Symphony Hall, May 3, 2001

Boston, MA — Audiences will have a unique opportunity to glimpse the future of classical music when the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, under Artistic Director Gil Rose, performs “Orchestral Music at the Technological Frontier” on May 3, 2001, at Boston’s Symphony Hall. The concert, presented in collaboration with Immersion Music (immersionmusic.org), will be free to the public and is a centerpiece of the musical programming of the 2001 Boston Cyberarts Festival.

"The combination of a once-in-a-lifetime program, the Boston Cyberarts Festival, and a beautiful historic setting is the kind of thing that can only happen in Boston,” said Rose. “We intend to show our audience that the combination of art and technology is catapulting classical music to new frontiers, and that these new works will appeal to fans of all kinds of music."

A highlight of the concert will be a rare computer realization of Alexander Scriabin’s Prometheus: Poem of Fire (1911) with full orchestra, chorus, and “light-organ.” This will possibly be the fullest known recreation of the composer’s original intentions, developed using computer technology and an elaborate and colorful lighting design that will illuminate the entire interior of Symphony Hall.

The program will also feature the world premieres of two works commissioned expressly for this concert. The Concerto for Conductor and Orchestra, by Canadian composer John Oswald, will use the “Conductor’s Jacket” technology; this device was developed at the MIT Media Lab by Teresa Marrin Nakra, Immersion Music’s Artistic Director. Gil Rose will perform as conductor and soloist. The concert also includes the world premiere of “Dream Songs” for orchestra and pre-recorded tape by award-winning composer Eric Chasalow, director of the Brandeis Electro-Acoustic Music Studio.

Tod Machover’s Forever and Ever (1993), a piece for “Hyperviolin” and orchestra, will be performed with soloist Ani Kavafian. Machover launched the Hyperinstrument project at the MIT Media Lab in 1986 with the goal of designing expanded musical instruments, using computer input to give extra power and finesse to virtuosic performers.

Rounding out the program will be the Concerto for Ondes Martenot, composed by Andre Jolivet in the 1940's. An ancestor of the Theremin, the Ondes Martenot was the first successful electronic instrument and the only one of its generation that is still used by orchestras today. The soloist is Geneviève Grenier, a rising star from Canada and the protégé of the leading world expert on the instrument.

In addition to the concert, the doors of Symphony Hall will open at 6:30pm for a special mini-festival of digital artists presenting their work in the Hatch Room. There will also be a pre-concert Symposium offered at 7pm in the hall. The concert is free, but tickets are required. Tickets can be reserved in advance by calling BMOP at (617) 363-0396, and will be available at the door.

At a Glance

Who: Boston Modern Orchestra Project, Gil Rose, Artistic Director Immersion Music (immersionmusic.org)

What: “Orchestral Music at the Technological Frontier,” a glimpse of the future of classical music at the intersection of art and technology.

When: Thursday, May 3, 2001, at 8:00 p.m. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. for a mini-festival of digital art; at 7pm there will be a pre-concert symposium in the hall.

Where: Symphony Hall, 301 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston

Info: Call (617) 363-0396 or visit www.bmop.org. Free tickets should be obtained in advance but may also be available at the door.

The award-winning Boston Modern Orchestra Project is a full-scale professional orchestra that performs five to seven programs of 20th-century music in Boston each season. BMOP's mission is to reassert the orchestra's historic role as an exponent of contemporary culture by bringing 20th-century music to a diverse audience. Now in its fifth season, BMOP is consistently hailed by critics and audiences for its imaginative and eclectic programs, which are developed around themes central to contemporary society. www.bmop.org

Immersion Music is a not-for-profit organization, founded in 2000, devoted to inventing the future of classical music. IM’s mission is to develop and present new musical performances that highlight a dynamic interaction between traditional forms and new technologies. www.immersionmusic.org

The 2001 Boston Cyberarts Festival will spotlight the creative interactions of the worlds of art and technology. The Festival will take place at museums, galleries, theaters, and other arts locations in and around the Boston area from April 21-May 6, 2001, and on the Festival’s website at www.bostoncyberarts.org.

Funding for this concert is provided in part by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency, the LEF Foundation, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Boston Cultural Council, a municipal agency supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, and the Boston Cultural Agenda Fund, sponsored by the City of Boston.

For more information, call Immersion Music at 617-686-4898.

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