By Dennis D. Rooney Dance music dominated the first half of the second Masterworks Series program of the Atlantic Classical Orchestra’s 30th season Wednesday at the Eissey Campus Theatre in Palm Beach Gardens. Dance Card by Jennifer Higdon (b. 1962) was the opener. Written in 2016, the five-movement work, for string orchestra, explores different aspects of dance rhythms. … [Read more...]
ACO, soloist solid in 30th season debut
By Dennis D. Rooney With a nod toward the 250th anniversary of Ludwig van Beethoven’s birth, the Atlantic Classical Orchestra opened the first concert of its 30th season on Jan. 8 at the Eissey Campus Theatre in Palm Beach Gardens with the composer’s Symphony No. 1 (in C, Op. 21). Conductor David Amado, in his fourth season as music director, preceded the performance … [Read more...]
Cellist Schwarz impressive in Shostakovich with ACO
By Dennis D. Rooney The Atlantic Classical Orchestra, led by David Amado, presented the final subscription concerts of its 29th season last week. The three works on the program, which I heard April 4 at the Eissey Campus Theatre in Palm Beach Gardenms, were attractively varied, and also bore witness to the noticeable improvement in the quality of the ACO’s playing that I … [Read more...]
Huang sensational in Mendelssohn at strong ACO concert
It was fitting that in the first concert program after its founder’s passing, the Atlantic Classical Orchestra and a guest soloist could present an evening so full of life and eventful music-making. On Wednesday night at the Eissey Campus Theatre in Palm Beach Gardens, the young American violinist Sirena Huang gave the orchestra and its audience an astoundingly vital reading … [Read more...]
Strong premiere, solid Brahms stand out at ACO’s season closer
By Dennis D. Rooney The Atlantic Classical Orchestra concluded its 28th season and its second with Music Director David Amado on Wednesday with a program that balanced a new work with a standard symphony and a not entirely familiar 20th-century piano concerto. The world premiere of Facets of Motion, commissioned by the Atlantic Classical Orchestra and winner of the 2018 … [Read more...]
Composer Lash readies for ACO world premiere
To say that music is organized sound in motion is merely to say something obvious and non-controversial about it. But for composer Hannah Lash, the idea of movement is central to the very bones of her artistic project. Lines, harmonies and intervals constantly shift and alter in a relatively generous sonic environment that is tonal without being retrograde. “What was … [Read more...]
Huang shows new maturity in Barber with ACO
By Dennis D. Rooney This is a partial review. I was caught in a bad traffic jam on Interstate 95 northbound through Lake Worth that delayed my arrival in Palm Beach Gardens for a concert Feb. 14 by the Atlantic Classical Orchestra concert until the finale of Prokofiev’s Classical Symphony, which opened the program. I was in my seat by the time Sirena Huang appeared … [Read more...]
Tao’s new concerto a triumph at Atlantic Classical
World premieres are special occasions, and I was privileged to hear young Conrad Tao’s thrilling new piano concerto with the composer at the keyboard on March 8 at the Eissey Campus Theatre in Palm Beach Gardens, for a concert with the Atlantic Classical Orchestra. Winner of orchestra’s Rappaport Prize for Music Composition, Tao, 22, dazzled the audience with his pianistic … [Read more...]