Alabama Symphony Orchestra Announces Two World Premieres

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Posted by: Staff
Date: Mar 27 2023 12:01 PM

Birmingham, AL :The Alabama Symphony Orchestra (ASO) invites audiences to two world premiere events in the month of April. Music Director Carlos Izcaray has composed two new works for upcoming concerts. Both his newly composed Requiem and 88, for Piano and Orchestra explore the life and death of two foundational women in his life. In addition to these touching tributes, the ASO will perform amazing works by Debussy, Fauré, and more. 

 

April 14 & 15 the orchestra and the ASO Chorus will premiere Izcaray’s Requiem alongside Brahms’ tragically beautiful Fourth Symphony and Fauré’s always enchanting Pavane. “With this Requiem I pay tribute to my dear wife, Yolanda Serafimov, mother of my children, and my best friend,” says Izcaray. “She lived courageously with grace and was a shining star in our human constellation.Yolanda loved and cherished the ASO family, and they loved her back. I thank them for the opportunity to commemorate her in Alabama, her final resting place.” 

 

Izcaray’s Requiem doesn’t only touch on personal loss, but the omnipresence of death and loss in regions ravaged by war. “Each movement focuses on a different perspective on death, inspired mainly by the outpouring of love that was received by my family in our darkest hour,” he remarks “As this project evolved, a horrendous war started across the oceans. This Requiem's Introduction thus also calls on the listener to set a small prayer or personal thought on behalf of victims of war who couldn't meet their Creator with a dignified end.” 

 

On April 27th, the ASO will present a Memorial Concert celebrating the life and advocacy of Gloria Narramore Moody. Proceeds from this concert, featuring Music Director Laureate Justin Brown and the world premiere of a new work by Music Director Carlos Izcaray, will be added to a bequest from Gloria Moody’s estate to endow the Alabama Symphony Orchestra’s Principal Flute Chair, currently held by Lisa Wienhold. 

 

Izcaray says of the new work, “88, for Piano and Orchestra, is a tribute to my late friend Gloria Moody, whose vibrant spirit and generosity had a positive impact on the ASOand the community at large. The title is a nod to the piano and its eighty-eight keys, as well as a tribute to her amazing life, which spanned an equal number of years. The fact that the work will be performed and led by my predecessor, Maestro Justin Brown, who himself forged a great friendship with Mrs. Moody, makes this event even more meaningful. The musical themes are derived from a movement from my Requiem, titled Spark of Life.”

 

April with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra is full of opportunities to see classic favorites and exquisite new sounds. Visit alsymphony.org/events for tickets and information or contact the box office at 205.975.2787.

About the Alabama Symphony Orchestra

The formation of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra (ASO) began with the first performance by a group of volunteer musicians in 1921. That group would evolve from a volunteer ensemble to the state's only full-time professional orchestra. Today, the ASO is continuing to make music and provide vital services to the residents of the state, serving nearly 100,000 individuals a year through concert series, youth programs, and educational and community engagement efforts to fulfill our mission to change lives through music.

We proudly work to produce creative, dynamic programming and to be recognized as an artistically innovative leader in the field – winning ASCAP Awards in 2010 and 2011 for Adventurous Programming and Dedication to New American Music and receiving an invitation to perform at Carnegie Hall in May 2012 as a part of the competitive Spring For Music Festival, which is underwritten by a $1 million grant from the Mellon Foundation.

The Alabama Symphony Orchestra has entertained and enriched audiences for over 100 years, playing a variety of classical and popular music and hosting performances by some of the finest guest artists in the world. The 53 talented musicians of the ASO bring to life some of the world’s most treasured musical masterpieces and introduce listeners to exciting new works and composers, performing 100 concerts annually.

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