Dallas, Texas (November 24, 2015) – Nasher Sculpture Center announces the world premiere of A Thousand Cranes, composer Christopher Theofanidis’ Second Symphony for Strings and Harp on Saturday, December 12, 2015 at 7:30 pm. The concert will be presented at Montgomery Arts Theater in collaboration with Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts at 2501 Flora Street, Dallas, 75201. The performance is part of Soundings: New Music at the Nasher, the critically-acclaimed music series featuring groundbreaking performances created under the direction of Seth Knopp, a founding member of the Peabody Trio and artistic director of Yellow Barn.
Inspired by the story of an ill young girl’s hope in healing, the symphony A Thousand Cranes highlights the power of a child’s innocence to transcend human tragedy. The East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO) will perform the symphony, which forms the cornerstone of a program that reflects both the human desire to harness unattainable power and the limitless power of human expression. Other pieces included in the program are Theofanidis’ Gently Flow My Tears, Jörg Widmann’s Ikarische Klage, and Johann Sebastian Bach’s Chaconne.
About Christopher Theofanidis
Christopher Theofanidis has had performances by many leading orchestras from around the world, including the London Symphony, the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Moscow Soloists, the National, Atlanta, Baltimore, St. Louis, Detroit, and California Symphonies, and many others. He also served as Composer of the Year for the Pittsburgh Symphony during their 2006-2007 Season, for which he wrote a violin concerto for Sarah Chang. Mr. Theofanidis holds degrees from Yale, the Eastman School of Music, and the University of Houston, and has been the recipient of the International Masterprize (hosted at the Barbican Centre in London), the Rome Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship, six ASCAP Gould Prizes, a Fulbright Fellowship to France, a Tanglewood Fellowship, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters' Charles Ives Fellowship. Mr. Theofanidis' has recently written a ballet for the American Ballet Theatre, a work for the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra as part of their ‘New Brandenburg’ series, and he currently has two opera commissions for the San Francisco and Houston Grand Opera companies. He has a long-standing relationship with the Atlanta Symphony, and has just had his first symphony premiered and recorded with that orchestra. He has served as a delegate to the US-Japan Foundation's Leadership Program and is a former faculty member of the Peabody Conservatory and the Juilliard School. He currently teaches at Yale University.
About East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO)
The critically acclaimed East Coast Chamber Orchestra (ECCO) is a collective of dynamic like-minded artists who convene for select periods each year to explore musical works and perform concerts of the highest artistic quality. Drawing from some of the world's finest orchestras, chamber groups, and young soloists, ECCO strives for vitality and musical integrity; a self-governing organization, each member is equal and has a voice in every step of the artistic process, from programming to performance. ECCO believes that the best musical experience can speak to all audiences regardless of age or socioeconomic background and performs accordingly across a wide range of venues.
Tickets are $20 for members, $25 for non-members, and $10 for students. For more information and to purchase tickets, please follow this link: http://www.nashersculpturecenter.org/engage/event?id=266