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Stories   >   ASOs ex-music director has new recording of his own / Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

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More Albums with Philip Mann - Ensemble Bravura

ASOs ex-music director has new recording of his own / Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Posted: April 3, 2022

SONY Classics announces the debut release of Philip Mann conducting Ensemble Bravura on the storied label. Mann, who has previously recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra and Royal Scottish National Orchestra, created ‘Finding Home’ with a vision of illustrating and celebrating the music of composers who unexpectedly found homes – musical and otherwise – in unexpected places. Central to this endeavor were the connections shared by American composers Aaron Copland, Michael Fine, and Aaron Jay Kernis in their Jewish and Russian heritage, while Sergei Prokofiev composed his beloved Overture on Hebrew Themes during his American residency at the behest of Russian Jewish immigrants to the United States. The result is an evocative album of music that spans more than a century but reveals timeless, shared inner bonds and immutable common inspirations.

Maestro Mann commissioned Fine’s “Concierto del Luna” for Flute and Guitar specifically for this recording. Flutist, Alexa Still and guitarist Jason Vieaux appear in the world premiere as soloists. Utilizing a common and favored pairing, flute and guitar, Michael Fine scored a first-of-its-kind concerto for chamber orchestra. “A Time for Uncertainties,” a selection from composer Michael Fine’s “Three Orchestral Essays” also receives its world premiere. Acclaimed pianist Tatiana Roitman Mann joins Alexa Still in the first recording of the flute and piano version of Aaron Jay Kernis’s Air, previously popularized in its violin and piano/orchestra versions.

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette - Eric E. Harrison writes….While the Arkansas Symphony is offering its new commercial recording, its former music director, Philip Mann, has his own new recording coming out. Mann, now music director of the Texarkana Symphony Orchestra and founding artistic director and conductor of Ensemble Bravura, has his face on the cover of "Finding Home," the ensemble's recording of chamber music, being released on Sony Classics Korea.

The ensemble, essentially a group of soloists, includes violinist Grace Park and clarinetist Alexander Bedenko. Flutist Alexa Still and guitarist Jason Vieaux are "guest stars" on its debut album, soloing in Michael Fine's "Concierto del Luna" for flute, guitar and chamber orchestra, which Mann commissioned specifically for this recording.

The album also includes the world premiere recordings of Fine's "A Time for Uncertainties," part of his "Three Orchestral Essays," and the flute and piano version of Aaron Jay Kernis' "Air" with Still and pianist Tatiana Roitman Mann — Mann's wife, who is well known to Arkansas audiences. (The piece has been previously recorded in its violin and piano/orchestra versions.)

Roitman Mann also is part of the sextet performing Sergei Prokofiev's "Overture on Hebrew Themes." The recording also features Fine's "Finding Home" as the title track and the original 13-instrument version ("with slightly expanded string section," according to a news release) of Aaron Copland's suite from the ballet "Appalachian Spring."

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