winning composer George Crumb. The pieces will be premiered with guest artists Ann Crumb (soprano), Randall Scarlata (baritone), Markus Beam (baritone), Laura Heimes (soprano), Julian Rodescu (bass), and Ben Wager (bass-baritone).
Orchestra 2001 was founded in 1988 as ensemble-in-residence at Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, PA. In June of 2007, the American Symphony Orchestra League and ASCAP recognized O2001 and Artistic Director James Freeman as outstanding leaders of new music in the United States with an Award for Adventurous Programming. 02001 has presented over 70 world premieres, including works by Pulitzer Prize-winning composers George Crumb, Gunther Schuller, and Melinda Wagner. In addition, the organization has presented 95 Philadelphia-area premieres, 200 works by 115 different American composers, and 125 works by 53 different Philadelphia-area composers. http://www.orchestra2001.org/
George Crumb, no photo credit