Date: October 3, 2019 David Raymond, CITY Newspaper. Click here for the original article. After a galvanic opening concert devoted to contemporary American music, this week's Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra program — with works by Haydn, Mozart, and Dvoák— may seem staid and conventional. But there's some welcome novelty here: the orchestra will... read more
For Immediate Release September 16, 2019 Media Contact: Nicole Morelle, 454-7311 ext. 245 RPO OPENS 2019/20 SEASON September 19 & 21 - Kodak Hall at Eastman Theatre Rochester, NY – Under the direction of Music Director Ward Stare, the RPO takes part in the KeyBank Rochester Fringe Festival... read more
Date: September 16, 2019 Marcus Karl Maroney, Concertonet.com. Click here for the original review. Ward Stare leads the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra in a thrilling triptych of works that presents a wonderful cross-section and brief history of American compositional voices. The line from Samuel Barber to Patrick Harlin can be easily... read more
Date: September 12, 2019 Brell Allen-Bayes, Limelight. Click here for the original review. Here is an American disc which covers rapture in three different forms. Jennifer Higdon’s Harp Concerto reflects this all-American virtue, one generally associated with religion but here depicted as an experience of extreme human emotion. In fact Patrick... read more
Date: August 27, 2019 Alison Young, Harp Column. Click here for the original review. Yolanda Kondonassis, harp; Rochester Philharmonic with Ward Stare conducting. Azica, 2019 Yolanda Kondonassis gave a tall order when pitching the idea of a new harp concerto to Pulitzer-prize winning composer Jennifer Higdon. The piece should be “strong, agile,... read more
Date: August 15, 2019 Don Clark, I Care If You Listen. Click here for the original review. American Rapture, the new release on the hitherto unknown to me Azica label, features Samuel Barber’s “Great American Symphony” contender Symphony # 1 (1936) and two world premiere recordings; Patrick Harlin’s Rapture (2011) and Jennifer Higdon‘s Harp Concerto (2018) written for Yolanda Kondonassis. This generous and... read more
Date: July 18, 2019 Olivia Kieffer, EarRelevant. Click here for the original review. On May 17, Azica Records released the album American Rapture, featuring harpist Yolanda Kondonassis and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra led by conductor Ward Stare. The album contains works by three generations of composers from the United States: Samuel Barber (1910-1981), Jennifer Higdon (b. 1962) and Patrick Harlin (b.... read more
