"After intermission came Ser. León's finely crafted and birdsound-haunted piece engaged the coloristic resources of the L.A. Phil to lovely effect. Especially memorable were the chirping clarinet and fluttering flute figures, set off by zesty writing for the brasses. Heyward led the orchestra with delicacy and mature skill, lending León's ethereal 10-minute piece a shapely character."
Read More"It was 60 years to the day since Minnijean Brown Trickey and eight other African-American teenagers integrated Little Rock Central High School at bayonet-point, protected by the 101st Airborne Division from racist mobs and a defiant governor. On Monday evening, after a day of commemorations, Ms. Brown Trickey sat in an auditorium at the University of Central Arkansas to hear how her life — and the more-than-timely story of the Little Rock Nine -- was being transformed into a new opera..."
Read More"The most compelling and original of the new scores was Tania León's del Caribe, soy. A well-traveled symphonic conductor, teacher and founding music director of the Dance Theater of Harlem, León has fashioned a riveting vignette that mixes bird calls and whistles, fragments of Latin melodies, atonal piano effects and high, off-balance flute writing of the 1960s avant garde variety. León's misty portrait of the Caribbean sky, breeze and ocean is a terrific addition to the flute repertoire. Torres coped manfully with the score's extended technical requirements and León was a commanding presence at the piano."
Read More“León’s piece evolved organically and in unexpected ways…The resulting work is a haunting mosaic.”
Read More"Warning! There is an allure in the music of Tania León that immediately grips the listener, and demands his undivided attention, drawing him into her distinctive world. This is not background music that can be listened to with one ear while the other is focused on something else. Although one might perceive influences from Harry Partch, John Cage, Peter Sculthorpe, Hans Werner Henze, and any number of the other innovative composers of our time, the artistic voice of León is utterly distinctive, and once one has listened to her music for any length of time, it will not be mistaken as the work of any other composer...”
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