Meet the Composer
George Tsontakis in residence with the Albany Symphony
"We strongly feel our most important mission as a performing arts institution is to put ourselves at the disposal of significant creative artists to enable them to create compelling and meaningful art through us."
—David Allan Miller, Music Director
Plans for George Tsontakis' residency with the Albany Symphony include three commissions: an orchestral version of Tsontakis' song cycle Midnight Rain; a trumpet concerto for the orchestra's principal trumpet player, Eric Berlin; and a Klezmer-inspired Clarinet Concerto for David Krakauer. Recordings of each of the three works will be made at the time of their premieres, by Koch International. At the end of the Residency period, they will be released as a commercial CD as well as in digital download format. There will also be a two-tiered composer education outreach program, "Compose Yourself," involving students at a local high school and a group of adults eager to learn the basics of composition and a community listening project called "Songs Without Words." Mr. Tsontakis will take on the role of New Music Advisor to the orchestra and consult on the orchestra's many new music activities, including pre-concert discussions, open rehearsals, radio/television appearances, and guest composer appearances.